CONTRA COSTA ACCESSIBLE
TRANSPORTATION STRATEGIC PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARCH 2021
Contra Costa Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Contra Costa Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan was funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant.
Project Team
Peter Engel, Director of Programs, Contra Costa Transportation Authority
John Cunningham, Principal Transportation Planner, Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development
Corinne Dutra-Roberts, Innovative Mobility Programs, Advanced Mobility Group (AMG)
Nelson\Nygaard Consulting
Naomi Armenta, Project Manager
Richard Weiner, Principal in Charge
Marvin Ranaldson
Tanya Shah
Kevin Lucas
Emily Roach
Brian Manford
Kevin Ottem
Executive Summary | March 2021
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ES-1 Study Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ES-1 Study Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ES-2 Existing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ES-3 Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ES-6 Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ES-10 Transportation Needs and Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ES-12 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ES-13 i
Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
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Final Plan | March 2021
STUDY BACKGROUND
The Accessible Transportation Strategic (ATS) Plan
provides a coordination structure with strategies to improve accessible transportation services, based on an examination of transportation challenges facing seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans in Contra Costa County.
Sponsored by a partnership between CCTA and the County, the ATS was funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Communities Transportation Planning grant.
Inclusive and equitable public engagement was a key focus of the Plan, with input from organizations, key stakeholders, and the broader Contra Costa community.
Executive Summary
Project Oversight
The ATS process was overseen by
Technical Advisory and Policy Advisory
Committees. In March 2020, due to the
COVID-19 outbreak, the project team
started working “virtually” to allow people
to participate safely.
• Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
Provided subject matter expertise and
public policy implications on service
concepts
• Policy Advisory Committee (PAC)
Provided input on addressing
policy barriers, communicating
with stakeholders about the Study,
liaising with elected or appointed
Boards, and reviewing and prioritizing
recommended strategies
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
STUDY CONTEXT
Contra Costa County has a diverse population
spread across a relatively large area.
Related Planning Initiatives 2016-2020
2016 and 2020
Transportation Expenditure Plan
“CCTA will develop an Accessible
Transportation Strategic Plan
to implement a customer-
focused, user-friendly, seamless
coordinated system…”
2017 Countywide Comprehensive
Transportation Plan
“Initiate the ATS Plan: Ensure
services are delivered in a
coordinated system…”
2019 Metropolitan Transportation
Commission (MTC) Resolution 4321
“Each county must establish or
enhance mobility management
programs to help provide
equitable and effective access to
transportation.”
ES-2
EXISTING CONDITIONS
Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities
The distribution of older adults and people with disabilities reflects the general population spread throughout the county, with a few areas of unusual concentration. Rossmoor has a higher population both of older adults and people with disabilities—countywide, those two groups constitute 23% of the population.
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People with Disabilities
People with disabilities have a similar
geographic spread as the general
population, except one concentrated
area in Rossmoor.
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Older Adults
Three areas have a higher density of older adults:
1)
2)
Rossmoor (between Moraga and Walnut Creek),
Crow Canyon (north of San Ramon), and the
area 3) South of Brentwood.
Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
Equity Considerations
Household Income
Low income population concentrations include West
County, mid-County, and North county locations.
People of Color
Nearly half of the county population identifies as
people of color or other non-white ethnicity.
Countywide Ethnicity
52% White 48% People of Color/Other
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Transportation Need and Services
Access to Medical Facilities
Most medical facilities are clustered in the center of the County between Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek (1). Two facilities needed by residents throughout the County are the Contra Costa County Medical Center and the VA Medical Center, both in Martinez (2).
Community-Based Transportation
Services areas don’t always overlap areas of greatest
demand, increasing the need for transit and paratransit services provided by community-transportation programs
from public sector services or non-profit organizations.
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
OUTREACH
Outreach Toolkit
A virtual and paper flyer, along
with tweets and postings
on provider websites were
distributed via social media,
encouraging people to provide
input through the online
survey.
Virtual Outreach Flyer
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Executive Summary | March 2021
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Public Engagement Collateral
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
Pre-COVID Outreach
Before the onset of the pandemic, surveys and engagement flyers were distributed and the project team made public presentations at the Developmental Disabilities Council of Contra Costa County and the Pleasant Hill Commission on Aging.
The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), in coordination with Contra Costa County, is conducting a study to find out how to improve transportation services for seniors, people with disabilities, and eligible veterans who live or travel in Contra Costa County.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and return it to the person who gave it to you, or you can also take the survey on-line at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CCTA_Survey.
If you have any questions or need assistance filling out this survey, please contact 510-506-7586 or [email protected].
