Public Consultation: Hamilton Light Rail Transit

The Hamilton Light Rail Transit (LRT) is a proposed urban tram system designed to improve the transport infrastructure in Hamilton, Ontario. It is funded by the Ontario government up to $1billion. LRT was chosen by the province for Hamilton because of the three rapid transit options studied, it generated the most transit and economic benefits.

Who are the big players involved in this consultation and how are they doing it?

• Engagement and outreach
• Chambers of Commerce input
• Advisory Committees
• Ward meetings
• LRT corridor outreach
• LRT Citizen’s Jury

Together these elements considered the challenges and opportunities that might arise from the implementation of LRT and will provide input into decision-making as higher order transit is implemented in Hamilton.

Working with Voxcitio

David Derbyshire, the LRT corridor outreach coordinator, approached Voxcitio after finding our public consultation canvassing software online. Our new software, Voxcitio focuses on stakeholder engagement in a project management framework. Nothing he had come across had the mobile canvassing app or database mapping functionality. He was interested in something that could manage face-to-face data collection and specific issue tracking from individuals.

• In the initial stages, LRT Corridor Outreach was learning to organize their database and invite team members.

• They did move on from this to building a variety of public consultation surveys.

• We helped them to provide training documents and materials to their team so best practice was adhered to.

• Support was provided through the chat box on the website so they had access to immediate help with any issues. Any support tickets that came through out of hours were dealt with the next day.

• We also organized a tutorial with their team to ensure they were getting the best from the product. This is a standing offer with all campaigns and can be availed of periodically as the campaign changes.

LRT Corridor Outreach Stats

• 8500 people in database on the transit line in 2500 houses

• Over 1700 doorstep interactions and 400 surveys completed

• 10 team members and 5 volunteer accounts for casual canvassers

• 10 dedicated iPads that are preloaded with canvass routes

Public Consultation

The Hamilton LRT project is a good example of how public consultation does not have to be restricted to community meetings and some email surveys. It shows best practice in garnering broad-based community involvement in every stage of the consultation process. It also shows that quality data collection methods feedback into the overall strength of the process.

If you want to learn more about how Voxcitio can help you with a Public Consultation project, why not click the button below: