HOW WE HELPED
McCormick Taylor worked with SEPTA to develop and execute a two-phase, six-month long educational and engagement campaign. In the summer of 2022, through the first round of outreach, McCormick Taylor engaged over 4,000 people in an online survey and spoke to over 1,000 people at ten events. To hear diverse perspectives and make it easy for people to provide input, McCormick Taylor organized community engagement opportunities at events across Philadelphia and Delaware Counties, like the Upper Darby Pride Festival, Juneteenth Parade and Festival, Media’s Dining Under the Stars, and the Clark Park Farmers Market. We also heard from riders at trolley stations, including Darby Transportation Center, 15th Street, 33rd Street, and 40th Street. From this feedback, four station-specific design goals emerged: safety, green (sustainable), community character, and easy to maintain. Station design concepts were developed based on these goals.
During the second round of outreach in fall 2022, the team presented the public with station design concepts and asked for feedback on shelter shape, color, lighting, and “green” (or sustainable) design elements. McCormick Taylor gathered feedback through an online survey, eight in-person events, and a virtual public meeting. The survey resulted in 1,581 responses and over 600 people were engaged through in-person and virtual events. The in-person events were held at varying times and at locations throughout the region, including street festivals, a block party in Kingsessing, and pop-ups at trolley stations, like 69th Street Transit Center. For both rounds of in-person events, McCormick Taylor designed educational interactive boards that allowed visitors to use stickers and post-it notes to record their thoughts and select preferences.
Promotion of the survey and public engagement events were advertised using SEPTA's website, blog, eNewsletters, social media channels, and press releases; email notifications to subscribers, elected officials' and project partner social media and eNewsletters; and local news coverage. Outreach also included trolley operator interviews. McCormick Taylor and SEPTA visited three trolley depots where the team interviewed trolley operators and answered their questions about Trolley Modernization. Topics included how trolley service will improve, what issues the operators encounter, and problem intersections/congestion points.
