Travel Training for Older Adults Part II: Research Report and Case Studies (2014)

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28 Characteristics of Successful Travel Training Programs The Attributes of Successful Travel Training Key characteristics of successful travel training programs for older adults include at least the following elements: • Success means demonstrating that older adults who have completed travel training programs have already experienced (or are quite likely to experience) measur- able mobility improvements. This means that they now have the skills to travel independently more often and to access more destinations within a reasonable level of expense. • Success means that the travel training programs are tar- geting and graduating at least some people who might otherwise be expected to face significant mobility problems (such as, for example, gradually losing their ability to drive and losing their access and mobility). • Success means that there are demonstrably positive outcomes for local transportation services: for example, ridership on fixed routes has increased; ridership on ADA paratransit has not increased to the extent otherwise expected without the travel training programs; seniors make greater use of other mobility options; and the cost of providing the training is reasonable for the benefits received. • Success means that the program keeps accurate records of its costs, activities, and results to better meet its goals and manage its operations, create a constant improvement cycle leading to greater cost effectiveness, and demonstrate results to key stakeholders. • Success means that the travel training program is able to generate support that can sustain its activities over an extended period of time. This chapter takes an in-depth look at some of the attri- butes of successful programs using the seven in-depth case studies as information sources. Components of Successful Travel Training Programs What’s special and unique about successful programs? It appears that, to be successful, a travel training program must include competencies in a full range of travel training ser- vices, including outreach, training of trainers, training of individuals, and other programs to meet constituents’ needs. Successful travel training programs often focus on the fol- lowing principles and attributes, while taking advantage of unique factors in their communities: • Developing an overall program philosophy. • Tailoring travel training to individual needs. • Tailoring travel training to the local community. • Hiring travel trainers with the right personal qualities. • Providing strong organizational and management leader- ship and support. • Building and maintaining flexible, collaborative relationships. • Involving and recognizing volunteers. • Evaluating travel training outcomes. • Realizing the benefits of technology. • Identifying and retaining funding sources. The following pages discuss these factors and offer some examples of how they have been applied by some successful programs. Developing an Overall Program Philosophy and Mission As noted earlier, most travel trainers emphasized that the purpose of the training is to increase the number of travel options available to people rather than to “get them off para- transit.” Travel training can benefit transit agencies by increas- ing the use of public transit and contributing to a mobility options philosophy (providing people with more options). C H A P T E R 3

29 Some participants reported informally that they used both paratransit and public transit after completing the training, depending on the purpose of trips and conditions under which they were undertaken. Mobility training benefits transit pro- viders since it encourages the use of the most appropriate and cost-effective transit options for all riders. Ride Connection believes that a key to the success of its RideWise travel training program is its focus, in numerous ways, on creating a core philosophy and delivering a clear and consistent message to all members of the community. One component of this messaging is its focus on “building trust in the most respectful way,” both with its travel training customers and with its partners. A manifestation of this is the practice of treating all trainees as “customers,” not “clients” or “students.” The focus on individuals as customers is a key component of Ride Connection’s practice of mobility management, and this includes attention to the feelings of the customers, which may include attention to concepts of dignity and fears of losing independence. It is vital to understand each person, his or her skill sets and other resources, and his or her travel needs. There is no typical training experience; Ride Connec- tion’s program is highly flexible and highly tailored to specific individuals. Tailoring Travel Training to Individual Needs While there are many older adults who do not need indi- vidualized training to fulfill their travel needs, the most suc- cessful training programs provide the possibility of highly tailored one-on-one training. The initial step in meeting indi- vidual needs is to explore available transportation options with new customers based on that customer’s specific needs, ability level, proximity to transit, as well as their wishes and transportation goals. An appointment with the customer in his or her own home for an initial interview is a data-intensive means of starting a training program because of the insights it offers. If the decision is made to provide individualized training, other key steps include the travel trainer scouting preferred walking and riding travel routes and establishing an individualized training plan that may vary in length and intensity depending upon the individual’s response to the training program. For example, Via Mobility’s one-on-one training is custom- ized to the individual being trained. It includes an in-home mobility skills assessment, pre-trip planning, and hands-on travel training. Customization is based on an initial in-home assessment, completion of a training progress checklist dur- ing the training process, and a mobility training summary completed by the trainer upon training completion. Follow- up surveys are also conducted with participants. Riverside’s Freedom to Go travel training program has three full-time travel trainers. Each of the travel trainers focuses on different segments of the population, with one of the three trainers focused on older adults. Tailoring Travel Training to Your Local Community It is extremely important to tailor travel training efforts to the persons and resources in the local community. Under- standing the local culture of senior citizens is vital, as is a com- plete and thorough inventory of local transportation services. Key factors include the local culture, resources, and spatial dis- tribution of destinations. Understanding these factors is con- sidered a key part of any successful travel training program. Hiring Travel Trainers with the Right Personal Qualities A competent staff that excels in customer service is a key to program success. A common theme voiced by travel training staff was that the personal qualities of trainers are often more important than job experience or background, although several programs have had substantial success employing trainers with a social services background. The travel trainers must enjoy working with people, and they must be confident in what they do. Trainers must be able to connect with par- ticipants. Personal traits of trainers such as empathy, likabil- ity, respect, patience, and kindness are central to this ability. Trainer credibility was also seen to be enhanced when the trainer was an actual transit user. Critical thinking was con- sidered to be important to trainer effectiveness, and having established relationships in the transportation community was considered a bonus. The travel trainers not only teach how to get on and off public transportation, they also teach safety practices and support confidence development in the riders, thereby encouraging them to continue to ride public transportation. Trainers must be flexible, resilient, and calm, as they often encounter unexpected changes in the real-world training environment. Providing Strong Organizational and Management Leadership and Support The person leading the program makes a significant dif- ference. A dynamic leader with strong interpersonal skills, a passion for this kind of work, and expertise in areas important to the populations served—including aging and disabili- ties—can make a program quite successful. This person plays a central role in building and sustaining relationships with key organizational stakeholders in the community, as well as working directly with program participants. NJTIP @ Rutgers’ Connect to Transit Training Program teaches professionals and volunteers from social services

30 agencies, schools, and senior residences how to become informed advocates for public transportation, so they can better assist their clients, students, and residents with navi- gating the public transportation network. The seminars are specifically geared to using NJ TRANSIT bus and rail systems. The Connect to Transit Training Program may benefit seniors to the extent that human services and community services professionals who work with seniors may participate in the training, become more informed about public transporta- tion and the availability of travel training, and become more willing to recommend travel training to seniors with whom they work. Building and Maintaining Flexible, Collaborative Relationships As might be expected, all of the case study programs are heavily dependent on partnerships to support their travel training activities. Key partners include transit agencies that are not only a primary funding source, but also provide refer- rals to clients who either may not be eligible for ADA para- transit services or who transit agency staff think might benefit from using a mix of fixed route travel and ADA paratransit, as appropriate. Transit agencies also offer fixed routes to provide flexibility and lower cost alternatives when appropriate. Human and social services agencies that provide services to individuals with disabilities or special travel needs serve a key role by providing referrals and developing travel training programs to assist their constituencies. Senior centers and senior housing complexes, especially those that are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are key partners, particularly for group travel training. Hos- pitals are also key partners at some sites. Several programs, as described above, offer training to staff and volunteers in partnering agencies to make them aware of fixed route transit options and the potential benefits of travel training for their clients. Word of mouth referrals are considered important. Programs need to be flexible so that they take advantage of opportunities that arise in the community, as well as being responsive to the changing needs of the populations they serve. Such relationships are critical to the success of the program because of the opportunity they afford to leverage resources as well as continue to bring people in need into the program. These relationships are the necessary starting point for trust, something that is central to program success. Typical program partners include the local public tran- sit authority, adult and senior centers, mental health clin- ics, health care providers, community centers, health and rehabilitation centers, independent living resource centers, denominational community organizations, private taxi ser- vices, private transportation providers, and other community organizations. In Portland, Ride Connection has extremely strong sup- port from TriMet, the local public transit authority. Ride Connection started the RideWise program in 2004 as a result of an internal review at TriMet. Ride Connection has devel- oped partnerships with more than 30 separate partner agen- cies in the area, including adult and senior centers, mental health clinics, health care providers, and others. The Rider’s Voice is a book featuring the stories of 25 new independent travelers and advocates who have shared in the RideWise experience. This book, whose development was paid for by TriMet, includes stories that are first-person accounts of what it means to travel independently and to move about the community with purpose and without harm. Both Ride Connection and TriMet have successfully used this book to educate their Boards of Directors and various members of the community about the benefits of improving mobility for seniors and other individuals who might need travel training or other support to become more independent in their use of travel options. Paratransit, Inc. works with the community to make sure that the travel training program is