Public Information/Education

Gordon-Darby has extensive front-line experience in delivering large scale PI&E campaigns and services to motorists, the news media and others in the Arizona and Florida programs, as well as additional PI&E experience in other programs; e.g., New Hampshire. This experience, combined with dealing directly with millions of individual motorists in inspecting their vehicles over nearly 30 years, means that we fully understand the need to treat the I/M “customer” right.

We recognize that extreme care must be taken in providing accurate information to the public and other parties. Elements of our PI&E programs are closely coordinated with our customers. PI&E materials are submitted for approval in advance of their distribution to the public, news media and other parties. We follow applicable agency guidelines in our dealings with the media and the public.

Arizona – Gordon-Darby has been awarded four successive contracts to operate the Arizona Vehicle Emissions Inspection (AVEI) program by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). Our I/M management support efforts under these contracts have included operating a toll-free, bilingual (English and Spanish) telephone hotline/Help Desk with live customer service operators. Prior to the start of IM240 testing in 1995, Gordon-Darby was tasked with the development of a public relations plan aimed at informing the public about the impending change in test procedures. With the help of a PI&E subcontractor, we developed a comprehensive action plan for this effort which included the following elements:

• Strategic Public Relations Objectives
• Target Audiences
• Special Challenges/Program Weaknesses
• Selling Messages
• Communications Vehicles
• Promotional Plan
• Trade Ally Plan
• Publicity Plan
• Evaluation Plan

In 2001, a new AVEI contract incorporated a public information effort that included:

• Development and distribution of motorist notification/public outreach materials, including:
• Direct mail announcements (postcards) of new station openings in 2002
• Posters (see example to the right) placed on gas pumps in the Phoenix area; these were awarded a Bronze ADDY® Award in 2006^1
• Drive-time, paid radio spots
• Television and radio public service announcements (PSAs)
• Newspaper advertisements
• Press/news releases
• Inspection station open houses
• Promotional giveaways
• Toll-free (1-877-myAZcar) bilingual (English/ Spanish) recorded hotline that provides callers with up-to-date inspection station wait time information
• Continuation of our toll-free bilingual telephone hotline/Help Desk
• Program website (myazcar.com) that provides AVEI information; e.g., inspection station addresses, emissions test fees and testing tips. A copy of the web page is shown on the following page (Note: Website content is limited due to ADEQ being responsible for the main AVEI program website at azdeq.gov). Additional links are also provided to:
• Yahoo maps and driving directions to inspection stations
• Current wait time information for inspection stations
• Inspection station queue cams
• Vehicle history inquiries
• Drive trace printing
• Repair facilities effectiveness reporting
• Public opinion surveys by a professional survey research firm hired by Gordon-Darby, with the surveys designed to ascertain and evaluate motorists’ views of the AVEI program

Florida – Gordon-Darby operated vehicle emissions inspection programs in Hillsborough/ Pinellas (Tampa area) and Broward (Fort Lauderdale area) counties from 1991 through June 2000. These programs involved separate contracts, awarded in February 1990, with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV).

Both of the Florida Motor Vehicle Inspection Program (MVIP) contracts involved substantial PI&E efforts. This comprehensive PI&E program was focused on three broad strategy areas:

• Stakeholder Education
• Quick Response
• Public Awareness

Substantial PI&E campaigns, involving each of these three strategies, were undertaken throughout the full duration of both programs. They included the following elements:

• Oversight and management of PI&E subcontractor activities
• Development, production and airing of radio and television PSAs
• Development, production and airing of paid radio ads
• Newspaper advertising and local news magazine notices, including weekly ads in Sunday newspapers and TV guides within the two program areas
• Formation of and ongoing participation in a “Partnership for Clean Air” group that included such stakeholders as the American Lung Association
• Participating in and partnering with other “Partnership for Clean Air” members in a variety of PI&E efforts, including:
• National Vehicle Emissions Inspection Month activities
• Clean Air Week activities
• Earth Day events at colleges, city fairs, high schools, etc.
• Inspection station employee T-shirts on special days (Earth Day, Green Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Car Pooling Day, etc.)
• Old vehicle donation/scrappage program
• Station banners advertising the above and other activities
• Production and/or distribution of informational materials, including:
• Renewal notice brochures
• Fact, FAQ and “Did You Know” brochures concerning the MVIP and local air pollution
• MVIP flyers that were made available at the inspection stations
• Maps of inspection station locations
• Failed test brochures
• Direct mailouts to motorists
• Posters
• Billboards
• Quarterly “On The Air” newsletters – an industry newsletter distributed to about 10,000 motor vehicle repair shops to inform mechanics and others participating in the decentralized portion of the MVIP about program developments
• Quarterly “Airwaves” newsletters – a “Partnership for Clean Air” newsletter aimed at distributing information about the MVIP to group members
• Monthly “MVIP Fact Column” in local newspapers
• Press kits
• Media briefings, press releases, and media-directed stories/photos to aid reporters in preparing news stories, feature print (newspaper/magazine) articles and radio spots on the MVIP
• Inspection station grand openings, open houses and demonstrations
• Inspection station tours by elementary and middle school groups, Girl and Boy Scout groups, etc.
• Speakers bureau, presentations to and meetings with tag agencies, the media, repair industry and other stakeholder groups (e.g., Florida Tax Collectors Association, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Florida Independent Automobile Dealers Association, etc.) and others
• Meetings and dialogues with local registration tag offices and repair industry groups
• Radio and television talk show interviews
• Educational programs and videos for senior citizens, public schools, and students attending driver education and automotive repair vocational schools
• Promotional giveaways, such as school essay contests and awards
• Additional MVIP promotional programs such as sponsorship of and participation in highway and beach clean-up projects, etc.
• Development and implementation of a quick response plan aimed at providing timely responses to public, media and legislative questions
• Toll-free telephone Hotline/Help Desk with live customer service operators
• Customer Service Representatives stationed at each inspection station and trained to handle motorists questions and concerns, with a particular focus toward owners of vehicles that failed their inspection
• Professionally designed and administered annual public opinion surveys, which were designed to gauge citizen attitudes toward the MVIP and evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing PI&E efforts

Additional PI&E experience and capabilities of the Gordon-Darby team includes:

• Overall management of broad spectrum PI&E campaigns for the Maryland, Minnesota and Georgia I/M programs
• client liaison; approval of outreach materials/communication strategies/key messages
• Development and coordination of program messaging toward target audiences
• Management of media relations and outreach
• Distribution of informational literature, newsletters and signage
• Legislative summaries and briefing documents
• Program websites
• As-needed crisis communication and strategies; program spokesperson
• Oversight of subcontractors and budget management
• Oversight, technical assistance and subcontractor assistance on directed PI&E programs
• Public outreach action plan for initial implementation of OBD-I/M testing
• Public awareness plan for out-of-area commuter I/M program
• Drive-time radio buys for OBD and commuter I/M ad campaigns
• Development of failing OBD vehicle brochure, OBD and commuter I/M fact sheet/FAQs
• Working with subcontractor to provide basic/advanced OBDII repair training classes
• Management of national and international marketing and sales efforts for vehicle emissions remote inspections and safety inspections on heavy duty commercial vehicles
• Remote sensing
• SafeGuard Fleet Services