State of Practice: Steuben-Chemung-Schuyler Tri-County Transportation Guide
Jane Davis, Mobility Manager, Institute for Human Services, Inc. 607.776.9467 ext. 223
The Institute for Human Services, in conjunction with CSS Workforce New York and the Mobility Managers of Steuben, Chemung, and Schuyler Counties (NY), is pleased to introduce the first ever Tri-County Bus Map and Guide for local transit riders.
The 2011 Bus Map & Guide, entitled "Need a Ride?" is an easy-to-use resource including all the bus route-maps, schedules, and information for Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties. This tri-county transportation guide is the first step in a regional collaboration to make transportation more accessible to all residents of the area, increase ridership, and simplify transit use for local riders.
Funding for the guide was provided by CSS Workforce NY in an effort to help jobseekers and those without transportation to utilize community resources. Transportation needs in the Southern Tier do not stop at the county borders, and many people travel between counties every day for work and appointments. "Transportation in rural areas has always been a barrier to employment, and the current economic situation only makes it a greater burden. By working together across the region we can begin to address this barrier in a more cost effective and environmentally sound way," stated Dan Porter, Executive Director at CSS Workforce NY.
Patrick Rogers, Executive Director the Institute for Human Services, said, "In an environment of declining resources and increasing need, this project is an example of how all of our organizations, both public and private, work together to leverage the resources we do have in order to provide the most effective services to the residents of Steuben, Chemung and Schuyler counties."
Direct Link to brochure:
http://www.ihsnet.org/Files/files/external/need_a_ride_map_and_guide.pdf
The lead agency was the Institute for Human Services and the budget was $25,000 to print 20,000 brochures to be distributed across the three counties. The discussions about the brochure began in April 2011 with Mobility Managers, Tina Hager, Chemung County; Amber Simmons, Schuyler County and Jane Davis, Steuben County. We entered into a contract with CSSWorkforceNY on April 27th, the final draft went to the printer on June 28th and we took delivery on July 28th, with a media event in Centerway Square, Corning, NY on August 11th. We had an aggressive timeline to accommodate the budget deadlines for CSSWorkforceNY.
Lessons learned: Adhering to the timeline was difficult as there were many edits. Involving six public transportation providers takes a great deal of finesse and time. Even though there were some negative comments, we pushed on to produce a useful guide that has been very well received. Even the naysayer has had positive comments about the finished product!
The new brochure has been distributed throughout all three counties and is available through transportation providers, county offices, human service agencies, libraries and through the Mobility Managers. All three Mobility Managers report great feedback from diverse user groups.
The Mobility Managers in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben are continuing to collaborate and are looking at a travel training project. We are learning from each other by attending each other's coordinated committee meetings, setting up regional mobility management networking meetings, and touching base regularly as we look at different approaches to things such as updating our coordinated plans. Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties work together on many levels including transportation. The Mobility Managers from Livingston and Cortland have attended a meeting. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us. Link to IHS transportation page:
http://www.ihsnet.org/pages.asp?CatID=6
Nov. 2011
