Partnerships for Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery (2023)
Chapter: 1 Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed travel patterns and transformed community needs. Transit agencies partnered with a variety of organizations to develop innovative programs and services to help meet these needs. This synthesis documents the range of initiatives developed by transit agencies and highlights lessons learned that can be applied in future pandemics or other emergencies.
1.1 Research Process
Research proceeded in three phases: First, the team conducted a literature scan comprised of reviewing reports and online materials to catalog the types of nontraditional initiatives that transit agencies engaged in during the pandemic. Second, the team crafted and distributed a questionnaire designed to collect further examples of these initiatives, along with information on partnerships, funding, and lessons learned. Data from this questionnaire provided a snapshot of the scope of experiences across a broad range of transit agencies. Finally, the team conducted interviews and developed in-depth case examples of the experiences of four agencies: Bay County Public Transit System (Bay County, Florida); Laketran (Lake County, Ohio); the City of Santa Rosa, California; and Western-Washtenaw Area Value Express (WAVE) (Washtenaw County, Michigan). These case examples provide insight into the ways partnerships were formed in transit agencies for pandemic response, as well as success factors and lessons learned.
1.2 Report Structure
The remainder of this report is structured as follows:
- Chapter 2 summarizes the findings from the literature scan, including providing background on the public health, regulatory, and equity context of the pandemic and reporting on types of initiatives and the partnerships and funding involved in implementation.
- Chapter 3 presents the findings of the survey of practices, including a profile of respondents; statistics on the prevalence of different types of COVID-19 adaptation strategies, partnerships, and funding sources; and lessons learned, including information from transit agencies on how their initiatives engaged with and advanced equity.
- Chapter 4 contains detailed case examples of four transit agencies.
- Chapter 5 offers a summary of study findings, as well as directions for future research.
- References and Appendices A, B, C, and D follow. Interview participants are acknowledged in Appendix D.
