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73 Chapter 6 NEXT STEPS This research project presents a much more complete picture of veteransâ mobility than had previously existed. Still, there are many issues left to be explored or explored in greater depth. This chapter discusses those issues. AN IMPORTANT PRECURSOR The VA has recently increased its attention to transportation services for veterans by establishing a Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) in the Chief Business Office of the Veterans Health Administration and staffing that group. VTS is implementing a transportation initiative that currently supports four pilot demonstration sites and plans to add 22 more sites in FY 2010. These are significant steps because, as shown in the many cases in previous chapters, substantial achievementsâincluding increases in the volume of trips and the cost-effectiveness of those tripsâ can be achieved when VSOs and community transportation providers coordinate their efforts. In communities where substantial coordination exists, duplicative operational, administrative, and capital expenses are unnecessary and higher-quality services to veterans are provided more promptly
74 and to a wider range of destinations. In many instances, transportation services for veterans need not be provided in a separate and distinct manner from those transportation services being provided to other riders, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, and members of the general public. CONDUCT IN-DEPTH CASE STUDIES The case studies that are included in this report should represent thumbnail sketches of sites that deserve substantially greater attention. In addition, there certainly are other sites that deserve case study attention. The new case studies should involve a much greater depth of information, focusing on specific details of costs and outcomes. In-depth visits to a dozen or more sites should be planned. A common framework for examining and reporting on programs involving mobility improvements for veterans should be established for all case studies, including: History: when started, by whom, including which stakeholders Local goals and objectives Current transportation operations: days, times, origins, destinations, trip purposes, wheelchair accessible transportation provided or not, funding sources (including detailed descriptions of who pays for what), and total dollar costs expressed in a common framework of detailed expense categories44 Outputs: numbers of trips, miles, hours of service, persons served by type and number Rider inputs regarding service quality Special features (if any): volunteers, special services, unusual funding sources Outcomes: impacts on veteransâ lives, other community impacts Unmet goals and planned improvements Transferability of the lessons of each particular case study to other sites. A key focal point of future efforts should be that of explaining factors that influence the relative levels of success or the factors that inhibit successes. Another focal point should be that of providing sufficiently detailed information to ensure the replicability in other communities of successful innovations that improve the mobility of veterans. 44 The required level of cost details is shown in Burkhardt, J., et al. (2011). TCRP Report 144: Sharing the Costs of Human Services Transportation, Transit Cooperative Research Program, Transportation Research Board, The National Academies, Washington, DC.
75 DEVELOP A MODEL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS FOR IMPROVING THE MOBILITY OF VETERANS There is a strong need for a âhow-toâ toolkit describing how communities could implement improvements to the mobility of veterans. This report has described very different instances of transportation services that improve the mobility of veterans; a number of these services can be described as âhome grownâ operations that fulfill obvious transportation needs but might have been even more effective had they followed widely used planning tools and practices. This report has provided (in Chapter 5) some initial data collection tools that are needed to start the transportation planning process, but much more work needs to be done in the area of developing a model transportation planning process for improving the mobility of veterans. Whenever a need to engage in new ventures presents itself, planning is critical. The toolkit would describe what steps to take, who to involve, and the results that are needed. Instructions have been developed for each of the implementation steps below for coordinated transportation planning,45 but previous efforts have not included techniques for involving VA or VSOs. This needs to be done. The generally recommended implementation steps46 are as follows: Step # 1âInitiate the Improvement Process. Form a task force or steering committee and decide to move forward. Step # 2âAnalyze Existing Conditions. Understand issues, needs, and circumstances, and define local conditions. Step # 3âEstablish Focus, Consensus, and Direction. Agree on the problem, develop a consensus, and set a direction. Step # 4âDesign Alternative Courses of Action. Develop alternative coordination strategies. Step # 5âAssess Alternative Options. Evaluate the alternatives and select the coordination option to implement. Step # 6âImplement the Preferred Choice. Formulate action plans and implement coordinated transportation services. Step # 7âEvaluate and Improve the System(s) Implemented. Review and evaluate progress. 45 Burkhardt, J., Nelson, C.A., Murray, G., and Koffman, D. (2004). TCRP Report 101: Toolkit for Rural Community Coordinated Transportation Services, Transit Cooperative Research Program, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC. 46 Ibid.
76 The toolkit for expanding mobility options for veterans would describe how to bring local agencies and organizations together to develop and implement a comprehensive veteransâ transportation services plan. âComprehensive veteransâ transportation servicesâ means a network of transportation services responsive to veteransâ needs, not only for transportation to medical appointments and other health care services, but also to jobs, shopping, community services, and all other transportation needed to ensure the full integration of veterans, especially those who are disabled, into their communities. The toolkit should describe options for a lead agency or organization that will take the lead to invite potential partners (both public- and private-sector agencies and organizations) to the table, including veterans themselves, to brainstorm and negotiate about how these transportation needs can be met. The toolkit would also describe the role of the focal point agency as the convener of a dialogue among these community agencies on how to meet the transportation needs of local veterans and as the facilitator of a collaborative process in which these agencies develop a comprehensive local transportation services plan for veterans that they will jointly implement. The comprehensive transportation services plan should spell out all the resources each of the local community partners has committed to enhance transportation opportunities for veterans, as well as the specific actions each will take individually and in collaboration with other local partners to implement the plan. ASSESS TRANSPORTATION NEEDS OF SPECIAL GROUPS OF VETERANS Much more research needs to be done on the transportation needs of a number of special veteran groups: this work should start with women and tribal veterans. There may be some results from the 2009 National Survey of Veterans that would help point to specific concerns or communities with specific concerns but, as noted in Chapter 1, there are some serious limitations regarding the breadth of data from that survey. A national survey of transportation issues faced by veterans would be an extremely effective resource for contrasting transportation needs of veterans in general with specific travel needs of veterans who are female or tribal members. Access issues involving all types of destinations, not just those destinations involving medical care.
77 DEVELOP PROGRAM EVALUATION TOOLS FOR VSO TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS VSO transportation program managers need appropriate metrics so that they can measure their own programs in a numeric format. They need to know what questions to address, what kind of data to collect, what kinds of analyses to perform, and what kinds of reports to submit. While such procedures are well-established in the transportation community, someone from outside the transportation profession may find it difficult to obtain or understand some of these materials. A handbook of such materials should be developed especially for veteransâ service organizations. For example, information presented in TCRP Report 14447 on generating accurate reports of transportation costs and services, which are needed for equitable cost sharing among multiple transportation providers, could be summarized for veteransâ service organizations. SUMMARIZE LESSONS LEARNED FROM VA TRANSPORTATION DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS A key next step would be to disseminate the findings from VTSâs transportation demonstration projects to the rest of the transportation community as they become available in the next several years. To the extent that these projects demonstrate innovative approaches to meeting the mobility needs of veterans, the lessons that they describe should be widely demonstrated. It is important to remember that VTSâs demonstration projects currently focus on improvements to the access to medical care by veterans; to date, they generally exclude other trip purposes. STUDY VETERANSâ TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS IN OTHER COUNTRIES Some people believe that transportation services for veterans in the United States could be improved by studying transportation systems for veterans in other countries. Turkey and Israel have been mentioned several times as countries that have particularly effective transportation programs for their veterans of military service. 47 Ibid.
