Innovative Strategies for Public Involvement

Details

• Creators:
  Triplett, K. L. ; Ivey, S. S. ; Moore, L. W. ; Benson, B. ; Mersereau, J. ; Nelson, D. ; Howell, E.
• Corporate Creators:
  Tennessee State University
• Corporate Contributors:
  Tennessee. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Best Practices Long Range Planning Outreach Public Engagement Public Participation Public Relations State Departments Of Transportation Transportation Decision-Making Transportation Planning
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RES2013-47
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Tennessee
• Edition:
  Final Report February 2014 to April 2015
• Corporate Publisher:
  Tennessee. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  This research was designed to review current practice, identify strategies to achieve more balanced public involvement, develop a community profile tool identifying key stakeholder organizations for TDOT regions (Knoxville, Region 1; Chattanooga, Region 2; Nashville, Region 3; and Jackson-Memphis, Region 4), and to test the effectiveness of public involvement strategies in diverse settings across the state of Tennessee. The overall goal of the research was to identify innovative strategies to gain greater public participation in transportation decision-making and to improve accessibility for stakeholders throughout the State of Tennessee. Furthermore, the research identified methods of disseminating information that most effectively communicate the transportation decision-making process in such a way to help citizens understand the importance of their role in the process. These approaches aim to serve as a best-practice document, assisting with public participation efforts as part of the 25-Year Long Range Plan. The key findings that emerged from the analysis of all the research study data (interviews, literature reviews, focus groups, and surveys) were that improvements in both awareness activities and two-way dialogue are important to increasing effectiveness of TDOT’s public participation activities. Overall, it is important for TDOT to adopt a combination of technology-based and community-based approaches to both inform and engage the public. It is also important to approach each community on a case-by-case basis - it is important for TDOT to be fluid and flexible when implementing their public outreach strategies. Challenges that the TDOT staff believed they would face in implementing new strategies include the cost of recommended strategies, aligning new practices with TDOT requirements/regulations, the reluctance of staff to try new strategies, and lack of time to devote to developing new approaches or meeting formats so that those responsible for implementation are comfortable in doing so.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  040B268 (FHWA Project No.)
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:1d407880d195bcab1937f9388e385d87941ee2c3994528030869a95fe5d3c887
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/55050/dot_55050_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.12 MB ]