National Academies Press: OpenBook

A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies (2021)

Chapter: Appendix D - Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants

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Page 70
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D - Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26145.
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Page 70
Page 71
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D - Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26145.
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Page 71
Page 72
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D - Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26145.
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Page 72

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70 Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants The Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder partnered with the research team to facilitate advertisement and award of three Quick Response Grants on timely topics relevant to NCHRP Research Report 963/TCRP Research Report 225: A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies. Table D-1 lists the subject of each of the three grant projects as well as the researchers on the project and their organizational affiliations. Some of these research projects are still under way. Preliminary results are summarized below. Preliminary Research Results Transit cutbacks and COVID-19 both disproportionately affect lower-income commu- nities in Atlanta, Georgia (Project: Equitable Mobility in Times of Pandemic). • The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of transit riders by as much as 80%. In response, the agencies have drastically reallocated service and eliminated routes to operate with greater frequency on other, more essential routes. As states and cities reopen, ridership may remain low in the face of service sector unemployment, social distancing, and perceptions that public transit is a super-spreader of COVID-19, all of which may lead riders to seek alternative modes of transit. Yet, there is a subgroup of mostly essential, low-income workers who remain dependent on public transit. • Reduced ridership and resulting service cutbacks have exacerbated accessibility problems long facing lower-income communities in Atlanta, even as evidence emerges that low- income African-American communities are more affected by COVID-19 than the rest of the population. • Rider concerns for transit include cleanliness of stations and transit vehicles, elimination of bus routes necessary for essential workers, and improving communication about both system and expected passenger responses. Riders are willing to walk to bus stops, but barriers such as the lack of sidewalks or areas of high traffic impede them. Transit agencies’ communications are generally good but could be improved with regard to vulnerable populations (Project: Content Analysis of Web-Based Communication Strategies Used by Public Transit Agencies in Major U.S. Cities During the COVID-19 Pandemic). • Transportation is considered one of the most important social determinants of health. Particularly in the United States, access to affordable, accessible, and reliable transportation increases access to essential services, resources, and opportunities such as jobs, health care, and education. However, transportation barriers prevent 3.6 million Americans from receiv- ing medical care each year. A P P E N D I X D

Preliminary Results of Quick Response Grants 71 • Those most affected by transportation barriers are vulnerable populations who are more likely to rely on public transit, including individuals from low-resource communities, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. As the nation simultaneously navigates a global pandemic and a powerful and complex civil rights movement to combat racial inequities and disparities, access to transportation is an important part of the discussion. • Analysis of the websites and Twitter feeds of 16 nationally distributed transit agencies (with the largest ridership) that were assessed between March 1 and August 31, 2020, revealed that – 100% covered COVID-19 in their communications, and the majority were well-organized; – 94% provided adjusted schedule information because of COVID-19; – 94% targeted vulnerable populations through media channels such as print, TV, radio, websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media; – 91% provided information about what customers should do and how to behave for safety; – 85% described how facilities and equipment were being sanitized for safety; – 82% used images in COVID-19–related messages to reflect racial and ethnic diversity, but only 21% reflected disability diversity; – 73% provided text alternatives for graphics, although only 36% were considered adequate; – 69% communicated the message that social distancing and other protective measures would protect both riders and operators; – 66% provided clearly marked information about COVID-19 schedule changes and safety information; – 38% recognized that vulnerable populations are more likely to use public transit or described actions specifically taken to keep vulnerable populations safe; and – 32% provided messages specifically for individuals with disabilities or mobility needs. These findings suggest that public transit agencies may not be disseminating information optimally and should consider improvements to help vulnerable populations be adequately informed during times of an emergency such as COVID-19. Evacuations are more difficult during pandemics (Project: Adapting Transportation to Accommodate Populations Vulnerable to COVID-19 in Hazardous Settings). • Studies of evacuation behavior within Hampton Roads, Virginia, in response to Hurricanes Irene and Florence indicated that vulnerable and medically fragile populations have a lower propensity to evacuate relative to nonvulnerable populations. Project Researchers Organizational Affiliation Equitable Mobility in Times of Pandemic Chris Wyczalkowski Deirdre Oakley Karen Johnston Stacie Kershner Fei Li Niklas Vollmer Prentiss Dantzler Georgia State University Content Analysis of Web-Based Communication Strategies Used by Public Transit Agencies in Major U.S. Cities During the COVID-19 Pandemic Jessica Franks Erin Vinoski Thomas Georgia State University Adapting Transportation to Accommodate Populations Vulnerable to COVID-19 in Hazardous Settings Nicole Hutton Jennifer Whytlaw Saige Hill Old Dominion University Table D-1. Quick Response Grant Projects and Teams.

72 A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies • Surveys showed that the intent to evacuate and seek shelter in Hampton Roads was elevated above previous behavior but that COVID-19–related financial concerns were preventing some from considering it. Seventy-two percent of those who did evacuate and 40% of those who went to public shelters planned to evacuate for a major hurricane in 2020. Of those who did not evacuate in 2018, 29% would do so in 2020. Of those who evacuated for Hurricane Florence but would not evacuate in 2020, 73% cited insufficient cash or credit on hand as a contributor to the decision. This means more people with limited resources might remain in high-risk areas in the 2020 hurricane season unless alternative options for transportation and shelter are available. • Fifty percent of those who did evacuate and 60% of those who went to public shelters in 2018 were considering going to a public shelter in 2020. Of those who did not evacuate in 2018, 12% would go to a public shelter in 2020. Of those who would not consider going to a public shelter, 70% reported that concerns about COVID-19 transmission contributed to the decision. • Under the compound pandemic–hurricane scenario, the demands for evacuation assistance will be increased and the capacity to meet these demands will be truncated (e.g., furloughs, budget shortfalls, and ridership limits). • Evacuation contracts require renegotiation to account for bus company closures associated with financial strain during the pandemic and to implement new COVID-19 health and safety protocols. • New and expanded partnerships were established in some states to meet demand and account for heightened staff needs to increase route frequency and the expected failure of staff to report for shifts owing to their own vulnerability to or anxiety about COVID-19 transmission. Transportation network companies agreed to contract with emergency management between 72 and 48 hours before a storm to speed evacuation and provide noncongregate transporta- tion options. Riders would either receive a voucher to use in the appropriate app or have their vehicle booked for them directly in the company’s portal. Rides could go either to a friend or relative’s home or to a public shelter. • Thinking of the future, participants suggested infrastructural changes, including alternative pickup points, retrofitting, and identification of shelters of last resort. • Evacuation guidance during a pandemic is to stay locally with friends or family with a residence that can withstand expected winds and is above expected flood levels rather than evacuate outside the region. • Another strategy was summed up as follows: “Outside storm surge zones, we are promoting ‘Know Your Home’—that is, if your home is built to code and is in a safe space, maybe stay home.”

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A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies Get This Book
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Understanding pandemics, their impacts to transportation, and potential effective response has become more important, not only for the response to COVID-19, but also if, as the World Health Organization warns, we are now “living in a time of viruses.”

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Program have jointly issued NCHRP Research Report 963/TCRP Research Report 225: A Pandemic Playbook for Transportation Agencies, which was created to improve transportation agency responses to a pandemic.

The Playbook concentrates on what needs to be done, when and by whom. It briefly addresses planning for a pandemic, a topic addressed in greater depth in NCHRP Report 769: A Guide for Public Transportation Pandemic Planning and Response. It summarizes effective practices currently used by transportation agencies based on interviews with state departments of transportation and transit agency leaders and operational personnel, supplemented with national and international research results.

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