5. PROGRAM EVALUATION (continued)

Respondents who indicated that they were aware of activities to control speeds in their neighborhoods were asked if the activities included any publicity and, if so, what specific publicity. The open-ended comments made by follow-on respondents were coded as being definitely, probably or not related to the Heed the Speed program. The results for the two cities are tabulated in Table 41. The percentages in that table are based on the number of respondents who indicated that they had been aware of publicity activities. Respondents could (and did) make more than one comment.

The table shows that respondents tended to indicate the source of the publicity, not the specific information included. In all, only nine respondents referred specifically to the entire Heed the Speed campaign as a publicity source – six from Phoenix and three from Peoria , but it was clear from many of the other responses that the program had to be the source of the respondent's information.

Table 41 shows that, by far, the largest number of respondents from both cities referred to signs as a publicity item or source. The comments included lawn signs as well as traffic signs. It should be noted again that the coding of program relationship was conservative. In order to be coded as “definitely program related,” there needed to be something on the survey form that indicated that it was a program sign. As an example, the word “sign” alone would have merited a “probably program related” code. The words “yellow signs” (the color of the yard signs that were widely distributed) would have merited a “definitely program related” code. Signs were indicated as definitely or probably program related by 73.8 percent of the Phoenix respondents and 58.9 percent of the Peoria respondents.

The next most frequent comment made by respondents from both cities identified flyers, bulletins and newsletters as the source of publicity. Homeowner's associations were often identified as the source of these materials. In Peoria , 21.2 percent of these comments were coded as definitely or probably program related in contrast to 13.6 percent in Phoenix . Other relatively frequent sources of publicity identified by Peoria residents and coded as definitely or probably program-related were mail/letters (19.9%) and newspapers (16.1%). Far fewer indications of these publicity sources were noted among Phoenix residents (9.8% and 2%, respectively). This is not surprising since the neighborhood association for the Desert Harbor neighborhood in Peoria was particularly active in distributing the program's printed materials.

Table 41. Comments on Publicity Made by Follow-On Survey Respondents
(Phoenix and Peoria)*

Specific publicity mentions by follow-on respondents in the Peoria neighborhoods are shown in Table 42. Again, the percentages are based on those who responded positively to an awareness of publicity in the neighborhood.

The table shows that signs were noted by more than 50 percent of the neighborhood respondents who indicated an awareness of publicity. The percentage of sign mentions coded as definitely or probably program-related was 52.1 percent for the 95 th Avenue respondents, 68.5 percent for the Desert Harbor respondents and 54.2 percent for the Bell Park respondents. The corresponding percentages for flyers, bulletins, and newsletters were 25.3 percent , 18.4 percent, and 20.2 percent , respectively. The percentages for newspapers were 15.5 percent , 15.8 percent, and 17.1 percent , respectively. These results are consistent with observations of yard sign deployments during the program. 

Table 42. Comments on Publicity Made by Follow-On Survey Respondents
by Neighborhood (Peoria)*

Specific publicity references made by follow-on respondents in Phoenix neighborhoods are shown in Table 43. Again, the percentages are of those who responded positively to an awareness of publicity in the neighborhood.

Table 43 indicates that signs were mentioned very frequently in Phoenix except for the Clarendon neighborhood. This is fully consistent with observations during the program. The percentages in which they were coded as definitely or probably program related were 82.7 percent for Sweetwater and 75 percent in Moon Valley . The percentage for Clarendon was 12.5. For Clarendon, the largest percentage (25%) was for flyers, bulletins, and newsletters. The percentages for Sweetwater and Moon Valley for this category were 5.1 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively. For mail and letters, Clarendon had a percentage of 6.3 in contrast to 15.3 percent for Sweetwater and 4.4 percent for Moon Valley . Aside from meetings, with a percentage of 16.3 percent for Moon Valley returns, other mentions of publicity categories were small.

Table 43. Comments on Publicity Made by Follow-On Survey Respondents
by Neighborhood (Phoenix)*