Canada case study: Getting valuable public input = meeting residents where they're at
Image by City of Calgary
Many folks affected by local gov't decisions aren't giving public comment at City Council—or feel shut down when they try. So how can cities like SJ reach them? The Toronto Star recaps Calgary's highly successful community engagement program, in which a public bus gave free rides on its regular routes (over several months) in exchange for feedback.
[Other gov'ts in Canada are considering modeling programs after] a community engagement bus developed in 2012 as a way for Calgary Transit to gather public input on its 30-year strategic plan, RouteAhead.
For four months the bus travelled to festivals and community events and also on regular routes, where commuters could ride for free in exchange for their ideas on the future of public transit.
Riders were given dinner-plate-sized stickers and pens to write down their wishes. They stuck those desires — things like beefed-up regional service and air conditioning — right on the bus.
The 10-year-old bus was retrofitted with a TV screen and a new seating design to make it easier to circulate.
“Public input was important, but we didn’t want to do it in the traditional style. . . . The main premise was, we’ll come to where you are,” Calgary Transit’s manager of strategic planning, Chris Jordan, told the Star.
It was important for riders to see transit officials and councillors riding routes they use, and the politicians got to hear about a lot of issues besides transit, said Jordan.
“Even when it was running in service, it was a great way to catch the people and get their thoughts on the future of public transit in Calgary. We would tweet where the bus was,” he said. …
The Calgary bus continues to serve the city even though the public engagement exercise for which it was designed is over, said Jordan. As a low-floor, accessible vehicle, it acts as a mobile polling station in elections and can be used for other community events.
The cost of refurbishing the bus: $80,000.
The civic engagement: Priceless.
Read the whole thing here.
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