Re-imagining Transit: Community Impact through Partnerships (Leadership APTA 2021)

 The response to the pandemic led to the formation of many successful partnership between transit agencies and healthcare providers.  The time is ripe to encourage more of these types of partnerships to meet our customers’ immediate needs and foster them for the long-term benefit of the communities we serve.

• The goal of our project is to develop a recommended strategy for transit organizations to consider when pursuing new partnerships with health- oriented organizations, social service providers and community groups that will result in the greatest positive impact on social equity and the health outcomes for the communities we serve.  The research has been compiled and has been used to create a blueprint of best practices and lessons learned for transit agencies to consider when developing new partnerships to achieve their specific community goals.
• This project focuses on partnerships that have improved community health outcomes; however, the blueprint is applicable to any new partnership. Examples could include partnerships with healthcare providers, pharmacies, private transportation companies and personal and environmental safety equipment providers. 
• Our project highlights examples of existing partnerships that have successfully improved mobility within communities as well as lessons learned where partnerships didn’t result in the desired outcomes. We hope that by leveraging the experience of others, new partnerships can be formed as transit agencies reimagine themselves and further connect with their communities.

Project Team:

• Rhonda Allen (MARTA)
• Rob Bryans (Soar Technical Strategies)
• Joe Christie (Triunity Engineering)
• Nicole Pratt (NJ Transit)
• Marcin Taraszkiewicz (Jacobs)