Initial Survey Result | Implement the Strategies Wherever Possible | Wait for the TIP Process to Implement the Model

Next Steps

Initial Survey Results
The survey called for in the Community-based Transportation Planning Model was developed by the MPO project manager for this project and queried the residents of Lincoln Courts, a low income and predominately minority housing area. The intent was to test the survey instrument and get some preliminary data from this population that was in the target area.

There were a total of 46 people who responded to the survey as implemented in the pilot test by the caseworkers in the Texas Workforce Development Office. The surveys were conducted by the caseworkers with the clients who were willing to respond. Not all of those surveyed responded to of all the questions.

The survey sought to get information on language preferences, knowledge of the MPO and the TIP process, sources of information, opinions of whether their area got their fair share of transportation improvements, their willingness to participate, incentives for participation, obstacles to participation, and specific transportation improvements that might be desired. (Click here to see a copy of the survey.)

The full-scale application of the survey has not been conducted.

The results of the pilot survey were:

• Twenty-six percent (26%) of the respondents needed or preferred their community information in Spanish.
• Just over ten percent (10%) had heard of the MPO.
• The primary information source was via the television (37%), followed by neighbors (17%), the radio (15%), and the newspaper (9%). Other sources were community centers, school and other (7%).
• Sixty-four percent (64%) did not think they got their fair share of sidewalk or street improvements.
• Eighty-two percent (82%) reported they would be willing to participate in getting their neighborhood’s fair share of sidewalk and street improvements.
• Ninety-one percent (91%) said they would attend if they had a ride to the TIP meeting.
• Forty-eight percent of those who responded said they would attend if there were childcare, but half of those asked did not respond.
• Only seven percent (7%) of the respondents stated they wanted a neighborhood association to decide sidewalk and street improvements for them.
• Ninety-three percent (93%) did not respond when asked why they did not attend.
• Sixty-four percent (64%) said they had specific improvements they desired, but did not give any information on those improvements.

The survey results reflect the caseworkers’ reports that those surveyed were generally not interested the transportation improvements process. They added that those interviewed did not reflect the general population, but they do reflect the low income-minority population this project is intended to address. (Click here to see the actual survey results.)

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Implement Strategies Wherever Possible
Although the strategies identified could not be implemented as planned in the Community-based Transportation Planning Model, they can be used singly or in combination with other transportation planning activities. Members of the Study Oversight Committee (SOC) are familiar with them and understand the benefits of using them in the planning processes with which they are involved.

The MPO has agreed to implement the strategies in the various projects they sponsor and to fund them whenever it is appropriate to do so. Several of the strategies have been used in recent meetings for the Arena Area/Eastside Community Plan resulting in attendance by over 100 people. The strategies implemented for this study were:

• Preliminary meetings with community groups, neighborhood associations, businesses and community leaders in the study area to inform them of the project, get their initial input, and enlist their support in getting community members to the public meeting.
• Enlist the help of a recognized member of the community to serve as a liaison and make contact with community members/leaders and promote participation in the planning of the project.
• Distributed information to potentially interested community residents through mailings, flyers at churches and other community gathering places.
• Radio interviews with recognized leaders to explain the project and invite community members to attend the public meeting.

Additionally, MPO staff has already begun to meet with local community leaders in an effort to expand its relationships with individuals and organizations in the target area. MPO staff already attends meetings conducted by the City of San Antonio to develop community plans and they have begun to attend “neighborhood sweeps,” City-sponsored activities to focus a variety of services on a particular neighborhood.

Although the strategies will not be evaluated in the same way they would have been if they had been applied in the model, anecdotal information will be available about their usefulness in these specific situations.

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Wait for the TIP Process to Implement the Model
Although it is uncertain at this time (Fall 2002) when the TIP process in Bexar County and San Antonio will be implemented again, the MPO is prepared to implement the Community-based Transportation Planning Model at that time. A video public service announcement (PSA) has been produced that can be broadcast at that time to encourage people in the target population to attend the TIP meetings.

The MPO continues to maintain ties with the neighborhoods it has contacted and will be in a good position to work with neighborhood leaders to implement the model when the TIP is in place again in the next few years.

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