Measures of Transit Ambassador and Outreach Program Effectiveness

Nationally, public transit ridership has not completely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. In some communities, the viability and perceived safety of public transit are further challenged by rising public drug use and increasing levels of unsheltered homelessness. Additionally, many cities are contending with a housing affordability crisis and decreased public funding for social services as COVID-19 era funding ends. These intersecting socioeconomic factors have required public entities, including transit agencies, to respond to new societal and public safety issues, and coordinate or provide trauma-informed care that they have never provided before. The urgency and scale of the problem has led to the implementation of ambassador, mental health outreach, or crisis response programs that do not have universal measures of effectiveness or established outcomes. Although many transit agency approaches or programs are supported by the public and experience many qualitative successes, short-term and long-term viability of the programs depends on their ability to demonstrate effectiveness at reducing the impact of disorder and social problems on their system. Despite common goals, no two programs are identical. Each operates in a unique sociopolitical climate that influences its functions, abilities, funds, and outcomes. As funding is varied and sometimes not permanent, it is important to be able to measure programs’ outcomes, define success and effectiveness, and share strategies or programs that improve transit operations, public and transit workers safety, and ridership. This research will help transit agencies evaluate the impact of their current programs and design future initiatives with built-in performance metrics. It will also provide a framework for agencies in the early stages of program development. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop guidelines and resources for transit agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of ambassador programs and mental health outreach or crisis response initiatives.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5830
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Funding: $300,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project H-63

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Start Date: 20251119
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Homeless persons; Outreach; Public transit; Transit authorities; Transit safety
• Subject Areas: Law; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01937965
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project H-63
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 26 2024 6:11AM