This Week in MVP: Undergraduate Research Award!

Congratulations to our MVP Team undergraduate research assistant, Teshanee Williams, for receiving the North Carolina State University College of Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Research Grant! Thanks to Teshanee's hard work, she has been awarded $1,280 to continue working with the Mobile Voice Project this spring! Way to go!

Mobile Voice Project Awarded Go Triangle Golden Mode Award

Mobile Voice Project is proud to announce that we have been awarded the Community Champion award for the 2013 Golden Modes awards from the GoTriangle! The Golden Modes honors those extraordinary commuters that not only love their sustainable commute but also promote sustainable transportation options to their family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. 

Check out our video interview!  

 

This Week in MVP: Eco Conference!

Two of our Mobile Voice Project team members had a great time at the 2013 Southeastern Ecological Community Psychology Conference this weekend! Great time to give and take ideas with others doing community work. Thanks #se_eco_2013 !!

Photo(s) of the Week: "Have a seat?"

Many of our participants are also clients at The Healing Place of Wake County, and we love working with them! They often take a picture of the sign for the Healing Place as something that is really helpful to them in getting around town and other areas of their life. But they also often photograph the one uncovered bench at the bus stop nearest to the Healing Place as something that is a major barrier to them getting around town. Judging from the pictures below from one participant, what about this might pose a problem for these participants? How might this effect the rest of their day?

Photo(s) of the Week: "If the city takes care of its people..."

"If the city takes care of its people, then people will take care of it."

An MVP participant recently said these words to describe the need for bus shelters to be put in place and well maintained in Raleigh. From her view, if the city puts up nice shelters with a place to throw away trash, people will keep them clean. If not, then people will follow the city's example.

Participants often comment on the need for more shelters and on how much shelters in different parts of the city differ in quality and maintenance. See several of the different photographs just this one participant took of various shelters in Raleigh. How do they differ?

Photo of the Week: "All my Stuff"

"All of my stuff I have to carry and try to fit on a bus."

A common concern among our participants is trying to take all of their belongings with them on the buses. For participants without storage space, they must carry everything they own with them everywhere they go. Participants must make difficult decisions about what is worth carrying and what they must get rid of. They experience the stigma of carrying these possessions with them on the buses as well as the physical difficulty of crossing town carrying so much baggage. Buses are generally not equipped to accommodate passengers carrying luggage. See what this participant thought was still worth carrying around town? What would you keep? What would you be able to get rid of?

Photo of the Week: "Kind of Scary"

This participant used her photo to show that: "The way to the library is kind of scary sometimes due to no cross-walk there & lots of cars go by." How could we make Clark more pedestrian-friendly for easier access to the resources in Cameron Village?

Photo of the Week: "After dark"

Another striking participant photo to show how there are, "not enough street lamps on some less frequently visited bus stop areas ... after dark!" Safety after dark while riding transit or walking is a common concern of MVP participants. What more can be done to make riders and pedestrians safer after dark?

Photo of the Week: Can you find it?

Can you find the crosswalk signal in this picture? Hint: It's waaay back behind the Exxon sign on the left. One of our participants took this very illustrative photo of why this could make for a dangerous intersection for pedestrians. — at 624 St Mary's St Raleigh NC.

This Week in MVP: Project Leader Featured

Great news! Word just came in that our project leader, Amanda Matson, was selected for the first ever Society for Community Research and Action Featured Student Contest! That's more prize money that can go into funding the Mobile Voice Project - providing bus passes for our participants!

This Week in MVP: Team Updates!

A big welcome to our new research assistants for this summer and fall and a big welcome back to our returning assistant! You are already sharing so many innovative ideas on how to promote and strengthen the Mobile Voice Project!

This Week in MVP: New Partner!

The Mobile Voice Project team is excited to start sessions this week with clients at the Helen Wright Center of Urban Ministries of Wake County! A big thanks to staff and clients there for welcoming us last night. Looking forward to hearing more about the clients' experiences related to mobility at tomorrow night's session!

This Week in MVP: Transitioning

The spring semester is coming to a close, and with it, the MVP Team is transitioning.  We will be having a couple of our research assistants move on and a new research assistant starting with us this summer.  A big thanks to four fabulous Research Assistants this past fall and spring! The Mobile Voice Project would not be as far along today if it hadn't been for all of your hard work!

This Week in MVP: Awesome Undergraduates!

Congratulations to our team of undergraduate research assistants for their winning proposal to receive an NCSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Research Award for $375 each, or a total award of $1500! You all have earned it! For the award, over the next 6 weeks, students will be trained on various qualitative research techniques and then have a chance to implement them to analyze the photos and audio from our MVP sessions. Can't wait to see what they learn from all of our participants' stories...

