A candidate questionnaire is your single best tool for understanding and documenting where candidates stand on your issues. A well-crafted questionnaire pushes candidates beyond simple talking points and reveals their true level of understanding and commitment. The key is to ask clear, direct, and insightful questions that are easy for candidates to answer and for voters to understand.

Before You Write: Define Your Goals

What do you want to achieve with this questionnaire? Are you trying to:

• Get candidates on the record about a specific, upcoming project?
• Gauge their general philosophy on transportation and urban design?
• Educate candidates on a new issue they may not be aware of?
• Create clear, comparable responses to publish for voters?

Defining your goals will help you focus your questions and create a more effective document.

Best Practices for Writing Questions

Based on successful questionnaires from previous election cycles, here are some best practices to follow:

1. Start with an Introduction: Don't just jump into the questions. Include a brief preamble that introduces your organization, explains your mission, and states why these issues are important to the community you serve. This provides context for the candidates.

2. Keep Questions Clear and Concise: Avoid jargon and complex language. A question that is easy to understand is more likely to get a clear answer.

Good Example: "Do you support the city's plan to install 20 miles of new buffered bike lanes by 2028? (Yes/No)"

Bad Example: "What is your position on the multimodal implementation of the transportation demand management strategies outlined in the 2022 Transportation Master Plan addendum?"

3. Use a Mix of Question Types:

• Yes/No: Excellent for getting a firm, unambiguous commitment on a specific policy or project.
• Short Answer (1-2 sentences): Ideal for asking "why" a candidate holds a certain position or for brief explanations.
• Longer Answer (1 paragraphs): Use these sparingly for more open-ended, philosophical questions about a candidate's overall vision.

4. Ask About Both Policy and Projects: A good questionnaire balances broad policy questions with questions about specific, tangible projects.

• Policy Question: "What role should the city play in encouraging alternatives to driving alone?"
• Project Question: "Do you support funding the construction of the Elm Street protected bike lane in the next budget cycle?"

5. Frame Questions Neutrally: Your questions should not betray your own bias. The goal is to get an honest response from the candidate, not to lead them to the "correct" answer.

Good Example: "What are your top three priorities for improving bicycle and pedestrian safety in the city?"

Bad Example: "Given the crisis of traffic violence, why has the city failed to implement the life-saving measures in the Vision Zero plan, and what will you do to fix it?"

6. Be Respectful of Their Time: Keep the questionnaire to a reasonable length. 5 well-chosen questions are far more effective than a 10-question marathon that candidates may not have time to complete.

Sample Questions for Your Questionnaire

Here is a list of sample questions organized by category. You can pick and choose from this list or use it as inspiration for writing your own questions that are specific to your community's needs.

Category 1: Infrastructure & Funding

• What is your vision for the future of our city's bicycle network? Do you support a connected network of protected bike lanes, even if it means reallocating road space or on-street parking?
• What percentage of the transportation budget do you believe should be dedicated to projects that improve safety and access for bicyclists and pedestrians?
• Do you support funding the implementation of our city's Bicycle Master Plan? What steps would you take to ensure it is fully funded and built out?
• How would you work to ensure that bicycle and pedestrian projects are maintained to a high standard, including regular sweeping, snow removal, and pavement repair?
• What is your position on using automated traffic enforcement (e.g., speed and red-light cameras) to improve safety, with revenues dedicated to street safety projects?

Category 2: Safety & Vision Zero

• Do you support a Vision Zero policy for our city, with the goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries? If so, what specific actions would you take as a council member to achieve this goal?
• How would you address the issue of drivers speeding in residential neighborhoods and on major arterial streets?
• What role do you see for law enforcement in traffic safety? How would you balance enforcement with street design changes to create a safer environment for all road users?
• Would you support lowering speed limits to improve safety?
• How can the city better use data to identify high-crash corridors and intersections and prioritize them for safety improvements?

Category 3: Policy & Planning

• Do you support a "Complete Streets" policy that requires all new and reconstructed streets to safely accommodate all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists of all ages and abilities?
• How would you ensure that the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians are integrated into the planning process for all new development projects?
• What is your stance on policies that reduce or eliminate minimum parking requirements for new developments, especially in areas well-served by transit, walking, and biking?
• How can we make it safer and more convenient for children to walk and bike to school? Do you support the Safe Routes to School program?
• What are your ideas for improving first- and last-mile connections to public transit for people on bikes?

Category 4: Community & Equity

• How will you ensure that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure investments are distributed equitably across all neighborhoods in our city, particularly in communities that have been historically underserved?
• How would you engage with residents who may be skeptical or opposed to new bicycle infrastructure projects?
• What can be done to make cycling more accessible and welcoming to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds in our community?
• Do you support city-funded programs to provide bicycle education or subsidized bike-share memberships for low-income residents?
• How do you view the role of community-led organizations like ours in the transportation planning process?

Category 5: Personal Experience & Vision

• What is your personal experience with bicycling and walking for transportation or recreation in our city?
• Can you describe a time you've used our city's current bike infrastructure? What was your experience like?
• If you could make one change to our city's streets tomorrow to make them safer for people on bikes, what would it be?
• Beyond infrastructure, what other ideas do you have to promote a culture of bicycling in our city?
• Please share anything else you'd like our members and the public to know about your views on active transportation.

Final Step: The Review Process

Before sending it out, have several people from your organization review the questionnaire. Ask them: "Is this clear? Is it fair? Is it focused?" A quick internal review can catch confusing language or biased framing before it gets to the candidates.

Support Materials

Example Questionnaires from Local Elections

• Scottsdale, AZ | Council & Mayor 2024
• Tempe, AZ | Council & Mayor 2024
• Tempe, AZ | Council & Mayor 2022

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