OVER►
SURVEY
1. Which modes of transportation do you usually use?
(Check all that apply; answer any related follow-up
questions for BUS, ADA PARATRANSIT and LYFT/UBER)
1 BART
2 Bus Answer follow-up Q 2-4
3 Bicycle
4 Walk/Roll
5 ADA Paratransit (East Bay Paratransit, WestCAT
Dial-a-Ride, County Connection LINK, Tri Delta
Paratransit) Answer follow-up Q 5-7
6 Drive myself
7 Lyft/Uber Answer follow-up Q 8-9
8 Taxi
9 Family, neighbor, or paid helper drives me
10 Other (example: R-Transit, Rossmoor Dial-a-Bus,
Lamorinda Spirit Van, etc): ______________________
Q 2-4. BUS RIDER QUESTIONS
Skip questions 2-4 if you don’t ride the bus.
2. If you use the BUS, what service(s) do you use?
1 AC Transit
2 WestCAT
3 County Connection
4 Tri Delta
5 Other (please specify):
_______________________
3. Please tell us about your BUS-riding experience and
interactions with drivers:
1 Excellent
2 Satisfactory
3 Poor
4 Additional comments:
_____________________
_____________________
4. Please share any other comments about your BUS-
riding experience, such as ease of use, maintenance
issues, or vehicle cleanliness:
___________________________________________________
Q 5-7. ADA PARATRANSIT RIDER QUESTIONS
Skip questions 5-7 if you don’t ride paratransit.
5. If you use ADA PARATRANSIT, what service(s) do you
use?
1 East Bay Paratransit
2 WestCAT Dial-a-Ride
3 County Connection
LINK
4 Tri Delta Paratransit
5 Other (please specify):
______________________
CONTRA COSTA
ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION STRATEGIC PLAN
6. Please tell us about your ADA PARATRANSIT-riding
experience and interactions with drivers:
1 Excellent
2 Satisfactory
3 Poor
4 Additional comments:
______________________________
______________________________
7. Please share any other comments about your ADA
PARATRANSIT-riding experience, such as ease of use,
maintenance issues, or vehicle cleanliness:
___________________________________________________
Q 8-9. LYFT/UBER RIDER QUESTIONS
Skip questions 8-9 if you don’t ride Lyft/Uber.
8. If you use LYFT/UBER, please tell us about your riding experience and interactions with drivers:
1 Excellent
2 Satisfactory
3 Poor
4 Additional comments:
______________________________
______________________________
9. Please share any other comments about your
LYFT/UBER-riding experience, such as ease of use,
maintenance issues, or vehicle cleanliness:
___________________________________________________
Q 10-16 GENERAL RIDER QUESTIONS
10. Where are you usually going? (Please select up to
three)
I go to...
1 Medical appointment
2 Grocery shopping/drugstore
3 Non-medical appointment
4 See friends or family
5 Attend a class
6 The Senior Center
7 Church
8 Work or Volunteer position
9 Other (please specify): __________________________
1,000+
Surveys
Distributed via e-mail and
meal deliveries, available
in English, Spanish, and
Mandarin.
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Executive Summary | March 2021
Executive Summary
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Post-COVID Outreach
Once the pandemic set in, the project team moved all outreach activities to safe platforms, utilizing virtual focus groups, stakeholder interviews, an online survey, and virtual town hall to safely interact with participants.
Focus Groups
5 Focus
Groups
Five virtual focus groups with seniors and persons
with disabilities involved in-depth conversations
with the project team, with an emphasis on reaching
populations often overlooked through other forms of
public engagement, such as adults with disabilities,
people with Limited English Proficiency, and West
County residents.
Stakeholder Interviews
Interviews commencing in March of 2020
were put on hold in light of the onset
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interview
questions were reevaluated to reflect
the circumstances, and the interviews
with public and nonprofit agencies,
representing an array of stakeholder
groups and interests, were completed
between September and November.
11 Interviews
Telephone Town Hall
Nelson\Nygaard hosted a live
Telephone Town Hall on October
27, 2020 to outline the project
and answer questions.
1,149
participants
out of 23,000 invitations
3 languages
English, Spanish, Mandarin
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
SURVEY RESULTS
Trip Destinations and Challenges
An online survey provided insight into how respondents get where they are going, where they go, and what factors complicate their trips.
Mode to Destination
Trips were most commonly
made by solo drivers,
followed by those driven by
a family, neighbor or paid
helper. BART was used by
about a third of respondents,
with ADA paratransit utilized
by 10% of the entire survey
sample.
Destinations
The top destination was
medical appointments, with
grocery/drugstore shopping
in second place. Senior
Center trips and non-
medical appointments each
accounted for an 8% share of
destinations.
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Executive Summary | March 2021
Executive Summary
Trip Difficulty
Mirroring the top destinations,
respondents had the most
difficulty with medical
appointments and making
grocery/drugstore trips.
Seeing friends/family and
getting to the Senior Center
rounded up the top four types
of difficult trips.