Notable News in Mobility: The Right to Transportation

When the average American thinks about their own transportation experience, we usually think of how to get around traffic or how to cut a few minutes off our daily commute. We usually don’t have to consider whether or not we will have the ability to get to where we need to go; rather we just focus on how to make it a more enjoyable experience. But for many Americans, like those participating in the Mobile Voice Project, simply getting from place to place can be a daily struggle. This article by Wired asserts that transportation is should not be a privilege few enjoy, but a civil right to which all have access.  Every citizen should have the right to adequate transportation because “access to transportation is key to connecting the poor, seniors and those with disabilities to jobs, schools, health care and other resources. It is essential to widening opportunities for all.”  Without adequate transportation options opportunities that should be open to all are being withheld from those most in need. 

The women we work with everyday as a part of the Mobile Voice Project are among those with inadequate access to opportunities that could lead them to independence and an equal opportunity at financial security. I think it’s time for us as a community to come together and take the perspective of those less able to access the things in life many of us take for granted. When the federal government allocates 80 percent of its transportation funding to highways, and Americans in the lowest 20 percent income bracket spend up to 42 percent of their annual income on transportation, the way funds are allocated needs to change to assisting transportation-disadvantaged populations. As a community we can pressure our elected officials to make these changes. Let your voice be heard!

Sources: WIRED

Comments? Questions? Sound off on our Facebook page. 

Author: Nicholas Flickinger

Photo of the Week: "Speedy Service"

Speedy Service

This week one of our MVP participants submitted a picture of the information booth at Moore Square Station in downtown Raleigh.

The participant who took this photo listed this booth as a 'boost' to her transportation situation - something that helps her get around town. In her own words:

"The information desk is a boost because it allows you to buy passes in advance and to see what bus connects with other buses. The service is speedy."

This Week in MVP: "VOICE!"

We strive to create a forum in which our participants can have VOICE about their opinions and experiences related to mobility, both through their photographs and through group discussion. One participant recently shared her experience of being able to raise her VOICE through MVP: "I am glad that I have the chance to share my point of view on riding the bus. I received the chance to ask questions and give my opinion."

Notable News in Mobility: New Transit Hub Could Mean New Transit Future

The plan and design of a new downtown transit station was recently revealed at a meeting conducted at Meymandi Concert Hall. The project would cost an estimated $60 million and would serve as Amtrak’s new home. The facility located at 510 W. Martin St. would also serve as a hub for buses. The exciting possibility is that the station could also be equipped to house a future light rail connecting Wake and Orange County. The half-cent sales tax increase to fund the project has already been approved by the voters of Orange County and County Commissioners. The question is whether or not Wake county voters and county commissioners will take the leap and approve measures to push the plan forward in Raleigh.

Another big question is whether or not the new light rail service will serve low-income areas along its route. Having a light rail with stations serving disadvantaged areas could go a long way in expanding the transportation options and ultimately the opportunities available to populations that have limited access to personal vehicles, like our MVP participants. Even if these services are made geographically available, however, financial barriers could erase any potential benefit for low-income communities. If fares for the light rail are set out of reach for transportation-disadvantaged individuals, then the service could have no benefit to them at all. Hopefully some form of financial assistance based on need can be drafted and discussed along with proposed tax increases to finance the project.

The next public hearing on the new transportation hub will be in May. Hopefully the interests of those most in need of public transportation improvement will be kept in consideration as the discourse moves forward. If you want your voice to be heard on the issues contact your County Commissioners.

Sources: WRAL and Our Transit Future

Comments? Questions? Sound off on out Facebook page.

Author: Nicholas Flickinger

This Week in MVP: "New Resources"

Participants have been very enthusiastic about the Mobile Voice Project and being able to share their experiences about transportation in a group discussion. One participant said “ I was able to learn and find out new resources that will help us.”

Photo of the Week: "Hard to Downsize"

Hard to Downsize

This is a photo taken by one of our participants this week to represent a barrier she faces to getting around town each week. 

What she wanted to illustrate with this photo was the difficulty of carrying around multiple bags. When asked what she does to make it easier, she mentioned downsizing as a strategy. But even that has its disadvantages:

"It's really hard to downsize when [you're carrying around] your life. It's hard to pick and choose. And if you want to downsize to at least one or two bags, but you end up with four bags...you have to give everything you got away, almost."

Photo of the Week: Lonely or Shelter?

This is a photo taken by one of our participants. Her description of what it means to her: "To me it's about perception of public transportation. It could be lonely. But it also could be safe because there's a shelter there, and there's not a shelter everywhere." — at Rex Hospital.

