A Public Involvement Road Map

00780096https://doi.org/10.21949/14030731998PDFProceedingsTransportation planningLocal governmentPublic information programsPublic participationSmall citiesMedium sized citiesDecision makingCitizen participationCommunity resistancePublic involvementPublic outreachUnited StatesO'Dowd, CarolWashington (State). Department of TransportationNational Research Council (U.S.). Transportation Research BoardNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Social ImpactsNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Public Participation and OutreachUS Transportation CollectionIn order to have effective public involvement, governments need a road map forthe decision-making process. Yet, citizens from small and medium sized citiesfrequently do not have the resources to use sophisticated technology for publicinvolvement programs. With limited budgets, small cities and towns frequentlyare not able to allocate substantial resources to public involvement. Havingthe funds for constructing transportation infrastructure is the priority of thelocal government. At the same time, if the public is not involved in thedecision-making, the government may run into major community resistance afterinvesting time and money into pursuing its preferred alternative. This paperpresents a variety of low cost techniques. It reviews how to: identify andrecruit participants for public involvement, promote local leadership andownership of the process, design decision-making processes that work, keepdiverse groups focused on accomplishing results, and solicit input andparticipation without creating unrealistic expectations. 9p.84