Trip Challenges
Almost one-third of
respondents feel unsafe
while traveling, with about a
quarter unable to go where
or when they want, or feeling
their trip takes too long.
SURVEY RESULTS
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
TRANSPORTATION NEEDS AND GAPS
The project team’s review of existing conditions and survey data identified key needs and gaps in accessible transportation in Contra Costa County. These include:
New Funding – Grants are sometimes available for planning and pilots, but all recommendations will require new
sustainable funding
Safety – Many respondents feel unsafe while traveling
Volunteer Driving Programs – Additional volunteers are
needed, with more reliable funding to increase capacity Medical Access – The Regional Medical Center and VA
Medical Center in Martinez need reliable access throughout the county
Quality of Life Visits – Consumers have difficulty making quality-of-life essential trips to visit friends and family, the senior center, and church
Service Coordination – Accessible services need improved coordination because they are siloed between agencies,
cities, and non-profit organizations
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Executive Summary | March 2021
Executive Summary
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Accessible Transportation Plan identified an urgent need for a coordinated structure to address transportation needs and gaps in Contra Costa County accessible transportation. A crucial first step would be the creation of an Accessible Transportation Task Force.
Accessible Transportation Task Force
The Task Force would:
• Oversee Strategic Planning, identifying coordinated strategies to be implemented by existing agencies/non-profits
• Create a Countywide Coordination Entity responsible for countywide strategy implementation
• Investigate funding opportunities
Countywide Coordinated Entity (CE)
• The countywide CE Organization could be an existing
non-profit or public agency–or an entirely new entity
• Strategy implementation would be a key function of
the CE, prioritizing projects to improve and expand
countywide accessible transportation
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
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Strategies and Implementation
A five-year timeline for strategy development and implemetation was developed, with recommended strategies divided into tiered groups.
Tier I
• High transportation benefit
• Strong community support
• Leverages existing programs/resources
• Easy to implement (in stages or because
of lower cost)
Tier II
High ranking strategies, sorted by:
• Service impact
• Cost
• Implementation challenges
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Executive Summary | March 2021
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Implementation Timeframes
Tiered Strategies will be implemented in phases, pending ATSP approval.
Implementation Agency
Recommended agencies for each strategy have been identified across three categories.
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
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Tier I Tier II Short-Term Long Term
Implementation Workplan
Strategy Description
Implementation
Term
Implementation Agency
Public
Agency
Non-
Profit
Transit
Agency
Increase Local and Regional Mobility
1 Improve connectivity between paratransit programs/eliminate transfer trips
2 Same-day trip programs (including wheelchair-accessible service) 3 Expand e xisting and add new Volunteer Driver programs 4 Service beyond AD A service areas
5 Early morning and late-night service
6 On-demand subsidies
Improve Coordination Among Providers and Community Stakeholders 7 Shopping trips with pack age assistance
8 Hospital discharge service
9 Customized guaranteed ride home programs for people with disabilities 10 Means-based car-share including accessible option
11 One-call / one-click; information & referral (I&R)
12 Programs for disabled/senior veterans
13 Real-time transportation information (paratransit vehicle location, BART elevators, wheelchair spaces on buses)
14 T ravel training (including inter-operator trips)
15 Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
Develop Partnerships for Supportive Infrastructure
16 A dminister a uniform countywide ADA paratransit eligibility certification program
17 Fare integration
18 Procure joint paratransit scheduling software
19 Sidewalk improvements to enhance safety for older adults and wheelchair accessibility in high-priority locations
20 Means-based fare subsidy
21 Wheelchair break down service
22 A ccessible bikeshare program
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Executive Summary | March 2021
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Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
HowA Countywide Coordinated Entity Improves
Accessible Transportation in Contra Costa County
Functions of the Coordinated Entity
Identifies/pursues new funding
Develops and administers uniform countywide
ADA paratransit eligibility certification
Expands mobility management
Implements joint paratransit scheduling software
Oversees seamless rides for inter-jurisdictional
trips inside and outside the county
Supports service beyond ADA service areas and
regular service times
Expands Travel Training
Advocates for Safe Routes for Seniors/
Safe Routes for All
Helps establish means-based fare subsidy
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Executive Summary | March 2021
Executive Summary
HowA Countywide Coordinated Entity Improves
Accessible Transportation in Contra Costa County
Functions of the Coordinated Entity
Identifies/pursues new funding
Develops and administers uniform countywide
ADA paratransit eligibility certification
Expands mobility management
Implements joint paratransit scheduling software
Oversees seamless rides for inter-jurisdictional
trips inside and outside the county
Supports service beyond ADA service areas and
regular service times
Expands Travel Training
Advocates for Safe Routes for Seniors/
Safe Routes for All
Helps establish means-based fare subsidy
ES-19
Contra Costa Accessible Transportation Strategic Plan