Public Outreach

Comprehensive public involvement that engages all communities in a project area is the ultimate goal of transportation planners and agencies. Often, however, broad outreach must be accompanied by more targeted strategies to reach specific constituencies. Depending on...

Stakeholder identification is a key early step in the outreach planning process. Transportation agencies must make a diligent effort to identify all those affected by a proposed action, including those segments of the population traditionally underserved by...

A Public Involvement Plan (PIP) is part of virtually every transportation and infrastructure project. What’s sometimes overlooked, however, is that the PIP serves critical needs that go well beyond ensuring regulatory compliance for a project. In its comprehensive...

Successful stakeholder outreach and engagement is critical to the success of any project, including transportation and infrastructure projects with their broad-based impacts on communities. A critical first step in developing a Public Involvement Plan (PIP) is to set...

Issue resolution is an important part of the process for virtually any transportation project. To avoid having an issue or challenge derail or inordinately delay project progress, many planners hold a charette—a meeting focused soley on resolving a specific problem...

Getting to know the various constituencies within a project area is a critical early step in developing a Public Involvement Plan for a transportation project. One method that can help in this effort is the key person interview, in which agency staff meets with an...

A Public Involvement Plan (PIP) for transportation projects is a living document. Agencies need to revisit the plan regularly to ensure it is achieving the desired goals for public outreach and engagement. Some key metrics that can help in making this evaluation: Are...

To maximize public involvement and help create consensus for transportation projects, planners must make a concerted effort to learn the communication needs and preferences of each stakeholder group or community within the project area and align outreach methods with...

Agencies use a comprehensive Public Involvement Plan (PIP) to guide their public outreach efforts for transportation projects. The PIP identifies stakeholders and the methods that will be used to engage and secure their input. A good strategy is to focus outreach...