What are effective methods for involving incarcerated community members in transportation planning?

1 Why engage with incarcerated community members?

Incarcerated community members have unique transportation experiences and needs, such as traveling to and from court hearings, parole appointments, reentry programs, or job interviews. They may also face barriers to accessing transportation, such as lack of identification, limited funds, restricted mobility, or stigma and discrimination. By engaging with incarcerated community members, transportation planners can better understand their current and future transportation demands, preferences, and constraints, and design solutions that address them. Additionally, engaging with incarcerated community members can foster trust, collaboration, and empowerment, and support their reintegration into society.

3 What are some engagement methods and tools?

Various methods and tools can be used to engage with incarcerated community members in transportation planning, depending on the purpose, scope, and stage of the planning process. For example, surveys can be used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on transportation needs. Interviews can provide in-depth information on transportation experiences, challenges, and opportunities. Focus groups can generate ideas, feedback, and recommendations from incarcerated community members. And workshops can co-create, co-design, or co-evaluate transportation solutions with incarcerated community members. These activities can be conducted face-to-face or remotely, depending on the level of trust and rapport. Furthermore, they can involve various activities such as brainstorming, mapping, prototyping, or testing - either in person or online - depending on the level of creativity and collaboration.

4 How to ensure meaningful and effective engagement?

Engaging with incarcerated community members in transportation planning demands careful planning, preparation, and implementation, to guarantee that the engagement is meaningful and effective. It is essential to consider the goals and objectives of the engagement, which should be clear, specific, and realistic, and communicated and agreed upon with all stakeholders. Additionally, incentives and benefits should be identified and articulated for both the transportation planners and the incarcerated community members. The methods and tools used should be selected based on the purpose, scope, stage of the planning process, and characteristics of those involved. Lastly, feedback and follow-up should be timely, transparent, constructive, and include outcomes and impacts of the engagement as well as next steps.

5 What are some examples of successful engagement with incarcerated community members?

Engaging with incarcerated community members in transportation planning has been successful in both the US and abroad. One example is the Reentry Transportation Project in San Francisco, which used surveys, interviews, focus groups, and workshops to identify and address transportation barriers for reentry. Another is the Prisoner Transport Survey in New Zealand, which surveyed incarcerated community members on their experiences with the prisoner transport service. Lastly, the Prisoner Mobility Project in Scotland explored and enhanced mobility and accessibility for incarcerated community members through interviews, focus groups, and workshops. All of these initiatives have helped to inform and improve transportation planning for this population.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?