Our govDelivery integration is really slick. Everything is automatic. It’s important we don’t put extra processes on our operators because they’re pretty busy!
Tom Stidham,
Web Applications Developer, WSDOT
With govDelivery, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) can quickly communicate traffic status at scale by delivering custom messages to drivers across the state’s 7,000 miles of highways and interstates.
Washington State
Managing Status Updates on 7,000 Miles of Roads with Targeted Email & Text
Overview
Daily Messages
103
361
Custom Email Lists
WSDOT separates lists to make messages relevant.
99%
Message Deliverability
With govDelivery, WSDOT knows their messages reach drivers.
Subscribers
State residents sign up for notifications they want.
WSDOT can easily scale communications.
1.2M+
Must-have Granicus feature
Want to learn how govDelivery can support your transportation updates? Sign up for a live demonstration today.
See It Live
“There’s always a lot happening,” said Tom Stidham, web applications developer at WSDOT. He was talking about the myriad of planned and unplanned events taking place across the roadways in Washington State: collisions, traffic jams, and construction work. It’s all these events that the DOT and its operators are responsible for communicating to the public in order to keep drivers safe and traffic flowing.
“In an ideal world, drivers would visit the website prior to getting into their vehicles,” added Stidham, chuckling. The reality? To keep drivers in the loop, the team at the DOT needs to get their message out every way they can. But communicating effectively and at scale with finite resources is complicated.
First, with many roadways across the state, no single mass communication will meet their audience needs. Drivers frequent different roads and will only be interested in updates on roadways that affect them. Beyond that, certain communications have more urgency than others, and therefore are best delivered via different channels. A planned event — a major roadway reconstruction, for example — is best communicated ahead of time, via email. Whereas an accident can require more immediate communications, an alert via text message.
Finally, the act of creating and sending communications must fit into the workflow of DOT staff. The DOT’s dedicated operators, who, according to Stidham, have much to monitor at once (“Picture screens and screens and screens!”).
Many Highways, Many Communications
govDelivery
To communicate the combination of planned and unplanned traffic events across six regional traffic management centers, WSDOT is using a combination of tools built into govDelivery: email updates, real-time alerts, and the simple govDelivery API. It’s keeping drivers informed and operators from getting overloaded.
Custom Communications at Scale
Here’s how WSDOT’s communication strategy is executed with help from govDelivery.
Strategy Into Practice
How wrexham county council improved citizen experience through integrated communications & service delivery
Overview
The county council knew the first step to improve the citizen experience was to modernise the way they communicated bin removal services. To ensure citizens received relevant, timely and automated communications, Wrexham implemented Granicus’s govDelivery email, mobile message, and social media platform. Now, they have the sophisticated marketing automation and audience segmentation required to deliver personalised waste and recycling bin collection reminders to over 12,000 residents. Targeted email messages from the county empower residents to take the correct action at the right moment.
These reminders — delivered alongside educational messages about what can and can’t be recycled — are positively impacting local recycling rates. For example, more customers know what can and can’t be recycled; the number of bins not being collected due to contamination has decreased by 27% since implementing govDelivery.
With Firmstep, the county’s digital customer services solution, integrated with govDelivery, their communication platform, the customer experience is seamless.
How does it work? When a customer visits the Wrexham website and enters their address in a form, Firmstep automatically looks up the customer’s collection day and calendar, then sends the information into GovDelivery, which automatically signs the customer up for their bin reminder emails. After that, the customer receives relevant, timely, and automated information about their bin collections. This combination has improved sign-up rates and ensured Wrexham reaches more citizens.
How the Firmstep + GovDelivery integration streamlines service
Satisfaction Rate
Citizens love the online experience they are receiving
93%
Increasing by 500 new accounts per month
18K
Self-Service Accounts
Bin Reminders
12K
Increasing by 800 subscribers per month
The result of targeted, proactive communications
Reduction in Calls
48%
Must-have Granicus product
govDelivery Advanced Package + Firmstep
Could your citizens benefit from seamless and integrated digital experiences? Get in touch with us today to learn more about how Granicus can help!
See It Live
Huw Ap Dewi,
Digital Projects Office, Wrexham
We love govDelivery because it gives us control over information. We can find the answers to our questions, and then form good processes to better interact with the people in our council.