a success. It has created working relationships with senior communities, senior pro- grams, and with senior centers in the Sacramento area. The travel training program typically visits the senior complexes once a year to promote travel training. If requested, Paratran- sit, Inc. will return to a senior complex more than once a year if the complex experiences a high turnover rate of residents; if they are not asked, they will ask to come back in a year. NJTIP @ Rutgers’ partnerships with NJ TRANSIT, the towns in the seven-county service area, and social services agencies that work with seniors are continuing to provide forums for NJTIP to provide travel training to seniors. NJTIP’s ability to ensure its sustainability by negotiating to become part of the Voorhees Center at Rutgers University is evidence of sound fiscal and educational practices and an endorsement of the program’s potential. One of the reasons that The Kennedy Center has been suc- cessful is that it has worked effectively with the many transit districts within the state, particularly those in the southwest part of Connecticut and the larger urban transit districts. Its methods have been effective in training individuals, as rec- ognized by feedback from participants to referring agencies and TKC, and as demonstrated by its continued success in being awarded statewide grant funding. Involving and Recognizing Volunteers Volunteers can play a critical role in reaching out to the wider community, especially when resources are scarce. Paratransit, Via Mobility, and Ride Connection make substantial use of volunteers. RideWise and its partners also see significant benefits accruing to the volunteers who are involved in the

31 program. Partner agencies report high levels of satisfaction among the volunteers who work with the RideWise program. The peer-to-peer volunteer model was seen as an important component of a successful program. Evaluating Travel Training Outcomes Evaluating travel training outcomes clearly requires detailed records of costs and benefits. Transit agencies have discovered that mobility training costs are small when com- pared to the costs of ADA transit service, which can make the potential for savings substantial: • In Sacramento, Paratransit, Inc. calculated the cost avoid- ance over the last 17 years to be $20,588,458. • In Portland, the RideWise program conservatively esti- mates its program benefits as a 3 to 1 ratio of benefits to costs over a 1-year period. At the same time, RideWise believes that one “cannot measure program success solely by ADA cost avoidance.” In Sacramento, travel training is considered to be a valuable program because the trainers can see how the increasing inde- pendence in the ability to get around changes the participants’ personalities for the better. In Boulder, program staff mem- bers noted that the most compelling evidence of success comes from individuals’ personal stories about how their quality of life has been enhanced. More information on program benefits was earlier pre- sented in the “Travel Training Program Outcomes” section of Chapter 2. Realizing the Benefits of Technology Riverside provides an example of how farebox technology can be used to track ridership and demonstrate the results of its travel training program. Free fares on fixed route pub- lic transportation service are provided to those persons who have received travel training. This enables RTA to use record- ing farebox technology to measure and evaluate use of fixed route service after travel training has been completed. For people with disabilities using paratransit service, RTA pro- vides a monthly pass on a continuing basis for those who complete travel training and use fixed route service for their travel. For older adults not eligible for ADA paratransit service, RTA introduces them to travel training in a group session and selects one senior from a group to be their travel training advocate to encourage other seniors in the group to travel. The senior advocate receives a monthly pass for his or her use as seniors in the group complete travel training. Each senior who completes the training receives a monthly pass good for 1 month. RTA uses its recording farebox technology to track the fixed route travel, on a trainee by trainee basis, by seniors and people with disabilities who use their monthly pass to ride. If RTA observes that use of fixed route service has stopped or declined, travel trainers will check back with the riders to understand why their use has declined. Refresher training will be offered and completed to restore use of fixed route service. Identifying and Retaining Funding and Other Resources Most of the case study programs serve both individuals with disabilities, seniors with disabilities, and often serve seniors who may not have a disability. In many cases, ADA-eligible individuals are a major group of trainees, in part because many programs have depended on New Freedom grant fund- ing that is passed through their state governments to facilitate travel training. Most programs are dependent on a few but highly focused funding sources, including state departments of transportation, state transit agencies, or local government agencies. The budgets for the seven case study programs range from a bit more than $200,000 (Riverside) to $855,000 (the RTA in Chicago). Via Mobility Services provides travel training services with funding from Boulder County, the city of Boulder, the Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council (DRMAC), the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the United Way, and the Rose Foundation. Many of these latter sources provide funds to the overall Via Mobility Services, which then allocates them among its many programs. Revenues for Paratransit’s program in Sacramento come from vendor agreements with the Alta California Regional Center (ACRC) and the California State Department of Reha- bilitation (DOR). The ACRC and DOR pay an hourly rate for training their clients. Additional funding came from a New Freedom grant, a Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) grant, and from the South Area Transportation Management Asso- ciation (TMA). Also, Paratransit, under the name Innovative Paradigms, provides consulting services and travel training program management for other agencies to bring in additional revenue for the agency and the local program. Paratransit, Via Mobility, and Ride Connection make sub- stantial use of volunteers. Ride Connection in Portland uses 40 volunteers who contribute almost 1,300 hours a year lead- ing group trips, co-presenting senior training, serving as transit advocates, or participating as work group members. Key Features of Successful Programs Most programs, including travel training programs, can be described by their components. A typical program descrip- tion would include program focus, program development,

