DISTRIBUTION

The human services provider and transit system often have an array of choices about how and
where to distribute passes. In the steps below, we will help you to combine some of the most
relevant factors from each of the transit pass elements with the potential distribution locations.
These general factors, as well as factors that are specific to your community and pass will help
you determine the appropriate distribution process. However, it is important to know the specific
goals and objectives of the transit pass to gain accurate results from the distribution tools
provided below.
The type of transit pass fare media plays a large role in selecting the distribution sites. Utilization
of a human services benefit card or university/employee ID card
As you review the
as a transit pass, for example, may alleviate the need for a pass
Technology Element of
distribution plan.
Furthermore, new technology such as
this
toolkit, consider the
contactless bankcards is not common in the United States, but in
best method for
a few years it could become widespread. Such programs do not
distributing
the selected
require distribution strategies to be established by the agency or
technology in your
transit program. However, if your community has not adopted
community.
such high-tech solutions, please consider some of the distribution
locations listed below and selected by the model programs.
Use the chart below to rate your potential distribution locations, based on considerations listed
along the side of the chart. Locations and considerations should be expanded as appropriate for
your community and pass. The following steps illustrate the process to customize the
Distribution Site Rating Chart to your community and determine the most appropriate
distribution site(s)
Distribution Site Rating Chart

Considerations

Consumer Accessibility
Consumer Convenience
Dissemination Process
Distribution Accountability
Eligibility Verification
Fare Technology
Funding Constraints
Protect Consumer Privacy
Reconciliation and Collection of Unused Passes
Security

Post Office, Government Office

Local Employer

University

Local Non-Profit Organization

Grocery Stores

Human Service Agency Office

Order by Telephone

Vending Machines

U.S. Mail from Transit Provider

Transit Website

Existing Transit Fare Sales Offices

Potential Distribution Sites

Step 1: List the Potential Distribution Sites

9 Potential Distribution Sites Existing distribution sites that are serving the intended
customers may be the most logical in terms of customer convenience and familiarity, as
well as administrative requirements. However, there may be other unutilized locations
throughout the community that also have potential for pass distribution. Many transit
pass programs utilize grocery stores, Post Offices, or local businesses for distribution
sites. Three common distribution sites are:

Traditional Transit System Sales Outlets

Sponsoring Human Services Agency Offices
Community Partners (i.e., grocery stores, businesses, Post Office)
It is important to be specific in listing the current and potential distribution locations so that
all factors are considered. For example, rather than listing transit system as a distribution
site, list individual transit system sales outlets including websites, vending machines, U.S.
Mail, Designated Sales and Information Offices and others.
Step 2: List Decision Making Tools Associated with Potential Distribution Sites
9 Considerations for Distribution Once you have listed all of the potential distribution
locations, now list all of the factors that pertain to pass distribution, regardless of where
the passes are going to be distributed. Ten common factors that influence where and
how passes are distributed are provided on the left side of the chart above to help you get
started on a list of considerations that is specific to your community.
9 Prioritize the Considerations Once the considerations have been established,
prioritize them in order of highest importance to the transit pass goals and objectives.
Move your top priority considerations to the top of the list (on the left side of the chart).
If the most important considerations are customer convenience, distribution
accountability, and eligibility verification, for example, list those before reconciliation,
dissemination, etc.
Step 3: Rate Each Potential Location
9 Develop a Rating Scale Now, it is time to rate each potential location on how it
satisfies each consideration that was established in Step 2. Choose a rating scale of 1 to
3, representing good, average, and poor or develop a new rating scale.
9 Assign Ratings and Double-Check Priorities Careful thought should be put into the
benefits and ratings associated with each location. If the considerations and potential
locations are specific, the rating should become apparent because it will have the most
occurrences of good ratings for each consideration. If the best locations are not
standing out, a more specific dissection of the location or consideration is necessary

Now, justify the ratings applied to each location and consideration. For example,
distribution site ratings may have the following justifications:
Customer Accessibility Distribution sites must include options that are accessible for
people with disabilities. Accessible options include wheelchair accessible facilities
(including entrances, doorways, and counters) and multiple formats for information
products (including Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf [TDD] lines, Braille, and
large print). A good rating in customer accessibility could be justified with at least the
above noted factors.
Customer Convenience A good rating for customer convenience could be assigned
to locations that are in proximity to a public transportation stop, at a site where the
potential transit pass customers visit on a frequent basis, and, open during the appropriate
hours to accommodate a variety of customer schedules. The more of these characteristics
the location provides, the higher its rating.
Dissemination Process A good location will have the facilities to print passes and
secure customer information. This location will rate higher if there is an adequate
number of staff available to disseminate and process transit passes during open hours.
The ability to train new and/or existing staff will also be an important consideration.
Distribution Accountability Each partnering organization will require accountability
of who received the passes, how many passes were distributed, and possibly more details.
It will be important for the distribution site to offer the capacity for appropriate
accountability measures such as recordkeeping (number of passes distributed and to
whom) and management or oversight of the distribution (for security). A good rating
will depend on the existing capacity to account for distribution.
Eligibility Verification Locations identified for distributing passes will be improved if
there is capacity to determine eligibility with the funding agency or use the processes
identified jointly by the partnering agencies. In some cases, eligibility may be determined
by an external process or agency; however, the process for ensuring that an individual is
eligible prior to distribution of the pass is important.
Fare Technology The locations for distributing passes should be sufficiently
compatible with any technologies used by your passes. For instance, if the passes use
cards with electronic or magnetic media, are these cards able to be created, coded or
loaded at the distribution site?
Protection of Customer Privacy If private, personal information about the customer is
contained within the distribution location, distributing passes on-site may be the easiest
way to ensure privacy. Eligibility for the pass and technology (bank account information,

etc.) each play a large role in prioritization and protection of customer privacy. If the
pass is a paper card and eligibility is based on where a person lives, for example, privacy
may not be a significant issue.
Reconciliation and Collection of Unused Passes In most partnerships, a single location
is selected for reconciliation of passes. Therefore, the distribution site will be judged
based on the simplicity of returning unused passes and/or reporting the number of passes
that were distributed, back to the office that is responsible for reconciliation. If the
reporting and collection processes are simple, the distribution site should receive a
good rating.
Security Security measures must be established for storing and distributing passes to
customers, along with securing customer privacy, and, if applicable, collecting payment
from customers. A good location has secure procedures in
place. Again, the
more additional resources required, the lower the rating.
This process should reveal that the most appropriate distribution sites begin to appear with the
most good ratings for your priority conditions/tools. You may need to dissect the
considerations to make them more specific, if the results of the analysis yield more than a few
potential best locations.
To ensure unbiased results, ask several representatives from the partnering organizations to
complete this chart, and discuss the results before making the final decision.
Step 4: Set Up Distribution at the Highest Rated Locations
Steps 1 through 3 provided a process for eliminating distribution locations that are not effective
for the transit pass, and revealing the best options. Now, it is time to set up the distribution
site(s) and make the passes available for customers. The nuances for setting-up the distribution
site are specific to the community population centers, amenities, geographic areas, and the
relationship of the transit pass organizations and their customers. The transit system profiles
provided in this toolkit include descriptions of distribution processes and locations working
effectively for a variety of transit pass partnerships throughout the United States.
Summary
The best method and location for distribution of transit passes is unique to each community. To
learn from peer transit passes, select one of the three transit pass models presented in this toolkit
that best fits your transit pass and review the transit profiles referenced in the model for
distribution processes and point of contact information.