TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
Build America Bureau 360° Customer Feedback Initiative
PURPOSE:
As DOT’s high-impact service provider, the Bureau has a multi-pronged effort underway to establish a framework for customer experience management and improve customer experience. The 360° Customer Feedback Initiative will be an ongoing channel for “after action” reviews. The Bureau expects to learn about customer perceptions of their engagements with the Bureau and opportunities to improve our policies, processes, and practices to address negative experiences and leverage positive ones. The Bureau will develop internal quarterly summaries to track information from this collection.
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)
[X] Customer Research (interview, focus groups)
[ ] Customer Feedback Survey
[ ] User Testing
ACTIVITY DETAILS
How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Web-based or other forms of social media
[ ] Telephone
[X] In-person
[ ] Other, explain
2. Who will you collect the information from? Explain who will be interviewed and why the group is appropriate for the Federal program / service to connect with. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and if only a sample will be solicited for feedback, how you will select them (e.g., anyone who provided an email address to a call center rep, a representative sample of Veterans who received outpatient services in May 2019, do you have a list of customers to reach out to (e.g., a CRM database that has the contact information, intercept interviews at a particular field office?)
Participants are points of contact for project sponsors and borrowers who during fiscal years 2022 and 2023 reached financial close on credit assistance or private activity bond allocations or explicitly withdrew from seeking Bureau financing assistance.
The universe includes all borrowers (state, local, and other agencies or companies) who reached financial close on a Bureau financing (loan or line of credit) and the potential borrowers who notified us they would not seek financing during FYs 2022 and 2023. See Attachment 1 for the list of customers and projects. Participation is voluntary and some customers might choose not to participate. At this time, we do not have an estimate of participation and non-participation rates.
3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information? (e.g., after an application is submitted online, the final screen will present the opportunity to provide feedback by presenting a link to a feedback form / an actual feedback form)
After a customer closes on a Bureau loan or notifies the Bureau it is withdrawing from pursuing a Bureau financing, we will ask the customer directly, confirmed by email, to participate voluntarily in an after-action 360° review.
4. What will the activity look like? Describe the information collection activity – e.g. what happens when a person agrees to participate? Will facilitators or interviewers be used? What’s the format of the interview/focus group? If a survey, describe the overall survey layout/length/other details? If User Testing, what actions will you observe / how will you have respondents interact with a product you need feedback on?
The Bureau has an interagency agreement with the Volpe Center for this project. We trained a team of Volpe staff to conduct the structured interviews-focus groups. If the customer agrees to participate in the review, the Volpe team will schedule and conduct the interview. The team will then interview the Bureau staff, write summaries, and provide analysis and insights in an internal quarterly report.
5. Please provide your question list.
See Attachment 2
6. When will the activity happen? Describe the time frame or number of events that will occur (e.g., we will conduct focus groups on May 13,14,15, we plan to conduct customer intercept interviews over the course of the summer at the field offices identified in response to #2 based on scheduling logistics concluding by Sept. 10th, or “This survey will remain on our website in alignment with the timing of the overall clearance.”)
This is an on-going program. Interviews of customers from FY 2022—the backlog—will take place during FY 2023 Q2. After we complete those interviews, we will seek to conduct reviews within 60 days of each financial close or confirmed withdrawal.
7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?
[ ] Yes [X] No
If Yes, describe:
BURDEN HOURS:
Category of Respondent |
No. of Respondents |
Participation Time |
Burden |
See Basis of Estimate below.* |
136 |
2 hours |
272 |
GRAND TOTAL BURDEN HOURS |
|||
* Basis of Estimate: The Bureau closed 16 financings and had 3 customers withdraw in FYs 2022 and 2023 through October 2022. We expect each customer to include 4 respondents in its focus group, which could last 2 hours each, for a burden estimate of 2 hoursper respondent. To complete the 19 financings and withdrawal focus groups would require 152 hours of customer time, if every customer agreed to participate. We plan to continue the initiative throughout FY 2023, so we would consume another 120 hours for 15 customers.
CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
The collections are voluntary;
The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future;
Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes; and,
Information gathered will only be shared publicly in the manner described in the umbrella clearance of this control number.
