United States Department of Transportation
[PDF-1.06 MB]
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Abstract:This report brings together the challenges of connecting with rural communities and implementing virtual tools under the shared umbrella of public involvement. It synthesizes existing research and practices pertaining to the overlap of rural issues in virtual public spaces, acknowledging that public transportation projects sometimes need to seek input from rural communities by methods that deviate from those used in urban projects. While the Covid-19 pandemic introduced many agencies to the utility of virtual public involvement (VPI) tools, wielding these tools in rural project settings entails its own sets of challenges, benefits, and considerations. The purpose of the report is to assist transportation practitioners in developing their own, local frameworks for decision-making around how to connect with rural communities and whether virtual tools might be appropriate in doing so. In this context, transportation practitioners might include engineers, project managers, planners, or others who are weighing public involvement strategies for transportation-related projects. The report begins by broadly discussing the Challenges and Barriers to Rural VPI through a review of existing academic and organizational literature. From there, VPI Tools and Practices delves into the various categories of virtual tools available to facilitate public involvement, emphasizing the ways these tools respond to the challenges and barriers highlighted previously. Four Case Examples then exemplify how agencies contend with rurality while making decisions about VPI tools in context of their particular transportation-related objectives. Finally, we conclude with Recommendations and steps for practitioners to take as they advance their own projects.
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