Implementation Report Final Version

Running Head: 2013-14 IMPLEMENATION REPORT
Youth Opportunity Pass Implementation Report
Mid-City CAN Improving Transportation in City Heights
Momentum Team of Mid-City CAN
By: Abdulrahim Mohamed
March 17, 2015

2013-14 IMPLEMENTATION REPORT
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Table of Contents
0. Purpose of Implementation Report……………………………..................3
1. Introduction of the Youth Opportunity Pass Project
1.1 Background………………………………………………………………..3
1.2 Purpose………………………………………………………..................3
1.3 Benefits……………………………………………………………………4
2. Program Scope……………………………………………………………………..4
3. Fiscal Year 13-14 Implementation Budget
3.1 Description of Budget……………...................................................5-6
4. Implementation Layout
4.1 Evaluation Factors………………………………………......................7
4.2 Selection of Criteria……………………………………….....................8
4.3 Stages of Implementation………………………………………...........9
5. Implementation Assessment
5.1 Successes………………………………………………………...........10
5.2 Challenges……………………………………………………..................10-11
6. Conclusion
6.1 Suggestions and Recommendations ……………………………….11
6.2 Best Practices ………………………………………………………11-12
6.3 Looking Ahead: YOP Scalability …………………………………….12

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0. Purpose of Report
This report is created to evaluate the implementation effectiveness of the YOP (Youth
Opportunity Pass) pilot project. It is not meant to evaluate the effectiveness of the passes
themselves, there is a separate evaluation for that question. The composition of this report is
broken down into six areas. We will discuss the program’s origination, scope, budget,
implementation layout, assessment of implementation and suggestions and recommendations, as
well as, project scalability. The overall goal of the report is to demonstrate what we learned in
our first year of implementation and show others what adjustments and enhancements would be
needed for the next year of the project and the years that follow.
1. Introduction of the Youth Opportunity Pass Project
1.1 Background:
In 2011, residents in City Heights came together with a Mid-City CAN community organizer to
create affordable transit for youth in their community. They had to make decisions on whether to
pay for putting food on the table or paying for transportation-even though both are necessary.
Through all their hard work, I joined the ITCH (Improving Transportation in City Heights)
momentum team in 2012 and made a petition that serves their goal of helping youth have
opportunities for success. This has led to a proposal called the Youth Opportunity Pass. The
proposal, in the following paragraph, gives a summation of the City Heights community in recent
years.
“School busing has been severely cut in recent years, affecting almost 400 students
in the City Heights area alone. Due to these cuts, students are forced to walk long distances
or buy bus passes to get to school. The long walks have put kids at risk of becoming
victims of crime and having accidents with motor vehicles. Transportation struggles can
cause increased stress, hurt school attendance, reduce participation in extracurricular
activities, and decrease job opportunities. As a result, transit-dependent, low-income
students experience limited opportunities for enhanced educational, extracurricular, and
economic success.”1
1.2 Purpose:
The purpose of the YOP Program is to increase transit ridership, safety, and access to education
and jobs for young people in San Diego, who attend school fulltime, by providing a free youth
bus pass through their school. We need to secure reliable, accessible, efficient and affordable
public transportation for our hardworking students. We would want to give all students the same
opportunities, like other higher income students, to succeed in their lives so that they can achieve
their educational and occupational goals for a better future.
1 Mid-City CAN, “The Youth Opportunity Pass- A Pilot”, 2012

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1.3 Benefits:
The Improving Transportation in City Heights Momentum Team understood that in order for San
Diego to grow and prosper, the next generation of youth must be the backbone of our city. The
youth have to be given an opportunity to fulfill their goals and dreams. Through the effort,
discipline, and diligence of our residents, we were able to have the Youth Opportunity Pass
Program. It was a project that we petitioned and fought for in 2012 that lead to program
acceptance in 2013. With that win, we can show the benefits of the Youth Opportunity Pass
(YOP) throughout the program life cycle. The following demonstrates the benefits of instituting
this program.
 Youth Safety
 Economic Development & Access to Employment
 Access to School & Extra-Curricular Activities
 Enables students to travel around San Diego
 Decreases air pollution and GHG emissions
 Grows the next generation of transit riders
2. Program Scope:
The Youth Opportunity Pass Pilot Program targets low-income high school students ages 14-17.
The high schools covered in this project were: Hoover, Crawford, Lincoln and San Diego High.
They were chosen by transit accessibility and transit dependency of student populations. It was
designed to be for the entire 13-14 school year which spans nine months. In addition, the goal for
the 1000 bus passes was to distribute them evenly across these schools. Now, it is an eight month
program that started October 23rd
, 2013 and ended June 30th
, 2014. During these months,
approximately 850 bus passes were dispersed among the four schools. The reasons for the change,
from the original scope to the current scope, can be found in the “Challenges” section (pg. 10-11)
of this report. The cost of the program was $359,000 dollars. A description of the program funds,
shown in figure 1, depicts funding sources and the contribution percentage of those sources. This
program is a partnership between Mid-City-CAN, The City of San Diego, Metropolitan Transit
System, and San Diego Unified School District.

