Transportation Equity Needs Assessment

Introduction

Tompkins County’s Transportation Equity Coalition (the coalition) has released the results of a county-wide Transportation Equity Needs Assessment (TENA) survey, and will be presenting the results and recommendations to decision makers and stakeholders throughout 2024. The first of these presentations will be to the Tompkins County Legislator’s Facilities and Infrastructure Committee meeting on April 18th at 9 am.

The Coalition formed in 2020 to understand and address factors that affect access to safe, efficient transportation for Tompkins County residents, especially those from underserved communities. In order to comprehensively understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current transportation network the coalition, together with guidance from consultants and a planning group, collected data from a wide range of county residents through focus groups, a broad survey, a participant meaning making session and stakeholder workshops in order to develop the report and recommendations.

The Process

Final Report and outreach in early 2024

The results of the assessment and recommended solutions will be presented to community stakeholders and decision makers throughout 2024. The recommendations outlined in the report have been gathered from the survey and workshops conducted with the coalition, planning group and community stakeholders in March 2024. For a summary of key findings, view the Info Sheet.

Data Analysis in Fall and Winter 2023

The TENA Planning Group came together in October 2023 to reflect on and provide insight into the results of the survey and focus groups to inform the final analysis. The input from the TENA planning group helped the coalition understand the results and recommend potential solutions.

Community Survey in Spring 2023

A comprehensive and successful outreach campaign conducted in the spring of 2023 to disseminate the survey to the Tompkins County community resulted in 2200 individual responses from a diverse array of community members, 60% of whom represented underserved populations. The Yasmine Miller group then compiled the data results for analysis to be conducted together with consultants Golden Aspen, and Leslie Reynolds.

Focus Groups and Survey Design in Summer and Fall 2022

The assessment included interviews with six key focus groups to get an in-depth understanding of their experiences with Tompkins County’s transportation system. A successful outreach campaign conducted in summer of 2022 led to the recruitment of 36 participants out of 980 applicants. A group of facilitators, moderators, and notetakers from the TENA Planning Group were each trained with best practices for creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for participants to share their thoughts and experiences.

Through these focus groups, the Coalition heard directly from people who often experience the most barriers to transportation, including people with disabilities, seniors, youth, BIPOC, people with limited English proficiency and people with limited access to transportation, such as rural residents with limited income or without the ability to drive or access transit. The information gathered in the focus groups became the basis for the community survey.

Planning Group and Design in Summer 2022In early 2022, the Transportation Equity Coalition began planning and designing a Transportation Equity Needs Assessment (TENA) with the guidance of Claire Stoscheck of Golden Aspen Consulting and a planning group composed of diverse community members. The Coalition took several months to recruit members of the community who could not only speak to the transportation barriers experienced in the Tompkins County community, yet could also offer support for the development and implementation of a community level needs assessment. The planning group provided input on best practices and questions for conducting focus groups geared towards listening to the challenges experienced by underserved communities and potential solutions.

If you have any questions about the Transportation Equity Needs Assessment, please email info@way2go.org or call Way2Go at 607-272-2292.

Last updated April 18, 2024