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35 APPENDIX A Interview Guide TRB NCHRP 20-05/TOPIC 40-05 EFFECTIVE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT USING LIMITED RESOURCES SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Contact Information: Date of the interview Who is being interviewed (name/title)? Address/Phone number/Fax number/E-mail address/Agencyâs website URL? Organizational Structure: 1. What is the mission statement for your organization? 2. Is the agency centralized/decentralized? 3. Is authority for public involvement held at headquarters, the regions, the districts, or all? 4. How are public involvement responsibilities distributed throughout the agency? 5. What phases of transportation decision making in the agency have public involvement components (policy development, systems planning, project planning, environment, design, ROW, construction, operations and maintenance)? Staffing: 6. How many staff in your organization conducts public involvement? 7. What are their qualifications (academic training and work experience), professional designations (e.g., registered engineer), or memberships in professional organizations (AICP, APA, IAP2)? 8. What training have these staff received in Community Impact Assessment, Environmental Justice, Public Involvement, and Context Sensitive Solutions? 9. How long has each of these staff members been in their current position? 10. What was their previous position in this agency or another organization? 11. What is the total full-time equivalent staff positions devoted to public involvement? 12. Do you use consultants to conduct public involvement? 13. What certifications or pre-qualification requirements do you have for consultants that conduct public involvement? Cost Quantification: 14. Have you quantified the cost of doing public involvement in your agency? 15. How are those costs allocated (staff salaries/benefits, consultant costs, marketing expenses, website development/mainte- nance, etc.)? 16. How do you quantify public involvement costs (% of project cost, cost per person in the project study area, others)?
Public Involvement Process (Social/Community Issues, Studies, and Report): 17. What technical studies/reports are conducted to address social and community issues? 18. What subjects do these studies address? 19. How do you identify the segments of the various âpublicsâ you will target for public involvement? 20. How do you make decisions about how to do public involvement and tailor it to the various segments you have identified? 21. What process do you use to develop a public involvement plan? Public Involvement Process (Level of Effort, Education, and Documentation): 22. How are decisions made about the level of effort to devote to public involvement at each level of decision making (number of staff and time, use of consultants, budgets for publications, websites, marketing, etc.)? 23. How do you provide education to the public to better equip them to provide meaningful input to the agency (e.g., strings and ribbons)? 24. What written documentation do you have related to the following topics (public involvement, environmental justice, com- munity impact assessment, and context sensitive solutions)? Public Involvement Process (Goals): 25. What are your agency goals for public involvement? 26. How were those goals developed? Public Involvement Process (Communicating Public Input and Commitments): 27. How is input from the public integrated into the agency decision-making process? 28. How are public input/agency commitments/permit requirements/etc., tracked by the agency through each phase of the project? Definitions of Successful, Effective, and Cost-Effective Public Involvement: 29. How do you define successful public involvement? 30. How do you define effective public involvement? 31. How do you define cost-effective public involvement? Measures for Effectiveness: 32. What are the outcomes you expect from your public involvement efforts? 33. Have you developed quantitative/qualitative measures for the effectiveness of your public involvement? 34. Do those measures include measures of the equity or inclusiveness of your public involvement to assure that your efforts target groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the decision-making process and underserved by transportation facilities? 35. How do you measure the cost-effectiveness of your public involvement activities? Effective, Cost-Effective, and Ineffective Techniques: 36. What specific techniques have been most effective? 37. What specific techniques have been most cost-effective? 36
37 38. What specific techniques have been ineffective? 39. Distinguish these by segments of the public you target (Limited English proficiency, Low literacy, Elderly/Disabled, those without access to public transportation, Second/Third shift workers, Single mothers with children, other underrepresented groups)? Leveraging Relationships: 40. How do you leverage your public involvement efforts to make them more effective or cost-effective [e.g., partnering with community organizations (NGOs), other public agencies, the media or others]? Best Practices/Case Study Candidates: Other thoughts offered by the interviewee:
