National Academies Press: OpenBook

Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources (2010)

Chapter: Chapter Four - Tools, Techniques, and Examples of their Use

« Previous: Chapter Three - Survey Results
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter Four - Tools, Techniques, and Examples of their Use." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14411.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter Four - Tools, Techniques, and Examples of their Use." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14411.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter Four - Tools, Techniques, and Examples of their Use." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14411.
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13 INTRODUCTION This section highlights a variety of tools and techniques iden- tified by respondents that used limited resources. These tools and techniques fall into the following seven categories: 1. Utilizing the Internet and intranet; 2. Using visualizations; 3. Holding meetings in the right place, on the right day, at the right time; 4. Leveraging relationships; 5. Playing interactive games; 6. Taking the time to sit and listen; and 7. Using public involvement programs. Expanded versions of the summaries described here can be found in Appendix D. UTILIZING THE INTERNET AND INTRANET • The Missouri DOT used the Internet to advertise an on- line, corridor-wide meeting for its 200-mile-long I-70 project by buying an ad on MapQuest that would pop-up every time anyone searched for an address within a de- fined distance from I-70. This cost approximately $100 and had the potential to reach an audience of 140,000. • Georgia DOT’s Southwest Interstate Study used public school intranets to embed a hyperlink to a transportation survey that had the potential to reach students of all races, ethnicities, and income groups within a 32-county study area. The purpose of the survey was to collect infor- mation about how people used the existing transportation system and what problems they encountered in their daily travels. It cost approximately $300 to design the hyper- link, which returned the completed survey directly to the consultant. • In North Carolina DOT’s I-40 Business Improvements project, the intranets of individual businesses were used to embed a hyperlink to a transportation study that had the potential to reach employers and their employees who were both local residents and commuters without having to leave their desks. Information from this survey and others conducted as part of the project found that approximately 70% of the more than 12,000 residents and commuters surveyed were willing to close I-40 com- pletely during construction for a period of two years, rather than partially close I-40 during construction for a period of six years—a reduction of four years of being under construction. It cost approximately $300 to design the hyperlink, which returned the completed survey from more than 1,000 employees to the consultant. USING VISUALIZATIONS • As a pilot project, the Volusia County MPO asked the Florida DOT to create a video of the existing conditions on Clyde Morris Boulevard morphing into the proposed improvements so that the elected officials could visu- alize the changes. This led to the redesign of Clyde Morris Boulevard and the production of videos for 14 other projects by the Florida DOT. The 15 videos cost $100,000 or approximately $6,700 each. • Missouri DOT’s multi-media unit created a video of the proposed reconstruction and widening of truck-only lanes on its I-70 project, which was a new concept in Missouri. The video was shown at its meetings and posted on YouTube, where it has been seen more than 10,000 times. • The Atlanta Regional Commission held a photo contest and asked residents to take pictures, bring them to its offices, and talk to staff members about what the images represented. The pictures provided a way for residents to identify what they treasured and what they wanted changed and were all placed on Flickr. HOLDING MEETINGS IN THE RIGHT PLACE, ON THE RIGHT DAY, AT THE RIGHT TIME • The Sacramento Area Council of Governments in Cal- ifornia was having problems engaging the business community. It consulted with the Chamber of Commerce and discovered that the business owners and operators preferred morning meetings. The business community’s participation has now increased by having breakfast meetings. • The Tennessee DOT attached stamped, self-addressed postcards to their first newsletter and asked residents to identify a meeting location, day of the week or week- end, and time of day or night that would be convenient for them to attend a SR-126 project meeting. The first shift workers identified Tuesday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at a church outside of Kingsport, and the retirees, soccer moms, and second-shift workers identified Wednesday CHAPTER FOUR TOOLS,TECHNIQUES, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR USE

from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Civic Center in down- town Kingsport. Approximately 200 attended the evening meetings and approximately 100 attended the midday meetings. Information obtained from citizens attending these meetings was used to create a citizen’s alternative, which was carried into the environmental document to be analyzed. • The Georgia DOT’s Buford Highway citizens advisory committee recommended that Hispanic residents be engaged at Plaza Fiesta, the area’s largest shopping cen- ter, and Mercado del Pueblo, the area’s largest grocery store, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on a Sunday, and that the Asian (Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese) business own- ers and operators be engaged from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on a Thursday at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services. More than 400 Hispanic residents and 100 Asian merchants participated and more than 500 surveys were completed in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese. The survey results were incorporated into the preliminary and final designs for improvements on Buford Highway in Atlanta. • The California DOT (Caltrans) provided transportation for elderly study area residents from their apartment complexes to and from the public hearing location. • Caltrans has nine staffers attend its project open house meetings and locates each staffer at a table dedicated to a different aspect of the project. By bringing together these individuals, the public gets all of its questions answered in one place and it only takes approximately 45 minutes to visit all of the tables. LEVERAGING RELATIONSHIPS • During its State Long Range Plan, the Michigan DOT partnered with the state library of Michigan to help increase its outreach to traditionally underserved popula- tions that frequented libraries and used their computers. • Caltrans reached the public by piggybacking on weekly high school football games. It set up information booths in the stadium during the games and was able to reach large numbers of people. • Caltrans increased the participation of Hmong residents at public meetings by using school teachers and the clergy, whom the Hmongs trusted, to contact them and invite them to a public meeting. PLAYING INTERACTIVE GAMES • The Charlotte County/Punta Gorda, Florida, MPO cre- ated an interactive game called “strings and ribbons” to increase the number and diversity of participants in its regional planning process, make the process more inter- esting and enjoyable for its staff and the public, transfer complicated information more easily between staff and the public, and identify specific needs in the context of cost and available revenue. 14 • The Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago created Transopoly, Neighborhood Transopoly, and eTransopoly and uses these interactive games as part of their Long Range Transportation Plan, which supports the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. • The Volusia County, Florida, MPO used a variation of “strings and ribbons” to promote public involve- ment in its 2025 Long Range Plan. It played the game at more than 30 different location, engaged more than 690 people, identified more than 1,900 projects for consideration, and prioritized its transportation needs within budget constraints. The result of the “citizen plans” was presented to the county council for its information. • The Bluegrass Area Development District in Lexington, Kentucky, used “Bluegrass Monopoly” to prioritize 330 unscheduled needs projects valued at $4.8 billion when they only had $1.6 billion. In almost three hours, more than 80 representatives from the 17-county area identi- fied their first priority projects, which were sent to the state for funding. • The Miami–Dade County MPO created “blocks and ribbons,” a multimodal transportation/land use game as part of their regional planning process. TAKING THE TIME TO SIT AND LISTEN • The Indiana DOT held a public involvement meeting for a resurfacing project in a small rural area. It started the meeting as an open forum, but found that very few residents spoke up. In an attempt to generate conversa- tion, they placed a staffer and a few residents at differ- ent tables. The Indiana DOT discovered that because the residents knew each other, they were uncomfortable speaking up in front of each other. Once the public was divided into smaller groups, they became comfortable, began talking to each other and the DOT, and provided the DOT with valuable information. USING PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMS • The Miami–Dade County MPO created a three-compo- nent Community Characteristics Program; an interactive, web-based geographic information system designed for city planners and project managers to use in generating customized demographics for project-related reports of any selected area within Miami–Dade County. In addi- tion, it helps users determine appropriate public involve- ment strategies for identified targeted populations. The first component is the interactive mapping and produc- tion of census-based data about the different demo- graphics in the community being queried. The second component is a community background report that pro- vides information about the community’s development history, the boundary of the community, the attitudes in the community toward transportation, the transporta-

15 tion projects that have been implemented in that com- munity, and whether or not there were favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward those projects. The third component is public involvement strategies for seven different demographic groups. • The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commis- sion (DVRPC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created “. . . and Justice for All,” as a strategy for the fair treat- ment and meaningful involvement of all people. Demo- graphic overlays for six demographic characteristics were created at the census block group level, and the agency’s Regional Multimodal Transportation Plan and Trans- portation Improvement Program were superimposed over the demographic characteristics. The maps were evalu- ated from a geographic perspective and then incorporated service and quality-of-life factors to identify gaps or areas of low service. These areas became the focus of additional actions or mitigation efforts through future DVRPC planning and implementation activities, and served as an early warning of the need to undertake additional local area environmental justice assessments of individual projects. SUMMARY The respondents reported that they have used a variety of suc- cessful, effective, and cost-effective tools and techniques to identify, understand, accommodate, and communicate with the public. Public involvement programs have processes that can be replicated and strategies that are widely applicable including: • School intranets that have been used to reach a broad cross section of income groups of different races and ethnicities. • Two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and four-dimen- sional visualizations and videos that have been used to transcend language barriers, translate technical terms, educate, and explain. • Successful engagement that has been accomplished by asking the public when and where they would like to meet and accommodating them, as well as piggybacking on existing events. • Interactive games that have been used to increase the number and diversity of participants, explain project costs, transfer complicated technical information, iden- tify specific needs, and be an enjoyable experience.

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 407: Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources explores information about staff and agency experiences in the application of successful and cost-effective strategies and implementation techniques used to engage the public in the development of transportation plans and projects. The report also examines unsuccessful strategies.

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