In the fall of 2022, Valley OnBoard embarked on a public engagement campaign focused on Environmental Justice Communities in the Pioneer Valley
The goal of this engagement was simple: how can the PVTA best serve the residents of the Valley?
The Fall 2021 studio spent a semester identifying and evaluating key drivers of change, and projecting what the future might bring. But without the firsthand insights of the target populations, we wouldn’t know what to prioritize, and might entirely overlook key issues. Fall 2022’s studio set out to create a multi-pronged engagement strategy to efficiently and effectively understand the priorities of riders and non-riders alike, as well as institutional stakeholders outside of the PVTA.
Our engagement strategy was built on the foundation of research and scenario development performed in Fall 2021. Drawing from their identified drivers & scenarios, we envisioned alternative futures for transportation in the Valley. From there a set of recommendations was distilled and simplified, removing industry-specific terminology with the goal of communicating these ideas to a broad audience. The next step was to figure out how, exactly, to present these ideas to residents of the Valley to solicit their thoughts and feedback.
So where did all this happen?
All across the Valley!
In addition to physical events we also held a number of stakeholder meetings over zoom, engaging town planners, community organizers, and town and regional councils. We also attended virtual Paratransit forums and Rider Council meetings.