Evaluating SRTS Program Impacts on CO2 Emissions & Regional Partnerships

Safe Routes to School National Conference April 5, 2016

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Why stick around?

Learn about MTC’s experience and leadership in coordination and developing new programs

Benefit from lessons learned in the Bay Area for regional SRTS coordination and evaluation

Workshop YOUR challenges & brainstorm specific opportunities

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Who is MTC?

We are a public, governmental agency responsible for planning, financing and coordinating transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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Historic SRTS in the Bay Area

— 1998 - Marin SR2S established as federal pilot

— 2005 – Congress established national SRTS program

— 2006 – Alameda SR2S began as Caltrans pilot

— 2009 – San Francisco SRTS began

— 2010 – MTC funded RSRTS through Climate Initiatives

— 2012 – MAP-21 ended dedicated SRTS fed. funding; Caltrans established ATP with SRTS set-aside MTC continued funding RSRTS

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Climate Initiatives Program

$80 M program:

• Public Education/Outreach ($10 M) • Smart Driving & Emissions Reductions ($7 M) • School & Youth Outreach ($3 M)

• Regional Safe Routes to Schools ($17 M) • Innovative Grants ($33 M) • Program Evaluation ($4 M)

• RSRTS Program Evaluation

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Programs in the Bay Area

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Educating and encouraging San Francisco Bay Area youth and their families to walk, bicycle, carpool, and

take transit.

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Technical Advisory Committee

SRTS Practitioner Workshops

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Breakout 1

• What types of outreach programs are the most successful?

• What challenges do you face for reaching students with your programming?

• What other agencies, partners, or resources could your program make use of?

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Workshop Outcomes

• Support for expanding program reach • Translation services

• Implementation toolkits (outreach materials, checklists, banners, waivers, etc.)

• Funding for giveaways & food

• Funding to establish new programs, specifically • Programs encouraging middle & high school students to become

climate change leaders

• Programs encouraging transit use

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Regional Coordination

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Regional Coordination: Sparetheairyouth.org Website

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Regional Coordination: Guidebooks

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Outreach: Blog & e-Newsletters

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Outreach: YES Conference

Youth for the Environment and Sustainability (YES) Conference

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Outreach:

YES Conference

I left today feeling empowered to make a difference at my school or in

my community

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Call for Projects

• Youth Ambassador Program

• Traveling Exhibits on Climate Change and Transportation

• Family Bicycling Workshops

• Transit Education

• Other Innovative Projects

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Education: Family Biking Workshops

• 6 Bicycle Coalitions

• 78 Workshops in 8 Counties

• 2,100+ Participants

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Education: Bay Area Bike Mobile

• 275+ Site Visits/Community Events

• 6,600+ Bicycles Repaired

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Education: ECO2School High School Program

• Club Day • Peer-to-Peer Education • Youth Advisory Boards • Green Teens

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Participant Feedback

• Many students, teachers, and parents left with happy faces and working bikes. The… BikeMobile also provided an important occasion to discuss the viability and importance of pursuing safe alternative transportation to school. – Parent, Mountain View

• Because of your exciting program our children are more aware of what they and their families can do in their daily lives to help the environment and themselves in the future. – Teacher, San Francisco

• Because of this program I now feel comfortable enough that I will start to bike to my school. – Student

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Results

As a result of programming: • 30,000 students reached • 22% average mode shift • More than 7,000 bicycles repaired • More teachers talked about climate change and

transportation • Middle school students learned bicycle safety • Students used transit for more trips • Youth leaders were trained in facilitation

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Outcomes & Laurels

• Breathe California’s Clean Air Awards - Public Awareness category

• TRB’s Communicating Concepts with John and Jane Q. Public – competition runner up

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1. Evaluate impacts of RSRTS-funded programs, including GHG emissions

2. Identify key successes and findings from RSRTS-funded programs

Regional SRTS Evaluation

Goals

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Regionwide Data Collected

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Data Collection:

Parent Surveys

Data Collection:

Project Timeline

Baseline (2011-2013) & Follow up (2013- 2014)

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Data Collection:

Schools in Analysis

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Data Collection:

Additional Data Collected

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Breakout 2

• What data does your program collect?

• What data do you not collect but use in your reporting?

• What data would you like to collect?

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Results:

Mode Split

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Results: SRTS Increases Walking & Biking

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Results:

Emissions Impacts

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Results:

Emissions Impacts

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Results:

Emissions Impacts

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Lessons Learned:

Impacts change over time

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Lessons Learned:

Most effective programs

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County-Specific Highlights

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Next Steps

• Support ongoing coordination

• Continue grants that leverage local programs

• Promote county-level administration

• Provide technical assistance for evaluation

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Questions?

Leslie Lara Metropolitan Transportation Commission llara@mtc.ca.gov

Hannah Day-Kapell Alta Planning + Design hannahday-kapell@altaplanning.com

www.sparetheairyouth.org