Good Neighbour Policy for Transit Project Planning & Construction
David Nagler – Head of Community & Stakeholder Relations CEO’s Office Toronto Transit Commission PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
The Challenge: How to win acceptance from communities for vital transit projects?
• TTC’s Good Neighbour Policy
• Policy in Action: Case Study – TTC’s Subway Second Exit Program
• Conclusions
2 Community Relations - 2019 COMMUNITY OPPOSITION TO TRANSIT
• Transit project planning and construction is not for the faint hearted
Salt Lake City protestors fear LRT will kill their children
3 Community Relations - 2019 WHY A GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY?
• Transit project construction can impact communities significantly • Private property impacts to residents and businesses • Road closures, transit and traffic impacts, noise, dust
• Need meaningful involvement
4 Community Relations - 2019 ELEVATOR CONSTRUCTION – MAKING A STATION ACCESSIBLE
• Caisson installation • Excavation directly beside homes • Vibration monitoring
5 Community Relations - 2019 WOODBINE STATION ELEVATOR AND SECOND EXIT PROJECT
• Temporary porches during construction
• Access maintained
• Property agreements with homeowners
6 Community Relations - 2019 WOODBINE ELEVATOR AND SECOND EXIT
• Properties restored on project completion
• Restoration completed in consultation with property owners
7 Community Relations - 2019 TTC’S VISION “A transit system that makes Toronto Proud”
HOW?
• By Building, Improving & Expanding transit infrastructure to provide excellent service
• Good Neighbour Policy
• Successful construction projects are: high quality, on time, on budget, with public support
8 Community Relations - 2019 GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY – PRINCIPLES
• Engage public in the vision, goals, benefits of improved transit
• Consult elected officials, impacted communities and TTC riders
• Community Relations staff advocate for communities in planning, design and construction phases
• Timely, accurate public information and two-way communication
• Balance interests of transit riders, local community, residents across the city
9 Community Relations - 2019 GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY - CORE VALUES
Pro-active
Inclusive
Accessible
Transparent
10 Community Relations - 2019 PRO-ACTIVE
• Presentations to City Councillors, community and business orgs, early communication
• Personal visits to neighbours, businesses, schools “They picked the right individual, he can relieve • Alert project team early to key frustrations of business issues/risks and provide solutions owners and residents by providing answers in real time from people with power to make decisions.” - Business Improvement Area Chair
11 Community Relations - 2019 INCLUSIVE
• Multi-lingual communication
• In person, online, print
• Sensitivity to local communities
12 Community Relations - 2019 ACCESSIBLE & TRANSPARENT
• Community offices for major capital projects
• Meetings outside of business hours
• Input to planning & construction teams on local sensitivities and potential solutions
• Explain how public input helped improve project & why some input cannot be implemented
13 Community Relations - 2019 COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER (CLO)
• Public Face of major projects
• Bridges TTC’s professional engineering team and communities
Project Team CLO Public To help protect your privacy, PowerPoint has blocked automatic download of this picture.
• Stakeholder analysis
• Construction impact mitigation
• Transit, pedestrian access & traffic management reviews
• Communications
14 Community Relations - 2019 COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER (CLO)
• Liaise with engineering & construction teams, outside agencies
• Coordinate Site Safety Walks, facilitate working groups for major projects
• Correspondence Tracking & Issues Management
15 Community Relations - 2019 PRO-ACTIVE COMMUNICATION
Assessed on individual project basis • Face-to-Face - relationship building • Web, social media • Newsletters • Media Releases, Politician briefings • Ads: newspapers, online, vehicles • Station Signage
16 Community Relations - 2019 REPORTING
• Issues Reports for major projects
• Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) to track issues & trends
17 Community Relations - 2019 Case Study Second Subway Exit Planning and Consultation Chester Station LINE 2 – BLOOR DANFORTH HISTORY
• Streetcars replaced by subway in 1966
• Line 2 Stations (Keele to Woodbine) were built with one entrance/exit
• Subway tunnel runs under residential streets, parallel to Danforth Ave
• Daily Line 2 ridership: 527 640 19 Community Relations - 2019 ABOUT CHESTER STATION
• Opened in 1966 as one of the original stations on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth Subway) • Residential neighbourhood - bordered to the south by busy Greektown Danforth businesses
Saganaki, OPA!
