traditional literature reviews. Because of this, there is a lot to learn from requesting and reviewing documents directly from transit agencies. Additionally, sharing documents with the research team can be done quickly—a function that was intended to encourage more transit practitioners to participate in the data collection process if they might otherwise not have time to participate in an informal interview or focus group. The Document Sharing section of the Data Portal described the types of documents a respondent might supply and provided instructions for how the document sharing system used (OneDrive) functions—as shown in Figure 42.

Research Chats

The research team received feedback during other projects that some people prefer to respond to survey type questions in an informal conversational setting. It is also the research team’s experience that this format offers opportunities to delve into topics that might otherwise be overlooked by traditional surveys. Therefore, to accommodate participants’ diverse response preferences and gain the opportunity to ask follow-up questions specific to an agency’s unique circumstances, the research team offered the opportunity for participants to self-schedule informal chats with a member of the research team. These discussions were hosted online via Microsoft Teams and lasted approximately 60 minutes. During the chats, the researcher and participant discussed the same questions included in the online survey (see Appendix B). From the Data Portal, participants were able to directly schedule a time to chat with the research team member via an embedded Calendly scheduler, as shown in Figure 43.

Recruitment Phase Two

The transit industry in the U.S. is diverse and widespread. Therefore, assistance with conducting outreach is critical to ensuring a sample that is representative of the industry. The research team coordinated with outreach partners as listed below (with assistance from the project panel where appropriate) to disseminate short notices about the research project requesting that interested participants visit the Data Portal to contribute information.

• American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• American Planning Association (APA)
• American Public Transit Association (APTA)
• Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT)
• California Transit Association (CTA)
• Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
• Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
• Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO)
• Eno Center for Transportation
• Interjurisdiction Transit Equity Research Collaborative (ITERC)
• Mpact (previously Railvolution)
• Shared Use Mobility Center (SUMC)
• South West Transit Association (SWTA)
• Transit Center
• TRB Committees AME10 and APO10
• TRB Minority Fellows Program alumni
• WTS

To support Phase 2 of the outreach effort, the research team developed a simple project description that organization’s that chose to support the outreach effort could include in email newsletters or similar, presented below.

Recruitment Phase Three

After both of the previously discussed outreach efforts were complete and two weeks passed with limited response, the research team conducted two more sets of outreach. First, the team contacted agencies with known equity efforts (22) directly to request their participation. Second, the research team coordinated with the TTI communications department to initiate a third and final round of recruitment via TTI’s social media channels (LinkedIn and X). The posts, shown in Figure 44 and Figure 45, were shared with the same outreach partners listed in the Phase Two description, above, and the research team requested that those organizations reshare the posts to their followers.

4. How do the indicators described in Question 2, help your agency/organization track progress towards equity-focused goals?
5. How were the goals described in Question 3 established? [short answer]
6. What role, beyond mandated requirements, did stakeholders and governing agencies play in establishing the goals described in Question 3? [short answer]
7. Has your transit agency attempted to reframe any traditional performance measures (e.g., ridership) for use as an equity indicator?
   1. Yes
      1. If yes: Please describe what was done and how it worked. [short answer]
   2. No
8. Does your agency/organization track any of these equity-relevant performance measures? (Please select all that apply)
   1. On-time performance
      1. If selected: What is your agency’s/organization’s definition of “on-time”?
   2. Fare categories (e.g., discounted fares for people with low incomes)
      1. If selected: What categories of fares are tracked?
   3. Use of mobility device (e.g., wheelchairs)
      1. If selected: What categories of devices are tracked?
   4. Other: please describe

Equity in Planning, Programming, and Operations

Provision of transit service is accomplished in three main phases: planning, programming, and operating. Each phase represents an opportunity to incorporate equity in practices and procedures, and to measure performance. This section includes questions about how your agency/organization incorporates equity in a comprehensive manner.

7. How does equity feature in the three key phases of your agency’s/organization’s transit service?
   1. Planning (ideas for new or updates service): [short answer]
   2. Programming (the process to take the ideas from paper to implementation): [short answer]
   3. Operations (day to day to service provision): [short answer]
8. How is equity incorporated in your agency’s/organization’s goals (including the process to establish goals)? [short answer]
9. How is equity incorporated in your agency’s/organization’s processes (e.g., decision-making or hiring/contracting)? [short answer]
10. Is there anything your agency/organization would like to do related to equity in service or customer experience but is not currently doing?’
    1. Yes
       1. If yes: If so, what do you want to do and why is not currently being done? [short answer]
    2. No

1. If short answer supplied: How do the findings from these engagement processes inform equity-related agency initiatives?
18. What can you contribute to the conversation around equity (either within the agency or within the city/region) that you aren’t currently being asked for?
19. Considering efforts to address equity in transit, what could be done better (and how)?

Challenges

This section includes space to share information about the challenges associated with your agency’s/organization’s experience working to improve equity and the customer experience.

20. What challenges did your agency/organization face when establishing equity-focused goals? [short answer]
    1. If short answer supplied: How were the challenges addressed and what lessons did you learn? [short answer]
21. What challenges did your agency/organization face when establishing equity-focused performance indicators? [short answer]
    1. If short answer supplied: How were the challenges addressed and what lessons did you learn? [short answer]
22. If you experience any other challenges you’d like to share, please do so here: [short answer]

Follow-up [Survey Only]

23. Would you be willing to schedule a follow-up discussion with a member of the research team?
    1. Yes
       1. If yes: Please provide the following information:
          1. Name
          2. Title
          3. Email address
          4. Phone number
    2. No