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Figure 1: Contribution Percentage from Funding Sources
The figure indicates a high contribution level from the City of San Diego and the San Diego
Unified School District (SDUSD). The Metropolitan Transportation System (MTS) provided
pictured compass cards to the bus pass recipients’ as an in-kind donation shown in table 1.
3. Fiscal Year 2014 Implementation Budget
3.1 Description of Budget:
The program budget was devised and developed by the San Diego Unified School District
(SDUSD) and Mid-City CAN (Community Advocacy Network). SDUSD provided $150,000 and
the City of San Diego provided $200,000. SDUSD had an agreement with MTS for 1,000 passes
for 8 months at $36/pass. Not all funds for passes were expended; 875 passes were distributed and
remaining funds rolled over to the next year of the project.
SDUSD allocated $59,000 of its contribution for a third-party evaluation, outreach workers and
incentives. Mid-City CAN directed the outreach workers. The evaluation study was conducted as
a collaboration between Global Action Research and Sustainable Community Solutions at UCSD.
The evaluation component was needed to see the effects of the program and have data for next
year’s program. Promotoras (outreach workers) helped students with the YOP applications and
promoted the program to students and other community members, in addition to handing surveys
to and collecting surveys from students- materials and supplies were included. Incentives played
a part in encouraging students in the control group to take the surveys. The production costs of $2
per compass card were covered as an in-kind donation from MTS.

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Budget Item Amount
Passes (1000 ct. for 8 months) $288,000
Evaluation Study $40,000
Outreach Workers and Incentives $19,000
Replacement Cards $3,000
Production Costs (in-kind by MTS) $9,000
Total : $359,000
Table 1: YOP Budget

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4. Implementation Layout
4.1 Evaluation Factors
To properly evaluate the YOP program and assess its value, choosing good evaluation factors
would be important in measuring program success. The evaluation factors chosen for the
program are: comfort zone, mobility, safety, academic achievement, and access to opportunity.
We believe that these factors are the main influencers of student success. The hallmark of the
evaluation is to demonstrate how the Youth Opportunity Pass positively impacts these factors.
The flowchart, shown in Caption 1, shows the process of how each factor directly and indirect
affect each other. A description of each evaluation factor is indicated below.
Figure 2: Impact of Youth Opportunity Pass
Comfort Zone: How comfortable students feel about riding transit.
Mobility: How often students use transit and the diversity/distance of the places they travel to.
Safety: How safe is it for students to get to and from the places they need to go (school, work,
extra-curricular activities, shopping, etc).
Academic Achievement: Are students able to attend school on time and how they can get
resources to help them do better in school.
Access to Opportunity: Opportunities for students to improve their quality of life. Examples
include: extracurricular and recreational activities, volunteer work, access to jobs and
internships.

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4.2 Selection of Criteria
Once the evaluation and project budget was determined, an application was needed for students
to apply for the Youth Opportunity Pass. Mid-City CAN, MTS, and SDUSD collaborated
together on designing and drafting the YOP application. As the organizations continued to work
on the application, selection criteria was important to determine students who were eligible to
receive a bus pass. The flow chart, shown in caption 2, gives a breakdown of the criteria.
Figure 3: Selection of Criteria
Once the criteria were established, the selection process began. The selection process went as
followed:
 San Diego Unified School District will prequalify a pool of students who can apply.
 Students who receive application must attend orientation and complete application.
 Students who fulfill the requirements will be randomly selected to receive bus passes.
The rest of the students were placed in a control group. They still had the opportunity to
participate in the program study, receive incentives and potentially receive a pass later in the
school year.
Distance
Student Qualification
Family Income Attendance Academic Support

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4.3 Stages of Implementation
SDUSD Approval
of $150,000
City of SD
Approval of
$200,000
Start of Fiscal
Year 2013-2014
Email to principals
regarding plans for
new project
4/ 9/ 2013 6/10/2013 7/1/2013 7/15/2013
Check
transmitted to
MTS
10/22/2013
SDUSD approval of
agreement w/MTS
and Mid-City CAN
10/29/2013
9/19/13 10/10/13 11/12/13 12/13/13 1/10/148/22/13
1:00pm: San
Diego High
09:30am: Hoover
12:30pm: Lincoln
11:00am:
Crawford
11/15/2013 11/22/2013 12/06/2013
Stage 1:
Acquisition and
transmission of
funds to MTS
Stage 2:
Coordination with
partner agencies
Stage 3:
Evaluation
Stage 4:
Announcement of
control group and
bus pass recipients.
Distribution of
passes
Evaluation
Collaboration
Meeting
SDUSD internal
meeting on
evaluation
Evaluation
rollout
Application
Finalized
Baseline Surveys
Collected
9/9/13 9/18/13 9/23/13 10/1/13 11/13-1/14
Mid-line
Surveys
Collected
Evaluation
Collaboration
Meeting
3/2014 11/4/13
End-line Surveys
Collected
5/14 & 9/14

