9.6 - Evaluation and reporting on community focused activities

Introduction

Community focused activities do not produce a physical output that can be audited for effectiveness or value for money. Community focused activities are also somewhat innovative in nature compared with maintenance and improvement of roads or provision of passenger transport services and there is a general lack of good quality evidence to prove their effectiveness. Therefore, in accordance with best practice for educational type activities, Land Transport NZ uses monitoring and post-delivery evaluation of these activities to record what is delivered, to assess effectiveness and to identify areas that could be improved.

This evaluation information is made available to all interested persons, but most importantly, to approved organisations and service deliverers involved with community focused activities. This resource provides information on methodology and effectiveness of community focused activities to assist with decisions on application and further development of these activities.

Policy being developed

Applicants should note that Land Transport NZ is continuing to develop the methodology and information requirements for monitoring and evaluation of community focused activities. It is intended that, in the longer term, these activities could be monitored using ‘key performance indicators’, in a manner similar to how passenger transport is monitored.

Travel planning

The effectiveness of travel planning projects shall be monitored, evaluated and reported in accordance with chapter 5.0 of the Land Transport NZ/EECA Travel behaviour change guidance handbook.

Community coordination

The quantity, quality and timeliness of community coordination activities will be post-evaluated in terms of an appropriate mix of:

• involvement in land transport issues by a wide range of community groups
• evidence of both developing and developed partnerships between local government and community groups to address land transport issues
• obvious engagement of the community in land transport issues, evidenced by regular discussion in community media
• increased delivery of high-quality community focused programmes addressing safe and sustainable use of the land transport system
• coordination and ownership of initiatives
• an appropriate balance of engineering, education and enforcement activities.

Community programmes and community advertising

Monitoring and post-implementation evaluation of community programme and community advertising activities must be undertaken in accordance with Land Transport NZ’s procedures.

Quantity, quality, timeliness and cost measures for post-evaluation of community programme activities will be included in each standard resource kit. Community programmes must adhere to the programme operational policy. A post-evaluation of each programme must be submitted to Land Transport NZ. Standard evaluation templates will be provided.

Post-evaluation requirements for community advertising activities will be defined as part of the technical approval process for these activities.

National database

Funding for the following activities is subject to project details and post-project evaluations being entered into the Land Transport NZ community focused activities database:

• system use strategies and studies
• travel demand management activities
• community programmes, including travel plans and neighbourhood accessibility plans
• community advertising.

Reporting

Approved organisations are required to forward to Land Transport NZ (or enter into the national database) mid-year and annual achievement reports for the following work categories:

• system use studies
• travel demand management
• community programmes
• community advertising.

A template for this reporting will be available in electronic form from the community focused activities web site and/or LTP online.