20 Community Relations - 2019 CHESTER STATION NEIGHBOURHOOD
21 Community Relations - 2019 WHAT ARE SECOND EXITS
Three key functions: • As a primary exit if the main exit is blocked in an emergency • As an additional exit in an emergency • As a daily convenience to customers as a dual exit/entrance
May 2016, evacuation at Keele Station 1997 rail pads fire at Donlands Station Two thousand customers evacuated
22 Community Relations - 2019 WHAT MAKES A SECOND EXIT
• Must provide a continuous route from platform level to street level • Completely separate route from existing concourse and entrance
23 Community Relations - 2019 SECOND EXIT PROGRAM
• Most subway stations have more than one exit; all new TTC stations are built with at least two exits
• Fire & Life Safety Assessment Study identified 14 priority stations needing a second exit.
Six are complete, eight to be built: Chester, College, Donlands, Dundas, Dundas West, Greenwood, Museum and Summerhill
24 Community Relations - 2019 SECOND EXITS - CONSIDERATIONS
Effective second exits must provide:
• A fast way out of the station • Convenience to encourage day-to-day use and familiarity in an emergency • Integration into the neighbourhood
25 Community Relations - 2019 SECOND EXIT PLANNING AND CONSULTATION PROCESS Phased approach to planning: Phase 1: Develop Evaluation Framework
Phase 2: Location planning at stations
Phase 3: Design of second exits
26 Community Relations - 2019 PHASE 1 - DEVELOPING THE FRAMEWORK
• TTC convened panel of voluntary 3rd independent experts:
o architects, planners, academics, construction experts & neighbours to develop an Evaluation Framework
• The Evaluation Framework is a tool to assist Volunteer Working Groups in evaluating potential second exit locations
27 Community Relations - 2019 LOCAL WORKING GROUPS (LWG)
• One Local Working Group per station • Public call for applications • Members selected by the 3rd party Expert Panel
• 10 to 15 members including: o Local residents, TTC Riders, Business owners/workers, Business Association reps o Community Groups, Agencies, Institution reps
28 Community Relations - 2019 PHASE 2: LOCATION PLANNING
1. Set up Local Working Group
2. Working group develops Second Exit options – identifies potential locations
3. Evaluate all options based on framework
4. Working Group Recommendation for Station Second Exit location
5. Expert Panel reviews recommendation
Report to TTC Board on site recommendations
29 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK - CATEGORIES
Equally weighted categories:
• Safety • Permanent community impact – Second Exit Building • Temporary community impact – Construction Period • Customer experience • Cost
• Scoring is done through comparative ranking of options in each category
30 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION A – CHESTER AVENUE WEST SIDE OF GREEN P PARKING LOT
31 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION B – ARUNDEL GREEN P PARKING LOT
32 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION C – CARROT COMMON PARKING LOT
33 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION D – 15 ARUNDEL (LOGAN AVENUE PARKETTE)
34 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION E – 410-412 DANFORTH
35 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION F – 22 CHESTER AVENUE PARKING LOT