Notable News in Mobility

The Mobile Voice Blog will not only be covering the progress of the Project but will also identify and dissect current events and policy issues that affect the women we work with.

One of the largest influences on our study populations’ ability to have dependable transportation that meets their needs is the government’s willingness to properly fund public transportation. As reported in a recent article by The Progressive Pulse, “North Carolina’s transportation system helps form vital social and economic structures by connecting people to services, jobs, and other opportunities across the state and beyond.” Without appropriately funded public transportation, citizens, including the women we work with every day, can miss out on opportunities to advance in careers and have access to vital services. Without transportation to adequate employment opportunities, women like those working with MVP can be barred from advancing economically and becoming homed. This is alarming, considering that North Carolina’s transportation budget is “facing a $60 billion shortfall for transportation improvements through 2040.”

Not only are forecasts of funding grim but, “The FY2012-13 budget took nearly $240 million from the Highway Fund and Highway Trust Funds to improve General Fund availability.” With transportation funds increasingly diverted to unspecified projects, it is hard to see how our elected officials will use such funds to in ways that will help disadvantaged populations to escape poverty. With a public transportation system that has already proven to be inadequate in serving transportation-disadvantaged populations, reducing funding to vital public transportation services can further hinder disadvantaged populations that already struggling.

As we move forward we will continue to examine the key issues to the improvement of the lives of our study population and hopefully encourage dialogue within our community as to how we can all come together to overcome transportation inequality.

Source: Progressive Pulsehttp://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/03/14/budget-preview-north-carolinas-transportation-budget-faces-long-term-60-billion-shortfall/

Comments? Questions? Sound off on our project Facebook page.

Author: Nicholas Flickinger

This Week in MVP: Our New Video

Check out this new 'About MVP' video (recently added to the 'About MVP' page) to learn more about what we do and who we are:

MVP submitted this video to the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) video contest. No word back yet over whether or not our video placed first, but hopefully we will know soon! Winners of the contest not only receive a monetary prize, but the video will also be shared amongst psychologists and researchers in the Community Psychology field. It's a great way to raise awareness and funds, which is why MVP decided entering the contest would be a viable outlet for spreading the word about the work we do.

Mary Churchill and Sally Highsmith, two of our undergraduate research assistants, compiled the video. All pictures included in the video were taken by participants as part of the pilot MVP session at the Women's Center of Wake County. We had a lot of footage and participant pictures to work with, so we tried to diversify the types of shots used to give viewers an idea of what Raleigh's transportation system is like through the lens of our participants.

The project enabled our team to learn some new skills in movie making and put them to work in raising awareness about our project!

This Week in MVP: "Great experience... BIG difference"!

Feed back from participants has been overwhelmingly positive surrounding advocacy for public transit. One participant stated the project was a "Great experience thus far...I look forward to learning more and participating to make a BIG difference in Raleigh, too!"

Photo of the Week: Overcrowded

A photo taken by a participant shows how overcrowded buses in Raleigh can be! Overcrowded buses leave little room for older transit riders to sit and can be problematic when new passengers are boarding a bus that is already full of people or even must be turned away when a bus is completely full. Another good reason to advocate for more transit in the Triangle!

MVP Awarded SCRA Policy Grant!

The Mobile Voice Project was recently awarded the Society for Community Research and Action's Policy Grant! A big thanks to SCRA for supporting our project. 

The money from this grant is crucial to help us fund the bus tickets we provide to our participants as incentives and to be able to purchase the cameras and other supplies to carry out the project!

This Week in MVP: Results from MVP Pilot so far...

We held the pilot session for the Mobile Voice Project throughout late November and early December of 2012. Our team is hopeful that the data we collected will shed some light on the mobility patterns of the participants from the Women's Center of Wake County, and help us to fine-tune the logistics of the intervention before full implementation.

The numerous photographs taken by the participants were particularly interesting to go through and analyze. MVP team members are currently in the process of compiling the best shots and using them to create a video about the project. I've edited quite a few at this point, and I'd really like to share some of my personal favorites because I think they all illustrate the fact that these women lead complex and different lives, though all of them are affected by transportation in some way.

The Raleigh skyline as seen from South Harrington street.

Some women find it easier to walk in lieu of using public transportation due to delays and bus fare. 

Moore Square Station is a bustling area where Raleigh travelers wait to catch bus connections. 

Pedestrian and public transportation, side by side.

We are excited to share more photos with you through this process. As of right now, we are all working to get "official" sessions of the project underway, both at the Women's Center and at the Helen Wright Center for Women. We will begin full implementation in March, so make sure to check back on this blog for updates!