Valley Transportation Authority's Envision Silicon Valley Public Engagement

Target Audience: The primary target audiences for the Envision Silicon Valley program are Santa Clara County voters and taxpayers, residents and workers who regularly travel in and through the county, community leaders, business leaders, and local elected officials. VTA created a Stakeholder Group including community benefit organizations, transportation advocates, corporate representatives, environmental advocates, and government partners.

Strategy Objective:The guiding strategy was to educate the public about the county's tremendous transportation needs, the trade-offs inherent in funding those needs, and how long term revenue sources are managed. The strategy also sought to engage stakeholders early on with inclusive and transparent goal-setting, creation of project criteria and prioritization to improve stakeholder understanding and support of our Board's decisions. VTA used digital and social media in concert with traditional channels to engage, solicit feedback and facilitate two-way communication with a broader audience.

Situation Challenge: The need for transportation funding and infrastructure in Santa Clara County far exceeds what current and anticipated federal, state and local funding sources can address. Santa Clara County has a history as a "self-help county," and VTA created Envision Silicon Valley to involve the public in considering a half-cent, 30-year sales tax dedicated to local transportation needs. These needs include completing VTA's extension of regional BART service into the county, rapid transit improvements, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and a variety of other non-transit needs that VTA is responsible for as the county's congestion management agency.

Results Impact: An interactive, multilingual microsite produced more than 5,174 survey and "Transportation Challenge" submissions, as well as 741,664 sessions and 917,094 pageviews by more than 194,008 users. Usage continues to increase and one user commented, "This is a great tool for participation in public policy!" A text message-based survey to reach historically less engaged limited English proficient audiences led to 1,015 survey responses. Thirteen NextDoor posts led to more than 540 "thanks" and comments. Seven blog posts and dozens of social media posts also led to dozens of retweets, shares and comments using #envisionsv. A series of nearly 50 presentations, community meetings and workshops (plus five more scheduled in May) reached more than 1,900 people who provided more than 300 comments.

Why Submit: The multi-year Envision Silicon Valley effort offers a model for how innovative digital community engagement tools such as the microsite, NextDoor, Textizen and social media can be integrated with traditional techniques to creatively highlight transit needs and funding. Our approach has broadened and deepened public understanding and involvement through an accessible and engaging array of interactive tools that let people "learn by doing." We will build on this experience with future transit planning. The multi-layered, multi-channel strategy has enabled VTA to continuously engage a geographically dispersed and diverse population.