| Clients Go directly to review all TRG Project Summaries Each of TRG's projects has unique needs and approaches. Working closely with our clients, we develop individualized action plans to achieve the goals of our clients. The Robert Group has completed consulting assignments for a wide variety of public and private sector clients. Examples include the following:
TRG Project Summaries Third Street Light Rail Line Project San Francisco's highest priority transit project, the Third Street Light Rail line, is now under construction and will provide much needed improvements to public transit service from Visitacion Valley, north through the Bayview Hunters Point and Mission Bay neighborhoods, and ending at Clay and Stockton in Chinatown. It will complete a crucial transportation link between neighborhoods in the southern part of the City and the retail and employment centers in the downtown and Chinatown areas. The project is guided by a Citizens Advisory Group consisting of people from all areas along the line and has had very active and engaged community participation during the past six years. The first phase is 5.4 miles of surface rail with 19 stations, from Visitacion Valley to Fourth/King Streets. You can currently see construction all along the Third Street corridor, with service scheduled to begin in late 2005. Engineering studies are now underway for the second phase, called the Central Subway, a 1.7-mile underground continuation of Phase 1 that completes the link from Fourth/King to Chinatown. The subway will break through the gridlock that often paralyzes buses and cars in the downtown area. It will also help provide improved access to the heart of Chinatown, which has been lacking since the removal of the Embarcadero freeway. Once complete, the entire Third Street line is projected to generate 92,000 boardings every day. It follows the routes of extremely heavily used bus lines that serve the neighborhoods and businesses along Stockton and Third Streets. Some of its benefits include greatly reduced travel times, increased reliability of service, removing diesel buses from congested streets, and providing connections to South of Market (SOMA), Moscone Center, Union Square, Chinatown, Caltrain and BART. Port of Los Angeles “Bridge to Breakwater” Waterfront and Promenade Project The Robert Group is working with the Port of Los Angeles to lead a community outreach effort for the Port’s redevelopment of more than seven miles of waterfront stretching from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the Federal breakwater in San Pedro, CA. The Robert Group’s efforts include directing outreach specialists in the areas of underrepresented populations including Latinos and youth, and an expert in engaging multi-public agency support and entitlements. Given the size of the project area, The Robert Group is working with three neighborhood councils, multiple residents’ associations, historical societies, community groups, business interests, and the Pacific Corridor Advisory Committee (PCAC) and its subcommittees to ensure a comprehensive outreach effort is in place. We hold twice-monthly public meetings, large scale public workshops, and have participated in various community events including historical walking tours, community clean-up day, and AYSO soccer tournaments. Alameda Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan The creation of the Alameda Watershed Management Plan in the year 2000 continued the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission?s effort to manage and maintain Alameda Watershed lands in an environmentally responsible way. The Management Plan establishes policies and guidelines that balance the preservation and enhancement of wildlife habitat with the activities associated with the operation and maintenance of SFPUC system facilities. The creation of the Alameda Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) is a crucial part of implementing Watershed Management Plan policies and guidelines. The HCP will address the habitat enhancement and conservation efforts that will mitigate or minimize potential impacts associated with on-going operations and maintenance activities on SFPUC lands within the Alameda Watershed, as well as any emergency activities. Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Gold Line Authority - Community Outreach & Business Mitigation: Public Affairs & Community Outreach The Robert Group was the lead outreach consultant for construction of the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Gold Line. The project stretches from Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles through Highland Park to South Pasadena and Pasadena along new and existing railroad rights-of-way. The project area includes many diverse communities so sensitivity to the different language needs was of utmost importance in all of our outreach efforts. The firm was responsible for all elements of outreach from grassroots community canvassing to business mitigation measures. The team employed the use of a hotline and website, in addition to a project newsletter, fact sheets and ongoing community meetings to disseminate information to the public. Of particular importance was working with businesses to mitigate construction impacts such as using signage, parking incentives and traffic control. In addition, key to the success of this project was working with impacted jurisdictions, cities and elected officials, as well as the media. Of equal importance was working with the communities along the right-of-way. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority North County Combined Highway Corridor Study: Outreach and Community Relations Working in close coordination with prime contractor Parsons Transportation Group, The Robert Group is the lead firm on the outreach effort for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's North County Combined Highway Corridors study. The goal of the study is to develop feasible and implemental solutions to alleviate traffic congestion in the northern portion of Los Angeles County. The study includes an intensive 24-month community outreach and consensus building program. The Robert Group is responsible for identifying stakeholders, maintaining a comprehensive outreach database, conducting one-on-one stakeholder interviews, making presentations to stakeholder groups on a regular basis throughout the project, organizing community Open Houses, making presentations to public and elected officials, conducting focus groups, developing collateral materials, media and a project website. In addition, The Robert Group is responsible for facilitating inter-agency coordination with MTA, LADOT, Caltrans, FHWA and other impacted agencies. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Mid-Cities/Westside Transit Corridor EIR/S. Community Outreach and Consensus Building The Robert Group is conducting a high intensity community outreach effort on behalf of MTA's Mid- City/Westside Study. The Study involved how to best utilize two Los Angeles area transit corridors, the Wilshire and Exposition Corridors, to improve transit services, and involved working with vocal, highly organized and influential communities and groups. TRG spearheaded the effort for the environmental process in the Exposition Boulevard, a former railroad right-of-way owned by MTA. We were responsible for working with impacted communities to develop mitigation measure acceptable to build consensus and move forward with constructing the project. TRG was selected as outreach coordinator for the construction of the first segment of this project. City and County of San Francisco Port Commission - Downtown Ferry Terminal Project: Business Outreach The Robert Group organized, facilitated and moderated workshops aimed at developing the jurisdiction's DBE program. The firm was responsible for researching and compiling the database of all DBE stakeholders, developing a targeted outreach strategy to encourage participation in the workshop and matching DBE firms with suitable prime contractors. TRG also developed a media outreach plan to help boost attendance at the workshop, which included placement of newspapers advertisements, writing press releases, and proactive contact with minority and trade publications. Amtrak - Los Angeles Union Station Run-Through Tracks Project: Stakeholder Relations The Robert Group is currently leading the community outreach efforts for this project. Our outreach efforts have focused on the business and Japanese-American community as well as the loft-dwellers located close to Union Station in the project area. The proposed project would extend rail tracks from Union Station to the south along the Los Angeles River. Part of our responsibility is to ensure that the team fulfills EIR requirements as it relates to community outreach efforts. Examples of this work include the development of a timeline for the presentation of materials and ensure timeliness of meeting advertisement. TRG is responsible for the development and maintenance of the project website and community database. Additionally, we are charged with planning and facilitating public workshops, meetings and hearings. It has also entailed inter-agency coordination including LADOT and Caltrans. City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Southside Smart Shuttle Demonstration Project: Public Relations The Robert Group was responsible for all public relations and community outreach for the Southside Smart Shuttle, serving South and Central Los Angeles - one of four LADOT shuttle demonstration projects citywide. The Robert Group arranged press conferences covered by the local network media and radio; created a brochure, poster and point-of-purchase displays; made marketing presentations to community-based organizations; created public service announcements and other tools. One of the goals of a successful public communications program is to make the shuttle sustainable. Of all four Shuttles, the Southside Smart Shuttle has the highest ridership. The Southside Smart Shuttle is operated by the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. City Of Los Angeles Department of Public Works Storm water Management Program: Ethnic Outreach The Robert Group was a subcontractor on the team conducting public education and community outreach services for the Department of Public Works for its Storm water Management Program (SMP). The goals of the campaign were to heighten awareness and educate the community about the proactive measures that can be taken to reduce litter, used motor oil and other pollutants in storm water catch basins. Secondly, the goal was to promote both the Anti-Litter campaign and the Clean Community Celebration in the City of Los Angeles. For the campaign, we designed and developed bilingual collaterals/magnets that reflected the changing demographics of the local communities. We also developed the successful Slam Dunk Litter campaign, an aggressive anti-litter campaign targeting middle school youth. During the campaign, over 5,000 magnets were distributed and there was a 500% increase in calls to the hotline during the two months immediately following the pilot campaign. Furthermore, the Slam Dunk Litter campaign received 2,500 petition signatures of Angelenos pledging to deter litter and littering. We developed strong community awareness of storm water issues through reaching children in the City of Los Angeles. Our Slam Dunk Litter Campaign also received press coverage in the Hispanic, bilingual community newspaper, the Eastside Sun. Water Replenishment District of Southern California - Desalter Construction: Community Relations Business Mitigation The Water Replenishment District constructed two desalter plants impacting the South Bay Cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance. The Robert Group led the community outreach effort for the project. The firm's work included conducting briefings with community leaders and making presentations at small group meetings (e.g. neighborhood watch and neighborhood associations), to build trust with communities adjacent to the sites and to ensure constructive two-way dialogue developed. These discussions served to facilitate open and interactive communications from the outset encouraging the community know the progress being made, helping to explain the construction process and, most importantly, eliciting feedback. Pacific Pipeline Systems, Inc. (PPS1): Community Partnership Program The Pacific Pipeline System is a 132 mile, 20 inch crude oil pipeline running from Kern County to refineries in Wilmington and El Segundo. As the pipeline enters the City and County of Los Angeles, a number of communities will be impacted by construction. In response to segments of the community and a number of elected officials that charged PPSI with environmental racism) The Robert Group, in conjunction with the oil producers, worked with these impacted communities to establish both a grassroots coalition to support the PPSI and to forge a Community Partnership Program that would seek project mitigation measures. The Robert Group worked predominantly to build a citywide coalition in support of the project amongst environmentalists, community organizations, homeowner groups, schools and other potential stakeholders. Many of these groups testified at public hearings and at City Council meetings in support of the project. The Robert Group also developed the Community Partnership Program, a key mitigation measure, which was key to garnering the support of the community. In addition, TRG wrote fact sheets, press releases and the Program's newsletter, and contributed towards setting up the PPSI web site. |
