DISTRIBUTION The human services provider and transit system often have an array of choices about how and where to distribute passes. In the steps below, we will help you to combine some of the most relevant factors from each of the transit pass elements with the potential distribution locations. These general factors, as well as factors that are specific to your community and pass will help you determine the appropriate distribution process. However, it is important to know the specific goals and objectives of the transit pass to gain accurate results from the distribution tools provided below. The type of transit pass fare media plays a large role in selecting the distribution sites. Utilization of a human services benefit card or university/employee ID card as a transit pass, for example, may alleviate the need for a pass distribution plan. Furthermore, new technology such as contactless bankcards is not common in the United States, but in a few years it could become widespread. Such programs do not require distribution strategies to be established by the agency or transit program. However, if your community has not adopted such high-tech solutions, please consider some of the distribution locations listed below and selected by the model programs.

As you review the Technology Element of this toolkit, consider the

best method for distributing the selected

technology in your community.

Use the chart below to rate your potential distribution locations, based on considerations listed along the side of the chart. Locations and considerations should be expanded as appropriate for your community and pass. The following steps illustrate the process to customize the Distribution Site Rating Chart to your community and determine the most appropriate distribution site(s)

Distribution Site Rating Chart

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http://www.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/articlefiles/transit_pass_toolkit/Technology_Element.pdf

Step 1: List the Potential Distribution Sites

Potential Distribution Sites Existing distribution sites that are serving the intended customers may be the most logical in terms of customer convenience and familiarity, as well as administrative requirements. However, there may be other unutilized locations throughout the community that also have potential for pass distribution. Many transit pass programs utilize grocery stores, Post Offices, or local businesses for distribution sites. Three common distribution sites are:

Traditional Transit System Sales Outlets Sponsoring Human Services Agency Offices Community Partners (i.e., grocery stores, businesses, Post Office)

It is important to be specific in listing the current and potential distribution locations so that all factors are considered. For example, rather than listing transit system as a distribution site, list individual transit system sales outlets including websites, vending machines, U.S. Mail, Designated Sales and Information Offices and others.

Step 2: List Decision Making Tools Associated with Potential Distribution Sites

Considerations for Distribution Once you have listed all of the potential distribution locations, now list all of the factors that pertain to pass distribution, regardless of where the passes are going to be distributed. Ten common factors that influence where and how passes are distributed are provided on the left side of the chart above to help you get started on a list of considerations that is specific to your community.

Prioritize the Considerations Once the considerations have been established,

prioritize them in order of highest importance to the transit pass goals and objectives. Move your top priority considerations to the top of the list (on the left side of the chart). If the most important considerations are customer convenience, distribution accountability, and eligibility verification, for example, list those before reconciliation, dissemination, etc.

Step 3: Rate Each Potential Location

Develop a Rating Scale Now, it is time to rate each potential location on how it satisfies each consideration that was established in Step 2. Choose a rating scale of 1 to 3, representing good, average, and poor or develop a new rating scale.

Assign Ratings and Double-Check Priorities Careful thought should be put into the

benefits and ratings associated with each location. If the considerations and potential locations are specific, the rating should become apparent because it will have the most occurrences of good ratings for each consideration. If the best locations are not standing out, a more specific dissection of the location or consideration is necessary

Now, justify the ratings applied to each location and consideration. For example, distribution site ratings may have the following justifications:

Customer Accessibility Distribution sites must include options that are accessible for people with disabilities. Accessible options include wheelchair accessible facilities (including entrances, doorways, and counters) and multiple formats for information products (including Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf [TDD] lines, Braille, and large print). A good rating in customer accessibility could be justified with at least the above noted factors.

Customer Convenience A good rating for customer convenience could be assigned to locations that are in proximity to a public transportation stop, at a site where the potential transit pass customers visit on a frequent basis, and, open during the appropriate hours to accommodate a variety of customer schedules. The more of these characteristics the location provides, the higher its rating.

Dissemination Process A good location will have the facilities to print passes and secure customer information. This location will rate higher if there is an adequate number of staff available to disseminate and process transit passes during open hours. The ability to train new and/or existing staff will also be an important consideration.

Distribution Accountability Each partnering organization will require accountability of who received the passes, how many passes were distributed, and possibly more details. It will be important for the distribution site to offer the capacity for appropriate accountability measures such as recordkeeping (number of passes distributed and to whom) and management or oversight of the distribution (for security). A good rating will depend on the existing capacity to account for distribution.

Eligibility Verification Locations identified for distributing passes will be improved if there is capacity to determine eligibility with the funding agency or use the processes identified jointly by the partnering agencies. In some cases, eligibility may be determined by an external process or agency; however, the process for ensuring that an individual is eligible prior to distribution of the pass is important.

Fare Technology The locations for distributing passes should be sufficiently compatible with any technologies used by your passes. For instance, if the passes use cards with electronic or magnetic media, are these cards able to be created, coded or loaded at the distribution site?

Protection of Customer Privacy If private, personal information about the customer is contained within the distribution location, distributing passes on-site may be the easiest way to ensure privacy. Eligibility for the pass and technology (bank account information,

etc.) each play a large role in prioritization and protection of customer privacy. If the pass is a paper card and eligibility is based on where a person lives, for example, privacy may not be a significant issue.

Reconciliation and Collection of Unused Passes In most partnerships, a single location is selected for reconciliation of passes. Therefore, the distribution site will be judged based on the simplicity of returning unused passes and/or reporting the number of passes that were distributed, back to the office that is responsible for reconciliation. If the reporting and collection processes are simple, the distribution site should receive a good rating.

Security Security measures must be established for storing and distributing passes to customers, along with securing customer privacy, and, if applicable, collecting payment from customers. A good location has secure procedures in place. Again, the more additional resources required, the lower the rating.

This process should reveal that the most appropriate distribution sites begin to appear with the most good ratings for your priority conditions/tools. You may need to dissect the considerations to make them more specific, if the results of the analysis yield more than a few potential best locations. To ensure unbiased results, ask several representatives from the partnering organizations to complete this chart, and discuss the results before making the final decision.

Step 4: Set Up Distribution at the Highest Rated Locations Steps 1 through 3 provided a process for eliminating distribution locations that are not effective for the transit pass, and revealing the best options. Now, it is time to set up the distribution site(s) and make the passes available for customers. The nuances for setting-up the distribution site are specific to the community population centers, amenities, geographic areas, and the relationship of the transit pass organizations and their customers. The transit system profiles provided in this toolkit include descriptions of distribution processes and locations working effectively for a variety of transit pass partnerships throughout the United States. Summary The best method and location for distribution of transit passes is unique to each community. To learn from peer transit passes, select one of the three transit pass models presented in this toolkit that best fits your transit pass and review the transit profiles referenced in the model for distribution processes and point of contact information.