Transport Connections Evaluation Report - TDSA

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ABCD Department of Human Services Transport Connections Program Government July 2006 5 The future of the Transport Connections Program Building on the success of the nine TCP pilot projects, the Government has allocated funding towards the Flexible Transport Solutions initiative. The Flexible Transport Solutions program has two core components: 17 • An expansion of the TCP, to support up to 30 projects across Victoria, to be managed by DVC. • A flexible fund to provide funding for new, low-cost services and projects identified by local communities, to be managed by DOI. Funding for this initiative will total $18.3 million over four years, including $14.15 million for the expansion of TCP and $4.19 million for a Flexible Transport Solutions Fund. With this recent budget announcement to commit more funds to rollout 30 projects across Victoria, some themes to enhance the chances of future success need to be addressed. These include: • sustainability and change at the statewide level • measuring transport disadvantage • governance arrangements at a statewide and local level • the role and skills of coordinators • establishing TCP partnerships • the project catchment size. 5.1 Sustainability and change at the statewide level An issue that warrants consideration is that of sustainability and embedding change into the lead agencies involved in redressing transport disadvantage (that is, those that can affect change on the people, the place and provision of transport). This focus should be on clarifying the issue of TCP sustainability to the view that the TCP should inform developments that impact on the agencies so that the learnings from the pilot projects are taken up and embedded to address systemic issues. Current examples where these systemic issues can be addressed include: • Integrated transport information products such as community and regional transport resources (for both commercial and community vehicles), information on subsidy assistance, agencies that can provide volunteer assistance and accessibility maps for communities (such as those developed by Bass Coast and Mt Beauty). • Integration of transport into service planning at a statewide level, including disability, health and HACC service plans. This activity has begun at a local level whereby pilot projects have contributed to strategic plans of local government and local agencies, 17 ‘Flexible Transport Solutions’, A Victorian Government Initiative, Fact Sheet May 2006. Final Evaluation - Transport Connections Program 2006 35 © 2006 KPMG, an Australian partnership, is part of the KPMG International network. KPMG International is a Swiss cooperative. All rights reserved. The KPMG logo and name are trademarks of KPMG.
ABCD Department of Human Services Transport Connections Program Government July 2006 however, this needs to be taken up and embedded with statewide departmental plans for service delivery. • Integrated planning and assessment of the take up of new routes/new services by either public, private or community transport providers. Embedding change at a statewide level will build off the current work being undertaken at a local level by the pilot projects, and lead to a focus on a multi-dimensional view of service delivery planning and integration across the State. Recommendation 1: Transport disadvantage should be recognised as factor needing to be addressed within communities. Strategies for minimising the level of transport disadvantage should be embedded into all planning activities undertaken by both the State Government Departments and Local Governments. 5.2 Measuring transport disadvantage Measuring transport disadvantage from a community perspective is essential in formulating a planned response to transport disadvantage. While the pilot projects have been successful in highlighting transport need (a proxy for transport disadvantage), understanding how the communities are transport disadvantaged is an important first step in undertaking the necessary actions to address this. Developing an indicator/s for assessment of transport disadvantage should be the next step for the lead agencies involved in TCP. One method is to link into the current work being undertaken by the DVC in measuring community capacity and connection, via the DVC Outcomes Framework that provides the basis for monitoring changes in key aspects of community strength/capacity. In particular, indicators on transport disadvantage could be developed that link into the following elements of the Outcomes Framework: 18 • service improvement outcomes (for example, better access to services, improved partnerships between community/business/government) • improvement in community connectedness (such as, more people involved in active recreation and sport, more volunteers from diverse backgrounds). These indicators could be incorporated into the framework with information relating to these indicators being collected via the Victorian Population Health Survey, conducted in a joint effort between DHS and DVC. Recommendation 2: Measures of transport disadvantage should be developed and integrated into current DVC community capacity building tools to: • support an ongoing understanding of the level of transport disadvantage within communities and identify the need for appropriate actions. 18 “Community Strength in Victoria”, page 6. Accessed at www.dvc.vic.gov.au on 1 July 2006. Final Evaluation - Transport Connections Program 2006 36 © 2006 KPMG, an Australian partnership, is part of the KPMG International network. KPMG International is a Swiss cooperative. All rights reserved. The KPMG logo and name are trademarks of KPMG.
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Transport Connections Evaluation Report - TDSA

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