Jerom Theunissen 0:06 This is the Mobility Lines Podcast - a podcast where we interview thought leaders, practitioners and experts that relate to delivering customer-centric mobility management strategies. This program is organized by the National Center for Mobility Management, a Federal Transit Administration funded technical assistance center. This episode is titled "New Hampshire's Vision for Statewide Mobility Management, Conversation with Fred Roberge, Chair of the State Coordinating Council for Community Transportation. Hello mobility lines podcast listeners. My name is Jerom Theunissen, Project Associate with the National Center for Mobility Management or NCMM for short. Today, I have the pleasure of co-hosting the second episode of The NCMM podcast series with my colleague, Dr. Judy Shanley, Easterseals Director of the NCMM. Judy, it's great to be with you. Dr. Judy Shanley 1:02 Thanks, Jerom. I'm excited to be here and excited to introduce you all to a great colleague, Mr. Fred Roberge. Jerom Theunissen 1:11 And of course, yeah, we are thrilled to be joined by a special guest today. He is a champion of accessible transportation, a colleague and a friend, Mr. Fred Roberge. But before we hear from Fred I wanted to share some information about his background. Fred serves as Vice President of Transportation for Easterseals New Hampshire and its affiliated operating states. He has over 40 years of experience in community transportation, design and implementation of both specialized and public services. Fred currently manages and oversees a specialized transit system for Easterseals New Hampshire, providing mobility to human service organizations, medical facilities, and for the general public. Previously, Fred has worked with the Taxi and Livery Commission and the development of accessible taxi service in New York City. He currently serves as chair of the New Hampshire State Coordinating Council for Community Transportation, and is a member of the New Hampshire Governor's Commission on Disabilities. Fred, welcome to the podcast. Fred Roberge 2:05 Well, thank you, Jerom. And it's a pleasure to meet you. And I'm very pleased to tell the story of mobility management. I think you've given a background of my history and work in 40 years in community transportation. But I would like to note that none of that would be possible without my local agency Easterseals New Hampshire, allowing me and understanding that access for those who need it most is a critical component of maintaining independence. So thanks for the warm welcome and noting my career history. Jerom Theunissen 2:47 Of course, Fred, we're excited to have you and I wanted you to tell us a little bit more about your background and how you became interested in serving on the New Hampshire State Coordination Council for Community Transportation? Fred Roberge 2:59 A little bit of history behind the creation of the state coordinating councils, as Judy knows, and coordination efforts have been going on for, for quite some some time. You know, in my career, our agency actually started through coordination effort with the Urban Mass Transit Administration at the time, which later became the FTA pulled together, two or three different agencies that were providing community transportation, at that time, and special transit service was created to consolidate and coordinate efforts in the Greater Manchester area. And I was the first full time employee hired by that organization. We actually merged with Easterseals in 1983, and that really gave us the ability to, to put bones behind what we were doing were very small. And we we came into a progressive agency, Easterseals New Hampshire is a leader in the Easterseals family, and it always has been with creating services and mobility and other services for people who need it most. But really, I've been involved with the Governor's Commission on Disability for a number of years. And in the early 2000s, the Governor's Commission on Disability worked with with a number of other stakeholders and launched a coordination effort to to look at pulling groups and together to do amazing things in communities. And that led to RSA 239 being formed in New Hampshire which created the State Coordinating Council, and put together a number of progressive fronts. And of course, just like on the national level, we've experienced the State Council over the years lack of participation and by Health and Human Services and a number of other issues that really mirror the national level, I think on on many levels with the start and stop of the executive order with President Bush very early on, and the creation of CCAM, the coordinating council on access and mobility. You know, participation has been limited cooperation has been limited. And that's, that's really been an issue in coordination in our country and moving forward. So with all that said, some of the things that our council is currently working on is the ability to implement a statewide coordination plan, which is focused on expanding networks and regional coordination councils and exploring opportunities for mobility management, we really want to enhance our ability on inclusive planning efforts for new service development. We want to assist volunteer driver networks to expand and become sustainable. We want to engage our participants and providers in volunteer driver networks to enhance information exchanges and implementation of best management practices, the development of expanded coordination at the state level has been something that I'm particularly interested in and in poin with, specifically between health and human services, and our Department of Transportation, we're working on developing a statewide mobility manager to work on out of the governor's Commission on Disability Office, and Health and Human Services has recently reengaged with our operation, and they are looking at dedicating a specific person in Health and Human Services, to focus on transportation, in addition to the statewide mobility manager, I think that will look to leverage and do some of the things that our government has potential to enhance our ability to use the resources in a meaningful way. So that's just a few of the things that we've been working on. Dr. Judy Shanley 7:43 Thanks, Fred, what an amazing overview of where you've come and where you hope to go. I have been fortunate to serve as your regional liaison, and NCMM. Over the last couple years, and we've talked about building a mobility management network, we've talked about funding, we've talked about CCAM, and how the council can use those products to their advantage. So excited to continue the conversation. And with that, I was wondering how you see, the Statewide Coordinating Council as being the foundation for a mobility management network? We get that question a lot at NCMM, where people are confused sometimes regarding what is coordination mean versus mobility management network? And how do the two interrelate? I was wondering if you could just tell us in your thinking, how the coordinating council is the foundation for mobility management? Fred Roberge 8:45 Thank you. That's a great question. And I think some of the key characteristics and foundation of the state Coordinating Council is that it's created a successful structure for the development of mobility management activities and service development. I think one of the key things, characteristics has been that it's created a central place for transportation development. It's also created the possibility of Central contracting for state resources targeted for transportation. It's enhanced relationships with our planning entities throughout the state. And I think that's one of the most important characteristics of and foundations