Name: Rosalyn G. Millman
ATTACHMENTS
1. FYs 2022 and 2023 customers that reached financial close or stopped pursuing financing
2. Structured interview questions
ATTACHEMENT 1
360° Customer Feedback Initiative
Focus Group Prospective Participants, as of December 13, 2022
|
Borrower |
Project |
1 |
Capital Beltway Express LLC |
495 Capital Beltway HOT Lanes |
2 |
Capital Beltway Express LLC |
Project NEXT |
3 |
Capstan Consulting LLC |
Port Everglades |
4 |
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority |
US183 N Mobility |
5 |
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel District |
Thimble Shoal Tunnel |
6 |
City of Bellevue, Washington |
Bellevue Belred Street Network |
7 |
Empire State Development Corporation |
Farley Building Moynihan Station |
8 |
Grenada Railroad |
Grenada Railroad |
9 |
Indiana Finance Authority |
West Lake Corridor |
10 |
Louisiana State Bond Commission |
Cameron Parish Ferry |
11 |
Louisiana State Bond Commission |
I-49 Amb Caffery/US90 [I-49 South Project] |
12 |
Louisiana State Bond Commission |
LA 3241 Seg 2, LA 36-435 |
13 |
Louisiana State Bond Commission |
Louisiana Statewide Bridge Program |
14 |
Maryland Transportation Authority |
Nice-Middleton Bridge |
15 |
Napa Valley Transportation Authority |
Vine Bus Maintenance Facility |
16 |
Oklahoma Capital Improvement Authority |
ODOT RAAMP Package 1 |
17 |
Purple Line Transit Partners LLC |
Purple Line |
18 |
Santa Barbara County Local Transportation Authority |
Hwy 101: Capinteria to Santa Barbara |
19 |
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis |
Merchants Bridge |
ATTACHMENT 2
A. Questions for Customers Who Reached Financial Close or Received a PAB Allocation
The interviewer will recite the following statement before conducting each interview:
A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2105-0583 and the expiration date is June 30, 2025. Without this approval, we could not conduct this interview. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be 120 minutes per response, per person, including the time for listening to this statement, listening to the questions, and answering the questions. All responses to this information collection are voluntary. You may send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to [email protected].
Please rate your overall experience with the Build America Bureau on a scale of one to five (one is the most negative, five is the most positive).
Did you get the results you wanted working with the Bureau? Why or why not?
What are the best and worst aspects of your experience working with the Bureau?
What features of the Bureau credit assistance or PAB allocation added the most and least value to the financing structure?
Did the Bureau cause any delays in your project delivery? If so, please elaborate.
Did you have expectations about working with the Bureau? Was your experience consistent with your expectations? Why or why not?
Were you satisfied with the availability, completeness, clarity, and accuracy of information the Bureau gave you about program requirements, process, costs, and timeline?
Do you have any observations about the knowledge, competence, and professionalism of the Bureau staff you worked with?
Do you have specific comments and recommendations concerning the Bureau’s—
Eligibility analysis
Federal requirements compliance
Letter of interest
Creditworthiness review
Underwriting
Terms and conditions negotiation
Loan closing
Disbursements of funds
Repayment process
Loan monitoring
PAB allocation
Do you expect to seek future credit assistance or PAB allocations from the Bureau? Why or why not?
Is there any other feedback you want to give the Bureau?
ATTACHMENT 2
B. Questions for Customers Who Withdraw Before Financial Close or Receiving a PAB Allocation
The interviewer will recite the following statement before conducting each interview:
A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2105-0583 and the expiration date is June 30, 2025. Without this approval, we could not conduct this interview. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be 120 minutes per response, per person, including the time for listening to this statement, listening to the questions, and answering the questions. All responses to this information collection are voluntary. You may send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to [email protected].
Please rate your overall experience with the Build America Bureau on a scale of one to five (one is the most negative, five is the most positive).
What are the best and worst aspects of your experience working with the Bureau?
How far did your agency get in the Bureau’s process?
Contacted the Bureau for information about available financing opportunities.
Sent the Bureau an unsigned or working draft letter of interest.
Sent the Bureau an official, signed letter of interest for consideration.
Received the Bureau’s invitation letter to begin a creditworthiness review.
Received the Bureau’s invitation letter to submit a formal application.
Received the Bureau’s letter confirming our application was complete.
Received the Bureau’s letter stating the U.S. Secretary of Transportation approved or disapproved our application.
Other (specify___________________)
Why did you stop pursuing Bureau credit assistance or PAB allocation?
Were you satisfied with the availability, completeness, clarity, and accuracy of information the Bureau gave you about program requirements, process, costs, and timeline?
Do you have any observations about the knowledge, competence, and professionalism of the Bureau staff you worked with?
Do you have specific comments and recommendations concerning the Bureau’s—
Eligibility analysis
Federal requirements compliance
Letter of interest
Creditworthiness review
Underwriting
Terms and conditions negotiation
Loan closing
PAB allocation
Do you expect to seek future credit assistance or PAB allocations from the Bureau? Why or why not?
Is there any other feedback you want to give the Bureau?
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE |
| Author | 558022 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-08-29 |