Projects

Department of Environmental Protection Surveys and Transportation and Demand Management (TDM)

The firm has provided consulting services to Harvard’s University Operations Services (UOS) for over 10 years and the University Planning Office (UPO) and the University Allston Development Group since 2001. In 1999 the firm developed a stratified random sample survey instrument and process for Harvard to track commuting trends and report on single occupant vehicle (SOV) rates over time. Harvard University surveys its employee and student population annually. The University is complicated by its location in two major cities (Boston and Cambridge) both of which have experienced dramatic growth in development and traffic.
In addition to the surveys, Ashton Associates developed and implemented Harvard’s CommuterChoice Program in 2000 and currently facilitates the process of reviewing, tracking, and developing plans and reports related to the City of Cambridge’s PTDM (Planning & Transportation Demand Management) Ordinance and the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Massachusetts Rideshare Update Report.

Tasks Include:

• Create matrix and timeline of tasks/deliverables for annual surveying, PTDM & DEP
• Monitor and assist in the development of a process for amendments & other changes as required within the context of the PTDM Ordinance & DEP Report
• Review transportation standards/language for compliance with PTDM Ordinance & DEP Report
• Tailor and prepare annual transportation survey questionnaire
• Provide web-based and paper form transportation surveys
• Update on-line security features as needed
• Conduct annual transportation survey during pre-determined week in fall
• Analyze survey data & create a rating report/matrix/chart of alternative commuting modes, highlight which areas need focus/improvement or provide best opportunity for employees to switch to alternative mode (for planning new programs)
• Provide weekly review of survey results and TDM sections of PTDM & DEP reports
• Provide weekly updates of survey results and TDM sections of PTDM & DEP based upon feedback from Harvard reports
• Provide matrix of Cambridge and Cambridge/Allston mode splits over time
• Analyze survey data and create reports of areas of possible focus/improvements

Ashton Associates has also assisted in the development of specialized programming for various commute modes including special events; created pertinent statistical reports for commuting analysis for both Cambridge and Allston campuses; researched the latest trends in TDM and alternative commuting; and facilitated communication between Harvard University and various transportation agencies & organizations. 

Ashton Associates also assists seven other companies that must conduct annual and bi-annual surveys for compliance with certain federal, state and local regulations.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The firm is on contract with IFCMacro (an international transportation and opinion research firm located in Maryland) to assist the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Special Education Planning & Policy Development Unit  (MADESE) conduct a series of surveys required by the Federal Government. The project is a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-2004) which requires states to develop a six-year strategic State Performance Plan that evaluates each state’s efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of IDEA.  As part of the Massachusetts State Performance Plan, the Massachusetts Department of Education is currently implementing a system to collect, analyze, and report data for Indicator #8: Parental Involvement. This Indicator requires states to report the “percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.”

For the past three years, Ashton Associates has been responsible for designing and implementing the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MADESE), Special Education Parent Survey (both paper-and-pencil as well as online administrations).  A total of 250,000 parents have been sent surveys. 

• Ashton Associates developed an optical scan survey in three languages (for ease of database development),
• Handled all of the mailing of the surveys,
• Dealt with non-responses and survey returns, conducted data entry and rigorous error checking, and
• Built four (4) critically useful databases of the survey responses (one for each Commonwealth-wide cohort of parents sampled). 
• Provided descriptive statistical data analysis and technical report writing services.

Title VI/Environmental Justice Plan and the Americans With Disabilities Act

Ashton Associates is on contract with Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to assist staff with interpreting and writing the Department’s plans for statewide assessable transportation service to ensure that current and future transit providers are compliant with the provisions of the ADA for public transportation, and to assist with its work with the “Working Together”: Maine’s Strategic Plan to Maximize Employment for People with Disabilities task force.

Comparative Statistical Analysis

Ashton Associates developed a dual media campus-wide survey for Yale University’s Sustainable Transportation Program. The survey is conducted primarily online, but also distributed in paper form to those who do not have regular internet access at work. The initial survey in 2007 was used to establish a base line for measuring the success of Yale’s Sustainable Transportation Programs on an annual basis, and as a benchmark to measure against its peers.

The survey is now an annual event and the statistical analysis provide direction for transportation initiatives to be developed and marketed. The results also provide the basis for outcome measures over time.

As part of a master plan Ashton Associates worked with C&S Consultants and Rochester University to develop a methodology, design, administer, distribute and analyze a 2008 Parking and Transportation Opinion Survey process. The survey was designed to evaluate the facilities and land use implications of future University programs and to gather information concerning possible long term and short term solutions to expansion pressures on parking.

Ashton Associates conducted a campus wide parking and transportation opinion survey that included both the Medical Center and the River Campus. A survey instrument was created to provide Rochester University with an initial baseline assessment of Rochester’s transportation and parking initiatives and how Rochester’s population commutes to campus.