36 Community Relations - 2019 OPTION G – 3 CHESTER AVENUE
37 Community Relations - 2019 HOW DID THE LOCAL WORKING GROUP ARRIVE AT A FINAL RECOMMENDATION?
• Each volunteer completed and submitted an individual ranking confidentially
• The local working group then discussed and ranked the options as a group
• Though not required, the Local Working Group reached a consensus
38 Community Relations - 2019 OVERALL SCORES and CONSENSUS RANKING
OVERALL SCORE
Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E Option F Option G Chester Ave Arundel Green P Carrot 15 Arundel 410-412 22 Chester Ave (3 Chester Parking Lot Common (Logan Avenue Danforth Parking Lot (behind Avenue West side of Parking Lot Parkette) Station) Commerical Green P Property) Parking Lot
SAFETY 6 4 7 5 3 2 1
Community Impact - Long 7 6 4 3 5 2 1 Term
Community Impact 7 6 3 4 1 5 2 CONSTRUCTION
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 3 7 5 6 5 1 2
COST 7 5 6 2 3 4 1
OVERALL SCORE 30 28 25 20 17 14 7
39 Community Relations - 2019 PHASE 3: SECOND EXIT DESIGN CONSULTATION
• Community invited to submit ideas for design
• Desire for building to reflect character of neighbouring homes & bicycle parking
• Stone and brick pedestals, natural wood finish reflect character of community, clear sightlines and improved pedestrian walkway
• Design well supported and construction is well underway
40 Community Relations - 2019 DONLANDS STATION SECOND EXIT
41 Community Relations - 2019 SUMMARY
• Good Neighbour Policy is vital for meaningful engagement in Planning, Design, and Construction phases of projects for most impacted communities
• Incorporate reasonable community input to win public understanding and support
• Must have senior management support and a Corporate Culture that puts customers and neighbours first, to make a Good Neighbour Policy meaningful in practice
42 Community Relations - 2019 THANK YOU
This powerpoint may or may not have been sponsored by your 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors #WetheNorth
43 Community Relations - 2019 END
44 Community Relations - 2019 APPENDIX 1
FRAMEWORK
45 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK - SAFETY
46 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK – LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT – SECOND EXIT
47 Community Relations - 2019 LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT – SECOND EXIT
48 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK – LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT - CONSTRUCTION
49 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK – CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
50 Community Relations - 2019 FRAMEWORK - COST
51 Community Relations - 2019 COMMUNITY ART PARTNERSHIPS
• Engaged youth, local artists, residents, and City Councillors to create murals at major construction sites • Celebrated local history and communicated TTC accessibility initiatives for multiple subway stations
52 Community Relations - 2019 Background Info (Community Relations by Project Phase)
53 Community Relations - 2019 CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIP
Planning Stage – (Transit Project Assessment)
Project Team CLO (Community Liaison Officer) • provides scope, key objectives, planning • develops consultation plan documents to CLO • identifies stakeholders/influencers • invite CLO to participate early in work plan • prepares messaging, website content development • event logistics and reporting • brief team on key community concerns
• defines what decisions are already made • identifies anticipate issues, conflicts, and and what public can still influence potential resolutions • oversees pro-active public outreach and correspondence • provides technical data and key facts to CLO • prepares briefing packages, FAQs, handout materials, web content
54 Community Relations - 2019 CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIP
Design and Pre-Construction Stage Project Team CLO • presents station designs • coordinates public events for station designs 10%- • provides rationale for major changes to plan 30% and 60%-90% TBD • compared to EA (e.g. station locations, • reports community feedback to project team entrances) • communicates project team’s rationale to public • define what aspects of design are flexible • develops web content, online consultation • attends public events to answer technical questions • provides disruption management plan, • identifies specific locations with sensitive impacts construction staging plan for review • attends BIA and community group meetings to prepare them for disruption & get feedback • provides community suggestions to project team to enhance disruption management • provides drawings and confirms staging details • coordinates with team to produce 3D Visuals of for 3D visuals of construction (e.g. west construction phasing for web, meetings, briefings launch) • confirms technical details, key facts • prepares facts sheets, newsletters etc
55 Community Relations - 2019 CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIP
Construction Stage
Project Team CLO • shares contract scope and key details with CLO • writes community relations plans in parallel with each contract • provides rep at Construction Liaison Group • forms, facilitates and manages Construction Liaison meetings to answer technical construction Groups (CLG) questions (bi-weekly) • provides a technical expert for Site Walks • hosts Site Walks for media, local politicians and key • (3 times per year) business reps
• assists CLO in resolving public complaints • oversees complaints response monitoring and (orders to contractor, provide technical facts) provides weekly reports to project team • monitors effectiveness of Disruption • visits all properties and businesses adjacent to Management plan construction regularly to give updates
• oversees Community Office
56 Community Relations - 2019