Solution
On the communications side, WSDOT is able to capture the email addresses of drivers interested in news within certain areas and send them curated updates. On the technology side, the API requires very little effort from the development team and works automatically for operators. With it, operators are even able to send communications with custom “From” names and designs uniquely branded for their traffic management region.
How It Works
Background
Like many local governments in California, the team at the Napa County Election Division has many critical duties in support of local, state, and federal elections. They also must help ensure all required government officials disclose their financial interests.
Designated filing officers must accurately track, manage, and deliver documents related to the disclosure of government employee and elected official Statement of Economic Interest, known as Form 700 in California. The process is regulated by the State of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
Staff at the Election Division have their own goals to increase efficiency and make sure officials file on time. Napa County’s recently updated strategic plan has a priority goal of making government more transparent.
A Mandate for Transparency & Efficiency
Situation
The DisclosureDocs implementation team worked closely with Napa County staff to meet their tight deadline. After their kickoff meeting in January 2019, they migrated files, trained staff, and then deployed. In the end, they were able to implement DisclosureDocs by their deadline of April 2.
Solution
The DisclosureDocs implementation team worked closely with Napa County staff to meet their tight deadline. After their kickoff meeting in January 2019, they migrated files, trained staff, and then deployed. In the end, they were able to implement DisclosureDocs by their deadline of April 2.
From Manual to Automatic
According to Tuteur, DisclosureDocs has made a noticeable difference, the experience has become smoother and more productive — for both filers and end-users.
“Now, we don’t have to shift paper around. We don’t have to open and close filing drawers. We don’t have to stand at the scanner,” said Tuteur.
The Clerk’s Office has also already seen a substantial reduction in calls and e-mails from filers with questions. A result, Tuteur believes, of how easy DisclosureDocs is to use.
Situation
WSDOT operators need a simple solution as they track traffic status across many screens.
This excerpt from WSDOT subscription page shows how motorists in the Eastern Region can select which traffic-related communications they want to receive.
For Traffic Jams & Collisions
When the traffic management center operator learns of a traffic collision or jam, they’re able to instantly alert drivers by email or text. Operators simply enter what happened into a form and the API automates the rest.
For updates related to upcoming traffic impacts from road construction, public information officers can easily schedule an email to subscribers to their Construction Updates list, who are then able to alter their routes as they see fit.
For Construction Updates
The Hood Canal Bridge is a highly trafficked bridge and serves as a critical pathway for emergency vehicles. By law, WSDOT is required to open the Hood Canal Bridge draw span to let mariners pass through within one hour’s notice. Drivers can expect up to 60-minute delays with each opening. The detour? Two hours. Interruptions from mariners can be unexpected, so communicating these interruptions is vital. With govDelivery, WSDOT can notify drivers up to an hour ahead of time.
For Hood Canal Bridge Openings
WSDOT also needs to communicate to media when major collisions occur. Before govDelivery, they had to notify media of these incidents. Now, members of the media sign up to receive automatic notifications. The DOT can keep media informed without extra effort.
For Notifying Media
An example alert message sent to the phones of 2,874 subscribers.
Construction alerts let drivers alter their routes and improve traffic flow.
A real-time alert of Hood Canal Bridge closings sent to 22,727 subscribers.
Strategy Into Place
When the traffic management center operator learns of a traffic collision or jam, they’re able to instantly alert drivers by email or text. Operators simply enter what happened into a form and the API automates the rest.
For Traffic Jams & Collisions
For updates related to upcoming traffic impacts from road construction, public information officers can easily schedule an email to subscribers to their Construction Updates list, who are then able to alter their routes as they see fit.
For Construction Updates
The Hood Canal Bridge is a highly trafficked bridge and serves as a critical pathway for emergency vehicles. By law, WSDOT is required to open the Hood Canal Bridge draw span to let mariners pass through within one hour’s notice. Drivers can expect up to 60-minute delays with each opening. The detour? Two hours. Interruptions from mariners can be unexpected, so communicating these interruptions is vital. With govDelivery, WSDOT can notify drivers up to an hour ahead of time.
For Hood Canal Bridge Openings
Department of Transportation
Washington State
Washington State