Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 18-36
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18 This chapter describes a diverse range of strategies that organizations have implemented to address the five critical objectives identified in Section 3.3. The chapter also provides examples of how organizations have implemented these strategies, including references to case studies in Appendix B
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 19 4.1 Improving Coordination Research on regional planning, including planning for improved connectivity and accessibility, shows that linking planning processes and programs so that they support a shared sense of vision and strategies is an important component of success (NADO Research Foundation, 2016)
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20 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas There are many successful strategies and structures for coordination. This section describes (1)
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 21 DOT, n.d.)
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22 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas Pooling Resources for Rural Planning and Accessing Funds While many states and regions have formalized councils and partnerships, in other cases, rural areas rely on less-formalized processes for pooling resources and establishing peer exchanges in order to meet planning needs and access funds. The interviews revealed several examples of these processes.
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 23 • The Coastal Regional Commission (CRC) of Georgia has worked to stretch the regulatory boundaries of funding sources to allow it to provide transit services between its jurisdiction and neighboring jurisdictions.
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24 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas city of Denison (population: 8,362) and two employers, one each in the cities of Harlan (population: 4,881)
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 25 • Coordinate across boundaries. Agencies can sometimes enhance coordination and resource sharing by changing regulations that exist at jurisdictional boundaries.
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26 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas Engagement Through Coordination In Idaho, the Idaho Regional Partnership's Community Review program is an example in which a coordinating agency provides continuous opportunity for public involvement. The Community Review program helps communities with populations less than 10,000 develop action plans for high-priority projects.
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 27 areas lack broadband connections necessary to use virtual engagement, this approach still provides an opportunity to involve people who are unable to attend in-person meetings because of work or childcare commitments, transportation barriers, and other challenges. The Langlade County Department of Health and Aspirus Langlade Hospital in Antigo, Wisconsin, used an online survey to collect input (see text box on Community Health Needs Assessments)
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28 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas Evaluation and Access to Funds Several interviewees, including state DOT and regional economic development agency staff, noted that rural projects often score poorly on metrics used to evaluate projects or programs and allocate funds. Due to low population and job density, rural transportation projects typically score poorly on magnitude-based metrics, including average daily traffic and vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 29 However, Iowa DOT conducted statewide analysis that also benefits its rural regions. Through development of Iowa Public Transit 2050 Long Range Plan, Iowa DOT analyzed data to come up with composite Transit Dependency Scores at the census block group level for the entire state (Iowa DOT, 2020)
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30 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas Evaluation for Planning and Monitoring Evaluation is also an important tool outside of the funding application and allocation process. Many of the proposed metrics in the previous section are useful for organizations making planning decisions or monitoring performance as well.
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 31 • Quantify the predicted economic impacts of proposed policies, programs, and infrastructure investments. Measuring impacts in terms of jobs created, businesses attracted, or economic benefits to specific stakeholders -- such as the economic value of a reduction in missed health appointments to a major health care institution -- can demonstrate value that may not be reflected by more standard metrics.
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32 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas Tools that Expand Staff Capacity Purchasing commercial tools and datasets, or leveraging publicly available tools and datasets, can help agencies save staff time, allowing them to do more evaluation and analysis. Appendix C of this report includes materials and reference sheets detailing tools and datasets that can support accessibility analysis and planning.
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 33 130 federal programs that can pay for transportation of some kind, each with unique application requirements. Fund Braiding Fund braiding describes multiple independent funding streams coming together to fund a single project.
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34 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas process for grant funds, designed to encourage small jurisdictions with limited staff to easily submit applications. Through this mechanism, LHTAC funds about 30 applications a year, for projects ranging from purchasing street signs to developing transportation plans.
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Strategies for Achieving Objectives 35 • DANC in New York State has used public-private initiatives to engage the private sector in providing the most cost-effective services possible. It established a revenue-sharing program in which DANC allows wireless providers to access its cable, saving them start-up costs; in return, DANC shares in the revenues the providers get from customers.
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36 Access to Jobs, Economic Opportunities, and Education in Rural Areas • Form public-private partnerships. PPPs are a common way of funding and financing large infrastructure projects.
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