Keys to the Future 2001
Gloucester County, N.J.
Keys to the Future 2001 is a transportation project designed to help welfare recipients successfully move from welfare to work. The Gloucester County Work First Transportation Committee developed a number of projects using savings generated from a program called Work Pass, which provides bus passes to welfare recipients to help them get to and from job search locations. Since 1997, the county has saved $220,000 because of the Work Pass program.

Among the projects being funded under the Keys to the Future programs are:

• a driver’s license restoration program
• driver’s education leading to the recipient of a driver’s license for those welfare recipients who have never had a driver’s license, and
• assistance in purchasing used cars that are then sold to program participants well below market price.

As of Dec. 31, 2000, through Keys to the Future, 25 people had their licenses restored, 22 welfare recipients obtained driver’s licenses, 12 people purchased cars, and nine people used the post-welfare emergency fund, to help cover the cost of minor repairs, tires, or insurance for former welfare recipients not working.

Utility Resource Guide
Maricopa County, Ariz.
During the ’90s Maricopa County’s population increased dramatically which subsequently meant an all-time high for subdivision and utility installation growth. In 1999, the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) found itself plagued with requests from utility companies and developers to install facilities.

Often their requests were made after the department had constructed new roads, despite MCDOT’s efforts to coordinate these utility requests before construction occurred. Consequently, brand new multi-million dollar asphalt was often cut and dug to accommodate utility requests, resulting in the shortened life expectancy of the public roadway system.

In response to this problem, MCDOT’s utilities section created the Utility Resource Guide. This comprehensive guide offers a new service to county residents, filling the gap in the availability of existing services.

This guide greatly improved the cost effectiveness of the county by saving millions of dollars in unnecessary road repair. Information provided in the publication includes five-year capital improvement plans, chip seal, and overlay projects and scheduled maintenance.

The guide gives agency, developer, utility, planning and zoning department contractor or consultant the opportunity to visualize and plan up to five years ahead in any particular area and arrange for early coordination of work being planned.

No additional costs were incurred as a result of implementing this program. Staff, as part of their daily tasks, worked in developing the information that is included in the publication.

Road Sign Management Using Pocket PC Technology
Boulder County, Colo.
The Road Maintenance Division of the Transportation Department used global positioning technology (GPS) to develop and implement a successful new road sign maintenance program. Road sign placement in the county has become extremely accurate due to this new program, providing the public with the level of safety and inspection originally engineered into a section of road.

The risk of liability from missing signs, incorrect signs or incorrectly placed signs has been significantly reduced by this increased accuracy. The program also produces in significant labor savings for both Sign Shop and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) personnel.

Sign Shop personnel now carry with them in the field an inexpensive PDA/Pocket PC containing an accurate digital map, current to within one week, of more than 7,000 road signs with all the necessary information about each sign including type and location. Sign information can now be updated in the field by simply selecting the corresponding sign on the digital map and entering data. Missing or incorrect signs in the field have become easier to locate and replace resulting in roadside sign inspections that are more complete and accurate.

Direct costs associated with this project included $1,780 to purchase 3 Cassiopeia E115 PDA/Pocket PCs, $1,350 to purchase 3 additional copies of ESRI Arcpads and $336 for 24 hours in training.

The program has provided increased efficiency of Sign Shop personnel (resulting in annul savings of up $21,000), increased data accuracy, and reduction in risk of liability from missing sings, incorrect signs, or incorrectly placed signs.

(Hats off to ... was compiled by Christina Crayton, research assistant, and features 2001 NACo Achievement Award winners. For more information, call (202) 942-4285.)