Presentation from Stephanie Vance, Program Manager, CFTE

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• Presentation from Stephanie Vance, Program
  Manager, CFTE

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Topics

• What is CFTE?
• Resources Available
• Personnel
• Events
• Website
• Specifics State-by-State Database
• Specifics Factoid Database
• Specifics Responding to Critics
• Top Five List for Transit Initiatives
• Becoming Involved!

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What is CFTE?

• CFTE is a clearinghouse of information on public
  transportation and its benefits in promoting more
  livable communities. Its goals are to
• Defend the merits of transit
• Provide local leaders with the information they
  need to promote transit in their communities

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Resources Our Board

• American Public Transportation Association
• Parsons Brickerhoff
• New Starts Working Group
• Surface Transportation Policy Project

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Resources Personnel

• Stephanie Vance, Program Manager
• Former Staff Director for Congressman Earl
  Blumenauer and the House Livable Communities
  Taskforce
• Founder and Principal of AdVanced Consulting
• Jeremy Gunderson, Program Associate
• Has worked with a range of groups on
  transportation / livability issues, including
  STPP, the Delta Institute and the City of
  Alexandria.

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Resources Events

• Triumphs for Transit Conference in Phoenix/Tempe,
  AZ
• Dec, 7-9, 2003.
• Based upon a highly successful 2001 conference in
  San Jose, this event is designed to equip local
  groups with the tools they need to be successful
  at the ballot box.

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Resources Website

• The CFTE site is chock-full of resources,
  including
• State-by-state database of transit initiatives
  and resources
• Factoids database
• Responding to Critics package
• Briefings on current issues, glossary, profiles,
  recent reports, daily news stories and more

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Website State-by-State Database

• Click on your state to find
• Information on past transit initiatives
• Evolving database on current / future efforts
• Advocacy groups
• Media outlets
• Ballot information
• 2002 Federal transportation spending

Please keep us up-to-date on your efforts!
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Resources Factoid Database

• Text-Searchable database of factoids on
  transportation issues
• Example
• Drivers in one-third of U.S. cities spend more
  than 40 hours a year (an entire work week) in
  traffic that is not moving.

We are constantly adding, so please send us YOUR
best facts!
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Resources Responding to Critics

• Responding to critics section includes
• Overview of what the critics always say and the
  best responses
• List of the critics
• Template LTEs, Op-Eds and Resolutions
• Information on submitting LTEs for the top 100
  newspapers in the US
• Offline assistance

Lets look at some examples
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Responding to CriticsLight rail cannot displace
the same or a greater number of automobile
passengers

• This argument inaccurately compares the capacity
  of highways and rail transit to move passengers. 
  A look at any transportation engineering manual
  will tell otherwise.  According to the Highway
  Capacity Manual, i highway operations are
  described as Level of Service (LOS), ranging from
  LOS A to LOS F.  Peak highway capacity is
  typically regarded as LOS E (2,000 passenger cars
  per hour per lane).  If you multiply that number
  by the Average Vehicle Occupancy (AVO) which
  averages 1.25 persons, you get 2,500 persons per
  lane per hour on a highway.  For transit, a
  typical 6 car train can carry 750 passengers. 
  Running at 20 trains per hour, per direction,
  that equates to 30,000 passengers.  It would take
  a twelve lane freeway going in one direction to
  equate the same amount of capacity of one light
  rail line. ii
• Beware, critics like to make inaccurate
  comparisons between maximum highway capacities
  and actual light rail ridership numbers.

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Responding to CriticsOnly 2 of trips are on
transit

• This statistic is not an accurate method of
  determining the success of light rail. It is not
  a measure of transit or commute trips.  Rather,
  this figure accounts for all trips in the region,
  24 hours a day, including freight trips. 
• A more accurate assessment can be made by looking
  at the percentage of transit-competitive trips,
  those trips that are competitive to the
  automobile, in both time and convenience. 
  Transit-competitive trips are generally between
  22-40 in favor of transit.  In areas that are
  not served by transit, the only option is to
  drive, which, in part explains the high
  percentage of commutes by automobile.

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Resources Additional Website Info.

• Briefings on current issues (find one on BRT
  under the trends link)
• Searchable glossary
• Daily news stories
• Success story profiles

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Coming soon! (Under Construction)

• How to manuals on setting up a conference in
  your community
• Effective advocacy resources
• Journalist guide
• and whatever else YOU suggest!

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Transit Initiatives Top Five List Points

• 5. Transit initiative votes arent always about
  transit
• Many elections seeking transit funding are more
  influenced by other variables such as the
  economy, government interest, etc., than support
  for public transit.

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Transit Initiatives Top Five List Points

• 4. You need to involve everyone
• Professionals
• Grassroots / Citizens
• Businesses
• Policymakers
• The works!
• The most successful election campaigns had
  grassroots election support as well as
  professional management.

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Transit Initiatives Top Five List Points

• 3. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits
• Youre more likely to win if you can answer the
  question, specifically, whats in it for me?
• One new resource TTI report coming out tomorrow
  that will, for the first time, quantify the
  amount of time public transportation saves the
  public on a community-by-community basis.
• http/mobility.tamu.edu/ums

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Transit Initiatives Top Five List Points

• 2. Listen and Learn
• Involve the community early and demonstrate YOUR
  accountability.

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Transit Initiatives Top Five List Points

• 1. If at first you dont succeed, try, try
  again!
• Most urban areas go the voters more than once
  before a dedicated revenue source for transit is
  established.

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Get Involved!

• Sign up for the newsletter
• Save the Date Dec. 7th 9th for Triumphs for
  Transit, our Conference on transit initiatives
• Let us know through our chat room or e-mail
  (info_at_cfte.org) what resources would be useful
  for you!
• Please let us know of initiatives in your area!

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The Most Important Thing to Remember

• Tell us how we can help you!
• info_at_cfte.org
• [phone]
• www.cfte.org