San Luis Obispo - Caltrans - State of California

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SAN LUIS OBISPO REGION COORDINATED HUMAN SERVICES-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PLAN Information Resources and Needs A couple of human service agency representatives demonstrated considerable knowledge about fixed-route services operating, including schedules, frequency and the nearest bus stop. These individuals are clearly a valuable resource to clients and other persons within their agencies/organizations, as there is considerable reliance upon their knowledge of the specificity and detail of the transit system, including in one instance, the agency transit “guru” assisting another staffer in reading the bus book and planning the route. Case managers speak of the need to learn the transportation system in order to be able to help their consumers. They identified problems including personnel turnover and the difficulty of keeping abreast of changes in the public transit environment. Also, staff indicated that they need massive quantities of bus books and ride guides to distribute to consumers. Agency/organization staff representatives report that many consumers do not have access to the computer or capability of using it. This reinforces the fact that the old-fashioned paper product still has considerable value within the community. Passenger Amenities and Other Facilities – Safe Transfers, Bus Shelters and Benches, Bathrooms, Bus Curb Cuts and Safe Pull-Outs Issues were raised about the physical amenities that dependent populations require to travel independently about the community. For single women, women with children, or children themselves, as well as frail elderly or chronically ill individuals, a sense of safety and security is critical. Safety elements, and information about those, are important to these populations and persons working on their behalf. Arranging Transportation Riders with multiple health conditions need trip planning assistance. For the most part, human service agency staff does not have the time; the necessary resource information or skills to assist riders in identifying the transportation options that may best serve meet their needs. All possible tools, from maps schedules to persons knowledgeable about available transportation are needed to increase the mobility of these populations. 6.4 GAPS IN SERVICES PROVIDED This subsection reviews the identified gaps in transportation services within the San Luis Obispo region, including temporal and geographic areas, where trips may be needed. 6.4.1 Institutional Communication Gaps Coordination of the transportation services operated by public transit and human and social services agencies/organizations is impacted by the challenges of working between two very distinct service systems. For public transit, operating service is its’ core business, around which significant infrastructure has been built. For the human services agencies, transportation is a support service, and is viewed as a distraction from the agencies’ primary purpose. Although both serve the public, cultural differences are clearly evident at the institutional level. Human service organizations are closer to the client, have a better understanding of individual 103 OCTOBER 2007
SAN LUIS OBISPO REGION COORDINATED HUMAN SERVICES-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PLAN needs and requirements, and focus their day-to-day efforts on addressing and resolving issues on behalf of the individual, as characterized in Chapter 4’s Stakeholder Outreach findings. Public transit is more attentive to “mass” needs only in relation to providing service, with considerably less awareness of the individual. Since the day-to-day business objectives of these two public service industries differ, it is logical to find that they speak different “languages”, interpret, process and respond to things differently. For example, public transit operators talk in terms of one-way passenger trips, and apply performance measures of cost per hour and passengers per hour. Human service agencies speak of client days, per diem rates and often understand trips as vehicle trips rather than passenger trips. These differences can and do make communication challenging. One such difference in understanding relating to service provision is the drive to greater service efficiencies that a shared-ride system represents and the need to pick up several passengers in a given hour. This can contrast sharply with the individualized orientation of human and social services personnel to meet the needs of a single consumer who may have had a difficult dialysis session, and is more frail than usual, or the individual whose medication regime makes waiting in the sunlight particularly difficult. This is certainly a different perspective than is held by public transit. These disparities reflect different value systems, consistent with the different core missions of each industry. These issues must gradually be addressed in the development of coordination projects that will work effectively between systems. At a minimum, it is important to establish a “translator” who can work with these two systems, understanding each sufficiently to navigate in both and to design responsive, cost-effective coordinated transportation programs. 6.4.2 Capacity Needs Chapter 3’s demand estimation has identified the public transit trips currently being provided in the region. Human service transportation programs also exist, notably the CTSA services provided under contract to various organizations and others with varied methods of service provision that include staff members driving consumers in their own car with mileage reimbursement, volunteer-based programs, directly operated services and various scenarios for contracted or taxi-based service provision, including those described in Chapter 3’s stakeholder survey findings. However, the assessment also shows that some of the needs of the target population are not being met. In fact, the needs described exceed the services now in place. This mandates then that the existing network of transportation services must be re-configured to handle the everincreasing need, as the San Luis Obispo region realizes continuing population growth in the future. The potential to coordinate and leverage transportation resources is a logical next step. 6.4.3 Meeting Individualized Needs One of the main purposes of this Plan is to recommend ways that public transit and human service agencies can work together to develop plans and projects to meet the needs of seniors, disabled persons and low income individuals. Providing service to some difficult-to-serve subsegments of the target population (e.g. frail, chronically ill and disabled individuals) is the highest level of individualized service that can be offered to consumers, will require a significant commitment by public transit and human and social services and resources. 104 OCTOBER 2007
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Ride-On Interview at Ride-On office
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San Luis Obispo - Caltrans - State of California

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