Category: [SUCCESS]

[SUCCESS] New Calgary Library Opens to Critical Acclaim

On November 1^st the City of Calgary opened the new, much anticipated Central Library. According to the Calgary Herald, the new library is nothing short of spectacular!

“Decades in the making, Calgary’s long-awaited $245-million downtown library opened its doors to the public Thursday, boasting 240,000 square feet of spectacular architecture, four floors of learning spaces and 450,000 new books and collections” (Source: Calgary Herald).

Six years ago, MetroQuest played a role in creating the groundswell of public support that a project of this magnitude requires. Who lead the outstanding public engagement efforts for the megaproject? Modus – an innovative planning, design, and engagement firm and long-time MetroQuest subscriber.

The Modus team engaged 14,000+ Calgarians in a discussion about the future of the Central Library, using a MetroQuest survey to collect actionable public input from over 12,000 of those engaged citizens.

Another MetroQuest subscriber and integrated design firm, Dialog Design was part of the incredible team tasked with designing a beautiful building to fit an odd shaped lot and be a catalyst for revitalizing Calgary’s East Village area. Rob Adamson of Dialog Design said,

“This might be the most significant civic building built in the last 25 years and potentially the most important civic building built in the city for the next 25 years, so as a Calgarian and an architect, it’s a very proud and moving moment for me to see this building finally complete.”

Planners and architects increasingly require public support to put their plans into action. This support begins during the planning phase. Without public support, a bold plan to transform a city landscape may never see the light of day. Michael Brown, CEO of the Calgary Land Management Corporation, said this “project was built over a curving LRT track, on an oddly shaped piece of land that would be tough to sell.”

Calgary’s new Central Library is breathtaking. We would like to thank the 12,000 Calgarians who helped shape the vision for this amazing gathering place for exploration and learning. Congratulations to Modus and Dialog Design for your outstanding public engagement!

November 22, 2018
[SUCCESS] MaineDOT Launches MetroQuest Survey for Its 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan

We’re excited to celebrate the launch of a new MetroQuest Site! The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) is inviting residents to provide public input for the State’s Long Range Transportation Plan Update.

The results from this survey will help shape the future of transportation across Maine through to 2050, with a focus on providing the safest and most reliable transportation system possible.

Maine, not unlike the rest of the United States, is experiencing several issues affecting transportation. Public input from this survey will provide guidance and insight on the strategies needed to achieve MaineDOT’s transportation goals by supporting a data-driven approach to address the many challenges facing the State over the next 20-30 years.

Let’s take a look inside their MetroQuest Site!

The online public survey was designed around the 8 key trends that MaineDOT anticipates will impact transportation in upcoming years: the aging population, labor markets, global trade, urbanization, tourism, technology, safety, and climate. Residents of Maine are being asked to comment on these issues and to rank the top 5 most influential trends.

The issues selected by survey participants here determine what questions each participant is asked on the following MetroQuest Screen, creating an individualized survey experience that’s customized to each participant’s interests and priorities.

MaineDOT chose the Strategy Rating Screen to allow residents to rate how effective they feel various strategies could be in dealing with the trends they prioritized. For example, if they ranked “Evolving Technology” as an important trend, they are able to rate 5 different potential ways to make transportation more intelligent, including autonomous vehicles, smart infrastructure, ride-hailing, shared mobility, and electric vehicles.

The data collected with the Strategy Rating Screen will help MaineDOT make the right transportation investments in areas that the public supports.

As all planners know too well, transportation budgets are finite, so it’s important for residents to understand that investments in certain areas will affect fund availability for other projects. MaineDOT chose the Tradeoff Screen next to educate residents about their options. Participants must decide, for example, between improving safety and signage or investing in new intelligent technologies to make travel more safe and secure.

Participants are providing more informed input on the issues while gaining a better appreciation of the limitations to their decisions … there may not be budget or time for every possible solution.

Demographic questions are presented at the end (rather than at the start) of the survey experience, when participants are most invested and therefore most likely to provide personal information. With data about the geolocation of residents (via zip codes) and their current transportation behavior, MaineDOT will have the information needed to best address the needs and preferences of different communities.

MaineDOT anticipates the final plan to be complete late this fall. We’re eager to see how the actionable results from this public involvement effort will help shape their next LRTP!

Do you want to experience this online survey firsthand? You can explore the sample survey here (note that no data will be submitted by using this demo version): https://mainelongrangeplan2050-demo.metroquest.com/

October 1, 2018
[SUCCESS] Los Angeles County and Arellano Launch New MetroQuest Transit Survey

Los Angeles County has embarked on an exciting public outreach effort to engage citizens in reimagining the bus system for the next generation. The current system hasn’t had a major update in 25 years but carries over 70% of LA Metro transit users. With over a million residents added, the County has become more vibrant with even more places to go and all new travel patterns – it was time to design a modern, usable bus network that serves modern needs.

To offer a highly visual and interactive online survey experience – that both educates LA County citizens about the alternatives and collects informed public input – LA County and planning firm Arellano Associates chose MetroQuest.

The MetroQuest Site for the NextGen Bus Study is now live and fabulous! Take a look at the demo version of the survey here (demo data will not be counted toward the final results):

While all MetroQuest Sites start with a Welcome Screen and conclude with a Wrap Up Screen, up to three additional question-oriented Screens are selected (from 14 available Screen templates) to collect interesting and dynamic data that can be used for various public engagement projects. Let’s take a look at the three MetroQuest Screens specifically chosen for the NextGen Bus Study and explore how they educate the public about the project while allowing them to place the future of transit in their own hands.

The Budget Allocation Screen gamifies budgeting and spending by asking LA County citizens what decisions they would make about transit spending.

Participants invest coins in the areas they feel need the most focus, giving LA Metro insights into the options that are most important to the public, while weighted data reveals how much more important alternatives are in relation to the others. Answers to this question will empower LA County to understand transit market demand.

The Tradeoffs Screen allows LA County residents to choose their preferences in what the new design will focus on, whether it’s more stops, bus frequency, service hours, or wait times. This will help make important decisions about how to redesign the transit system to better fit what people want and need.

The Map Markers Screen will help identify exactly what LA citizens need today by giving them the opportunity to map their trips and explain how they get around, as well as what challenges they face in the process. The data collected with this MetroQuest Screen will allow LA Metro to see how the existing system serves current and potential users and to identify weaknesses for the new transit system to address.

LA Metro engaged Arellano to plan their outreach strategy, aiming to engage frequent, occasional, and infrequent riders, as well as non-riders to see how best to serve them over the next 25 years. They’ll be using this information to create smarter bus lines that can serve the community in the long term.

Congratulations to Arellano and LA Metro on launching a fantastic MetroQuest Site!

We love to celebrate great engagement. The quantifiable and actionable results from this MetroQuest Site will inform the future of LA County’s bus systems for the next generation. We can’t wait to see how the data collected will help shape and develop a modern transit system that meets the current and future needs of people who work, live, and play in LA County.

August 28, 2018