ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE VALLEY Community Listening Script MSUS APPLIED PROJECT SPRING 2022 ANNA BARTHOLOMEW | RAVEN FIELDING | GRACE LOGAN | KALEIGH SHUFELDT | JOHN STIVERS This document is a summation of the Electric Transportation Equity Report. To see an overview of the listening session protocol, see the Equity Roadmap. For a quick look at the recommendations, see the Report Brief. OVERVIEW This script provides a breakdown of what could be the opener, questions, and closing of a community listening session, serving as a summation of aspects from the Community Listening Pilot Project outlined in the Electric Transportation Equity Report. Although some questions may incite responses outside of the TE Activator’s scope, these questions are vitally important so respondents feel comfortable voicing their actual concerns and perspectives, in addition to the TE Activator not coming in with an explicit, transactional agenda with these listening sessions. How to Use Questions The below questions were used by our team during listening sessions with national, regional, and local leaders. However, these questions should be vetted by community organizational members before being asked at community listening sessions. Further, they should be adjusted based on the style of the listening session. For example, a forum style having fewer questions that are conversational versus a 1:1 interview having more questions that give the interviewee room to share their perspective at the length and depth they see fit. By adjusting the questions based on community context and listening session style, they will be most conducive to a successful and meaningful session. | PAGE 1 | Best Practices When executing the Community Listening Project, it is important to remember this is not a set-in-stone recipe for how to conduct participatory, socially-embedded work. To truly understand the perspectives and approaches required, there should be guiding principles created by community members facilitating this work, such as having a sign when jargon is being used. At every step of the process, community organizations should be planning prior, facilitating during, and leading integration after the listening process. Institutions should then be focused on how to shift culturally and structurally to defer to community-led decision-making. After the listening session, TE Activator partners should meet with community facilitators to begin identifying pathways for implementation. By co-identifying pathways for the aspects brought up, and determining where structures need to adapt or change to realize them, community members can be involved in every step of the decision-making process. Further, how perspectives or data collected is analyzed, interpreted, or incorporated into future planning should be grounded with the context-specificity that community members can provide. Working in networks, communities can articulate what they believe is most crucial to work towards, while institutions are transparent about where structures need to change to make this possible. For example, if community members voiced in listening sessions that providing grant funding for community organizations to lead electric transportationrelated initiatives was most important, TE Activator partners should identify how to secure funds and create pathways to power for such a program. Additional information about these aspects are detailed within the Timeline & Strategy subsection under the Community Listening Pilot Project section of the Report. | PAGE 2 | INTERVIEW SCRIPT Opening "Thank you for your time. We value your expertise and participation in this listening project. We would like to take a moment for us to take five deep breaths and ground ourselves before we get started. If you’re able, release any tension or residual emotions from this day or the week before we enter this collective space." Land Acknowledgement "As many of us here today are descendants of settlers, immigrants, or descendants of those forcefully brought to this continent, we must recognize and never forget that we occupy the unceded traditional and contemporary homelands of those Native American tribes that have inhabited this land for centuries. We also have a responsibility to acknowledge and pay respect to the Indigenous elders and Knowledge Keepers – past, present, and future – whose stewardship and love of these lands and all its beings allow us to be here today. While acknowledgement means little unless coupled with meaningful action, we must all recognize our full, true history before we can move forward and must educate ourselves on our responsibilities to one another and the land." TE Activator and Goals "We are the Transportation Electrification Activator, a group of local Arizona organizations and cities interested in shaping the electric transportation landscape to positively benefit Arizona’s communities. Part of our goal is to take an equitable approach to ensure the benefits of electric transportation are shared by all. This is why we are conducting this Community Listening Project, so that the perspectives of the communities we aim to serve drive the actions we take." | PAGE 3 | Questions General What are the strengths of your neighborhood? What do you love about your community? What are your favorite places to visit in the area? What assets does your community have? Do you have access to: emergency medical services, nursing homes, health clinics, dentists, pharmacies, fitness centers, accessible transportation, child care, etc? What is the quality of these assets? What areas in your community do you feel could be improved? How could the TE Activator help you in your day to day life? Check-in How are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable in any way? With this process, what kinds of questions do you think we should be asking going forward? Do you have questions for us? Transportation What are the strengths of your community, with respect to transportation? How do you get around the Valley? Is this preferred or a necessary form of transportation? How accessible is this form of transportation for you? How much time do you spend commuting or reaching your final destination? Is your transportation option dependent on multiple factors (such as weather/heat/lack of shade, time of day/availability of transit)? How does transportation impact your day-to-day life? What do you like about the transportation system? | PAGE 4 | Transportation Continued Are different transportation options important to you? If so, which ones? If not, why? How would you like to get around the Valley? What, if anything, needs to change in the landscape for this to happen? How do you feel about electric transportation in general? Do you see a future where electric transportation impacts you personally? Would electric vehicles or electric methods of transportation be more probable as a transit method in the future? Potential Follow-up Questions *Ask these questions only if conversation has gone well / participants feel comfortable* Transportation Equity Definition: Accessible and affordable transportation for everyone in the community resulting in fair distribution of transportation resources, benefits, costs, programs and services based upon differences in income, ability and other factors affecting transportation choice and impact. Is this a focus of yours? If so, why? If not, would you be comfortable sharing where your focus(es) are? What does transportation equity mean (or doesn’t mean) to you? What is required for the Phoenix Valley to reach transportation equity? | PAGE 5 | TE Activator Transportation Goals Mission & Vision: The TE Activator, which launched in November, is a group of local Arizona organizations and cities - facilitated by Salt River Project - interested in shaping the electric transportation landscape to positively benefit Arizona’s communities. The Activator members envision a region with clean air, accessible electric transportation options, and robust electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. As part of their goal, the Activator wants to take an equitable approach to ensure the benefits of TE are shared by all. What are your concerns and hopes, if any, about SRP leading a transportation equity project centered around electric vehicles and transportation equity? How do you view the goals of the TE Activator? Given the context of how transportation pathways have displaced Black and Hispanic/Latinx communities in South and West Phoenix, historically and now with the light rail expansion. ​I f public transit is a possible equity solution, do you believe there is a way to increase accessibility without causing more harm? Community Organization Narratives Is electrifying transportation a top priority for your community organization? If so, why? If not, what are your top priorities? What are the primary methods of transportation for your community members? Which methods of transportation would you like to see improved upon? Closing “If there are any questions, comments, or concerns that you would like to convey that you did not have the opportunity to do so, please feel free to express them now or contact us. “Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and share your insights. We look forward to further collaboration in the future. Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback.” | PAGE 6 |