32 partnership development, staff, program operations, out- reach, and monitoring and evaluation. Based on the research conducted for the case studies, some details of these components are typically as follows: • Program focus: Tailor training to individual needs and capabilities. Focus on customer service. • Program development: Provide a program that reflects local community transportation resources. Develop the training program with inputs from audiences and providers. • Partnership development: Partner with key community stakeholders. Get community stakeholders invested in travel training. Be able to work with a variety of community partners. Develop strong support of the local public transit agency. Obtain internal organizational support from your parent organization. • Staff: Hire travel training staff based on personal qualifica- tions (compassion, understanding the value of travel train- ing), including social services experience, not academic qualifications. Focus on “people skills.” Depth of staff expe- rience is important. • Program operations: Obtain sustainable funding. Inte- grate travel training information into agency marketing and branding efforts. Market the program through educational outreach. Assess each specific individual’s or group’s needs and capabilities. Do initial individual assessments in the homes of potential trainees. Develop forms and procedures that are written and replicable. Target group training to high- volume residential/work locations. • Outreach: Look beyond ADA for trainees and benefits: reach out to more than ADA-eligible travel training candi- dates. Include older adults, not just ADA-eligible trainees. • Monitoring and evaluation: Continually monitor and ana- lyze program impacts. Follow-up over time to document results and offer more training if needed. Have a perfor- mance measurement system to evaluate “success.” From one perspective, all of these components are keys to successful programs. Each of these categories represents an important facet of travel training, but some elements stand out as a bit more important than others. Based on informa- tion from the case studies and analyses by the research team, the following travel training program components seem to deserve great attention: • Hiring travel training staff based on personal qualifica- tions (like compassion and understanding the value of travel training), social services experience, and depth of experience; “people skills” are most important. • Tailoring training to individual needs and capabilities. Focusing on customer service. • Obtaining sustainable funding. • Partnering with key community stakeholders. • Continually monitoring and analyzing program impacts. Following up over time to document results and to offer more training if needed. Developing a performance mea- surement system to evaluate program success. Document- ing the quantitative and qualitative results with regular program reports. • Integrating travel training into agency marketing and branding efforts; marketing the program through educa- tional outreach, especially to program partners. Finding the Right Combination of Factors While all of the above elements are vital, real success depends upon the ability to put together a package that responds to the unique resources and challenges of each locality. Each of the case study sites developed their own combination for progress, as shown in these examples. • In Boulder, Via Mobility attributes the success of its pro- grams to the following principles and attributes: personal qualities of the trainers, strong leadership, consideration of the larger context, recognizing and appreciating vol- unteers, building and maintaining collaborative relation- ships, responsiveness to changing community needs and funding sources, and competencies in a full range of travel training services. • Chicago’s RTA believes that the following factors seem to be important: all but one of the travel trainers come from a social services background; the other trainer comes from a rehabilitation background; the RTA Board is supportive; the one-on-one training is very intensive; and the work is done in-house with RTA employees, which makes manage- ment of their program easier for them. • The NJTIP @ Rutgers program is successful, in part, because it demonstrated that an existing program from The Kennedy Center, Inc. could be adapted for use by another jurisdiction. Also, NJTIP’s partnerships with NJ TRANSIT, the towns in the seven-county service area, and social services agencies that work with seniors are continu- ing to provide forums for NJTIP to provide travel training to seniors. While the change in management could have been a challenge, the stability of Rutgers University as an oper- ational base is thought by both NJTIP and the Voorhees Center to be an asset. • Ride Connection believes that a key to the success of their RideWise travel training program is creating a core phi- losophy and delivering a clear and consistent message to all members of the community. The focus on individuals as customers is a key component of their practice of mobility

33 management; this includes attention to the feelings of the customers and understanding each person, their skill sets and other resources, and their travel needs. A competent staff that excels in customer service is a key to program suc- cess, as is increasing the mobility of potential riders. There are substantial benefits of allowing older adults to age in place, and avoiding the costs of nursing homes is certainly a primary benefit. RideWise reports a positive ratio of ben- efits to costs over a 1-year period and has demonstrated to TriMet that there is a productivity improvement attribut- able to its program that has saved money for TriMet and has slowed the growth of TriMet’s ADA services. TriMet has created spreadsheets to conduct detailed calculations about the benefits of the RideWise travel training program, and considers travel training to be highly cost effective. • In Riverside, a key reason for success is strong organiza- tional support. RTA management started the travel train- ing program slowly and took time to recruit and hire the right people: the hiring process was not focused on aca- demic qualifications but on personal qualities such as heart and compassion. The three travel trainers work very well as a team and meet regularly with ADA paratransit staff. • Paratransit, Inc. has successfully operated the travel train- ing program in Sacramento for the past 30 years. The travel training program has been able to demonstrate consider- able cost savings over this time. The amount of money for travel training has varied from year to year, but Paratransit’s Travel Training Program is designed to be scalable based on the funding that is available from year to year. • TKC believes that one of the reasons that TKC has been suc- cessful is that it has worked effectively with the many transit districts within the state, particularly those in the southwest part of Connecticut and the larger urban transit districts. TKC’s success is also demonstrated by the desire of other northeastern organizations to receive “Train the Trainer” and senior travel training consulting services. TKC provides customized consulting services to help other transit agencies get started and sells three resource guides that can be used by other entities to promote senior travel training. Suggestions for Improved Practices As noted, travel training is a relatively new profession. Cur- rent industry shortcomings focus on a lack of applying defi- nitional standards to training practices and program inputs, outputs, and outcomes, and the lack of data that conclusively link specific travel training techniques or models to specific outcomes. • Available definitions for types of training (for example, one-on-one, group training, and orientations) are not rig- orously applied in all practices. • An agreed-upon methodology for calculating benefits and costs is not available at this time. The literature contains a little information about calculating benefits and costs that has a methodological focus but does not have data associated with it. • Benefits are not precisely defined for the travel training industry at this point in time. • Information that is currently available is almost exclusively focused on the impacts of one-on-one training and on short-term benefits to the exclusion of long-term benefits. These practices lead to a significant understatement of actual benefits. • Among the significant methodological issues in defining benefits and costs is the fact that the costs of travel training are often incurred immediately while the benefits are real- ized over a longer period of time. With some of the basic procedures and practices now estab- lished, the industry needs to focus its attention on measuring its costs, benefits, and successes and transmitting that infor- mation to its sponsors and other stakeholders. In particular, travel training programs need to undertake the following: • Create, distribute, and adhere to common definitions of training activities, inputs, outputs, and outcomes. • Improve documentation of benefits to program partici- pants, family members and caregivers, funding partners, and the community. • Improve documentation of program costs and benefits for all costs incurred across target audiences and across training components (such as one-on-one training and group training) to better understand the costs and benefits of various training approaches and components. • Compare costs and benefits to improve program cost effectiveness. • Implement processes to collect data to create informa- tion that can provide feedback on key program elements— goals, objectives, resource allocations, and more—into training program improvements in a continuous improve- ment cycle. • Find ways to make better use of volunteers. • Broaden the depth and breadth of funding commitments. • Implement processes to collect data from travel training programs that transit providers can use to improve the ser- vices that they offer to older adults and others. Strategies to accomplish at least some of these objectives follow: • Develop more precise statements and measures of vision, mission, goals, and objectives. Focus the goals and objec- tives on reasonable expectations of what can be achieved

34 in terms of outputs and outcomes of training activities. Disseminate this information to key stakeholders. • Adopt and apply industrywide standards for instruc- tional activities for all travel training programs. Areas that could benefit from greater standardization include items such as instructional approaches, personal assess- ments, training plans, training models, and proficiency assessments for program completion. • Adopt and apply industrywide standards of fully allocated cost accounting principles and performance measures for all travel training programs. Industrywide standards are needed for common charts of accounts to record all costs incurred. Similarly, the industry needs agreed-upon standards for measuring program outputs, outcomes, and benefits. • Enhance monitoring and follow-up activities. Follow training program graduates for more than 1 year to better assess the long-term impacts of training. Collect informa- tion on the differences that travel training made in the lives of all participants, including those contacted in group settings, not just those who completed one-on-one training. The results can be used in funding justifications and accountabil- ity reports to funders and service providers that refer clients to the program. Document the impacts that travel training makes in the lives of the trainees and distribute this infor- mation widely. • Use group orientations as a recruitment tool for further group and one-on-one training sessions. • Obtain commitments from Boards of Directors and man- agement staff to the program’s vision and then to adequate funding for the training program. Detailed information about program costs and benefits will substantially enhance this effort. • Convene a national program leadership conference. The travel training industry would benefit from opportunities for leaders of programs (as opposed to individual travel trainers) to interact, share lessons learned, and consider strategies to address specific challenges. The conference could focus on identifying travel training program challenges and best prac- tice solutions.