Transportation is evolving – and there was no better place to watch advancement in the industry take place than the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Event in Washington D.C.
This year, GovDelivery met with hundreds of public sector transportation professionals across all levels of government and received nearly 100 survey responses on technology trends to watch in 2015 for the transportation industry. With customer expectations rising, agencies let us know how they were meeting the challenges of providing a safer, more efficient travel experience for their customers and building lasting partnerships within the transportation industry.
Where are you headed?
33% of survey respondents indicate that implementing or improving programs is important to achieving their government organization’s goals. (TWEET THIS)
When asked about their biggest initiatives for 2015, about 33% of organizations we surveyed noted that implementing or improving programs was important to achieving their goals, while others said that improving the coordination between their organizations and other federal, state and local partners was their most important initiative for the year. To achieve these goals, organizations looked to a variety of tools and techniques to help them advance their objectives.
Next Stop: Data
97% of government employees surveyed agreed that communications was paramount to their organization’s success in 2015. (TWEET THIS)
Respondents nearly unanimously (97%) agreed that communicating with varying audiences was paramount to the success of their 2015 initiatives, but their priorities varied when it came to how to tackle communications planning. When agencies were asked to select the communication efforts that would be their highest priority in 2015, many teams reported that improving their understanding of their audiences was key to making an impact on their overarching agency goals, and would be pursued over improving the online customer experience or improving brand awareness. For example, transportation organizations could improve customer service, perception of public transportation and overall ridership with reliable real-time alerts of arrivals or departures.
Detours Ahead
Lack of resources was the #1 cited barrier to achieving goals in the transportation industry. (TWEET THIS)
We concluded the survey by asking respondents to look down the road beyond 2015 to give us a better idea of what their biggest barriers to achieving safer and more satisfied transportation customers. Many agencies (44%) shared concerns that their lack of resources would impede their programs’ impact and overall success. Reaching more people directly and acquiring new audiences was also a top concern (36%) among transportation agencies, with many reporting that they needed ways to establish better connections between their stakeholders and the content that their agencies are producing.
Paving the Way to Success
60+ transportation-focused organizations use GovDelivery to connect with 3.6 million people. (TWEET THIS)
The annual TRB event was a great opportunity to hear from industry experts on how to improve processes, leverage new technology and design, and plan for the future of transportation. As agencies execute on their goals of reaching new audiences and connecting people with actionable content to inform their travel, they can learn from the existing outreach strategies that have been honed by 60+ GovDelivery transportation partner agencies connecting with 3.6 million people like the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Washington State Dept. Of Transportation (WSDOT) and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Looking for more on the ways that transportation agencies are solving their biggest challenges around improving traveler safety and building engaged audiences? Browse more of our transportation resources now.
