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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies
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Bridging the Communications Gap in Understanding Road Usage Charges

Appendix B. Methodology and Data Collection Questions Used for State Pilot Interviews

This study represents a synthesis of the outreach, education and communication approaches used by the 11 Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) program pilot sponsors with different stakeholders (elected officials, transportation policy leaders, the public, interest groups, and the media). It describes what pilot sponsors considered to be the most effective strategies, as well as what did not work. All the information in this report was based on lessons learned by pilot sponsors through interviews and their participation in a virtual webinar.

The researcher team assessed user and stakeholder perceptions of road usage charge (RUC) programs by interviewing project managers from STSFA pilot sponsors, which for purposes of this study included: California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and the Western Road Usage Charge Consortium (RUC West). The research team conducted a round of phone interviews with individual deployment project States.

The research approach required them to collect information from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and STSFA pilot websites including documents addressing project-specific education and outreach efforts.

Appendix B includes the draft interview script used to identify the primary RUC outreach and education issues and how pilot sponsors addressed them (e.g., privacy, rural impacts, technology, implementation costs, transition, etc.) as well as outreach, education and communication approaches with different stakeholders (elected officials, transportation policy leaders, general public, interest groups, the media). Interview findings were documented in a standard fashion to facilitate synthesis and summary of the phone interviews. The findings from the interview process and initial website and document review were synthesized and then used to develop this report.

Question 1: Does the project's description, current status, and related material posted on your agency's Web page accurately summarize your project?

Question 2: Has your approach with your project deviated from initial plans in any significant way? Have there been any major surprises?

  • Has the project changed with regard to scope and scale?
  • Has the project changed with regard to outreach and communications?

Question 3: Did you encounter particular issues related to RUC outreach and education? If so, were there any particular efforts or programs you undertook around outreach and communications on that issue and what lessons would you say you learned?

  • Was privacy an important issue in your outreach and communications?
  • Were perceived rural impacts an important issue in your outreach and communications?
  • Was technology an important issue in your outreach and communications?
  • Were perceived implementation costs an important issue in your outreach and communications?
  • Were concerns about transition an important issue in your outreach and communications?

Question 4: Have you taken different approaches to outreach and communication with various audiences?

  • How would you characterize communication with elected officials?
  • How would you characterize communication with transportation policy leaders?
  • How would you characterize communication with the general public?
  • How would you characterize communication with interest groups?
  • How would you characterize communication with the media?

Question 5: Has general public and/or stakeholder group perception of RUCs changed as a result of your project? If so, how?

Question 6: Is your agency or State legislature considering future RUC outreach or education, planning or preparation, etc. beyond the scope of the STSFA deployment project?

Question 7: If you could share any other important lessons learned on outreach and communications with new States starting a RUC pilot, what would they be? Anything else you would like to add or highlight? Any questions for us?