for mobility management is that there are so many disparate planning efforts underway specifically in our society and and tying those together and creating the relationships with the planning entities is a very important characteristic. It also creates the ability to facilitate coordination between public and private resources and our council and one of the key characteristics is to make change, right? To make recommendations to our governor and legislature. One of the things that is hit me around mobility management and and your providing support and development of this is that really mobility management is the means for implementing coordination activities. And I think that is the most critical characteristic of all. Dr. Judy Shanley 10:37 Terrific, we often talk about mobility management as a way to operationalize coordination. And I think you said it best when you said, mobility management is the means to implement coordination. So with that overview of the key characteristics in the foundation, I'm wondering if you could talk a little about how the work that you're doing both in your coordination work as well as launching a mobility management network might be related to other initiatives going on at the state or the local levels across New Hampshire? Fred Roberge 11:14 Yeah, I think, you know, some of those key characteristics of the the network are will be founded on, you know, cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders that play a role in service development, that meaning both funders and providers, and the willingness of all parties to stretch for the benefit of the greater good. And I think that's really what our activity at the community level is searching for. We're searching for mutually beneficial outcomes between stakeholders, I think one of the most critical components moving forward. This relates to my work on the governance commission for disability, and the thought around placing a statewide mobility manager in that office is that we need to- when we're designing systems for those who need the most- we need to include inclusive planning, and drive stakeholders to better understand community need. All too often, decisions are made using demographic formulas that don't always apply to local situations. So you know, maintaining that flexibility to respond to change, evaluate, need and respond to the work through identified community need, especially during the time such as the pandemic, this could mean a very different delivery system than what has been supplied in the past. Dr. Judy Shanley 12:50 I know that your Coordination Council has been really active in some region one federal agency initiatives like the Administration for Children and Families' Whole Family Approach, I know that you're looking at the Administration for Community Living and their work on inclusive planning and housing and HUD programs across the state have been a big participant in some of your activities. So I think when people look at examples of how it's not just a department of transportation or Federal Transit Administration work, that it's a whole federal agency approach. So regarding outcomes, you mentioned outcomes, how do you measure the success of the coordination council? And do you think that the same measures that you use to measure the SCC can also be useful to measure outcomes related to mobility management? Fred Roberge 13:45 I think, you know, one of the most critical components of measuring outcome is I measure our success. Right now, at least by the number of stakeholders working to promote the activity of the state Coordinating Council, I'm very proud to say, for the first time, our council has a full membership. So how creative and inclusive our work is at the state and regional level, to respond and develop new service or to advocate for need, I think is another measure of success and future funding for dedicated staff focused on tying all of these moving pieces together, because that's really what we have. Our SCC is a totally volunteer effort. And I think, you know, that needs to be remembered throughout this process. Increased mobility and access through the development of new services for those who need the most, I think, is also another component of success on our mobility management networks. Now you spoke about how the SCC is integrating other initiatives at the statewide level- and I think that's been one of my concerns, particularly over the last year - is that (and I think this happens nationally, too) every division of public government that has a transportation stake or is providing transportation services, understands that transportation need is is a critical component of need, and that not only locally but but in our country. Each division begins their own transportation effort to address those circumstances, often working in isolation. So that's one thing that, you know, my work on on the State Council is, has pulled together, you know, a number of different efforts working on transportation issues. Locally, we're looking at the Alliance for Healthy Aging, and our Commission on Aging and Health and Human Services, Whole Families initiative, now, as well as many other identified needs, and in our state. So I think one of one of the things that I've particularly worked on, especially with the reengagement of Health and Human Services, into this effort is pulling all those efforts together and focusing the resources of each organization to mutually work together to gain success. Dr. Judy Shanley 16:45 I think you exactly were in line with what this CCAM work is all about and increasing efficiency, across those hundred and 30 federal programs that can support transportation. So I think looking at that at the state level is as important. And you noted that leadership and dedicated funding in a position is critical. We learn that too in our study that we did the state of the state profile of mobility management network, which was the focus of our first podcast. So I think the way that you all are thinking about this is exactly right on. We're winding down, Fred, and I just wanted to ask, what recommendations do you have for other states that may be in a similar position? Or perhaps have it even started thinking about building a network? What recommendations or suggestions do you have for your peers? Fred Roberge 17:41 I think understanding how services are provided in communities and where strong relationships can be built to demonstrate success for the benefit of those who are being served, as should be the focal point of how to begin an initiative in a state. I think each area of our country needs to assess the level of coordination demonstrated by all stakeholders that they're involved with, developing a structure that allows for flexibility. But sure, I think stakeholders should have some means to respond to local need, as they understand it, understanding how to provide incentive for participants to work toward breaking down funding silos that many organizations work within, including at the national level. So and then I would just add, have a lot of patience! Dr. Judy Shanley 18:46 Patience, yes. No doubt that those suggestions, I hope your colleagues around the nation, listen to them, because you're certainly a leader in the field. And we want to thank you for your participation in this discussion. And thank you for your work overall, to the field of mobility management and your statewide coordination councils. Jerom Theunissen 19:08 Yeah, and thank you to all of our listeners. And please remember our center offers free products and technical assistance, all of which can be accessed through our website www.nc4mm.org. See you next time. Thanks, Fred. Fred Roberge 19:23 Thank you! Transcribed by https://otter.ai