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5. Implementation Assessment
5.1 Successes
As I look back on the program from inception to completion of the first year, implementation
improved each and every month. There was an increase in the number of passes distributed per
month and improving coordination; this is a testament to the determination and persistence of
everyone involved in the implementation process. Knowing that a partnership between agencies
like SDUSD, the City of San Diego, MTS, and Mid-City CAN can implement a program of this
caliber, it gives us the confidence to strive even harder to enhance and strengthen our
implementation processes. Having the opportunity to have this program continue for another
year is a tremendous step in the right direction. The successes that we can take with us for the
next year of the Youth Opportunity Pass program are mentioned below:
 Promotoras are an important conduit for communication with students and schools.
 Communication between Mid-City CAN, evaluators and the school sites.
 There were numerous applicants and overwhelming demand for the passes that a waitlist
was needed.
 Community members were motivated by the fact that decision makers were taking an
interest in them.
 Smaller scale orientations in the schools were easier than assemblies with several
hundred students.
 The evaluators have been able to collect a lot of data from the students; we are creating a
data pool that does not exist elsewhere-there are very few studies of free bus pass
programs…we are on the cutting edge.
 Cooperation from YOP Partner Agencies: MTS, City of San Diego and San Diego
Unified School District.
 SDUSD & MTS created a streamlined technical process. Used Dropbox as a shared
secure portal which made data more accessible.
 Nearly all funding went to passes and evaluation-there was minimal administrative
overhead.
5.2 Challenges
There were many challenges to implementing the program. When implementing a program that
has not been done before in San Diego, you will encounter unexpected situations and
circumstances beyond your control. Changes in leadership in San Diego Unified School District
and the City of San Diego were examples of uncontrollable events. There were other obstacles,
listed below, that delayed the implementation process:
 Money from City of San Diego was late and threw the project into uncertainty; this
caused the project to be delayed -while MTS required full upfront payment.
 During the earlier stages of implementing the program, communication between MCC
staff and the school sites had to go through SDUSD program manager.

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 Limited staff time at SDUSD and schools for implementation (something added onto
their jobs). Staff turnover at Hoover and changing point person at Crawford.
 Lengthy time period for distribution of passes and not all passes were distributed in the
first year; the rollover of passes was used for this summer and next year.
 Replacement compass cards had to be picked up at MTS store, there was confusion about
activation of passes, and there was a delay in data for evaluation.
 Mid-City CAN had to simultaneously oversee parts of the implementation of program
and continue gathering political support for another year of funding.
 The funding was only short term funding.
 MTS required students’ pictures to be on compass card and be in a certain format: a
process had to be established and there was no system set up to transmit the pictures from
the district data system to MTS. Because of SDUSD’s change in their database to
PowerSchool, many pictures were not in the right format and many passes were delayed.
 MTS did not have technical ability to do aggregate tap data geographically.
 Promotora program started late as a result of a long contract process-this resulted in
families not knowing about program until later in the school year.
6. Conclusion
6.1 Suggestions and Recommendations
The lessons learned have given us the opportunity to overcome similar challenges and create a
stronger YOP program for next year and the years to come. The recommendations and
suggestions used to make the adjustments are described below:
 Guidebook for schools on how the process works (how selection should go, who to
contact about questions, how to request replacements etc.) and clearer explanation of
selection criteria on application.
 Activate the passes before they are handed out or training on activation have MTS at
school orientations.
 Need clearer and faster lines of communication between partner agencies.
 Have quarterly meetings in person during the summer between SDUSD coordinator,
school principals, MCC, Promotoras, and MTS staff.
 Revise MTS/SDUSD contract to not require full upfront payment and allow for rollover
of passes to next year.
 Have online applications, in addition to paper applications, to decrease the need for data
entry and data entry mistakes.
 Administrative position at SDUSD dedicated to pass program implementation, who can
take burden off of school staff and oversee Promotora Program.
6.2 Best Practices
We have established a set of procedures that will lay the groundwork for enhanced
implementation effectiveness for the subsequent years:

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Emphasis on ridership, safety, and economic development.
Require passes to be used on a regular basis, or student is removed from program.
Monitor student usage of bus passes in order to ensure that student is still enrolled,
attending and using the card.
Identify eligible students at each school.
Support to school site staff with training-consisting of school staff.
6.3 Looking Ahead: YOP Scalability
Expansion to Other School Districts:
Leaders of several communities have already expressed interest in the expansion of the program.
Expanding the program to other school districts will have a profound impact on program
longevity. Figure 4 shows both current pilot area and potential YOP expansion areas within
priority areas. Lemon Grove, a possible expansion site, is very interested in having a program,
like ours, in their city. This is an important step, but is only part of our goal of attaining ITCH’s
vision.
Figure 4: Map of priority areas for CalEnviroScreen Tool

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ITCH Vision
ITCH envisions a universal no-cost bus pass program for all young people (middle school to
college) in San Diego. The inclusion of middle school to college and expansion into regional and
statewide domains will increase our chances of having this project become a full-scale,
permanent program. We are looking at all levels of government, public and private partnerships
to create a sustainable, and eventually, permanent funding source.

Implementation Report Final Version

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Implementation Report Final Version