Cultivating Accountability Through Meaningful Public Engagement

State departments of transportation (DOTs) are charged with avoiding discrimination in the application of federal funding to plan, design, build, and operate transportation through a variety of laws, executive orders, and regulations. However, there remains disparity in the equity of transportation performance outcomes among different demographic groups and communities. As state DOTs and transportation agencies seek to deliver quality projects that improve transportation infrastructure and services within their service jurisdictions, agencies remain challenged to create meaningful public engagement in transportation decision-making processes, particularly with underserved and vulnerable communities such as low-income, minority, and limited English proficiency individuals and communities. Meaningful public engagement at a minimum should include active two-way communication on transportation needs, strategies, and solutions that could span multiple transportation decisions and actions from long-range planning through design and construction to operations and maintenance. While several studies and guidebooks have focused on the design and execution of effective public involvement in transportation decision-making, and the importance of engaging underserved and vulnerable populations, there remains the need for focused research to help agencies understand and establish what meaningful communication with transportation stakeholders encompasses, and provide direction on successful strategies and solutions for how to achieve it. The objective of this research is to develop a manual with practical strategies, processes, methods, and procedures for understanding and establishing meaningful public engagement in transportation decision-making with an emphasis on the engagement of vulnerable communities. The manual will address institutional and practical barriers and include appropriate instruction on the design and execution of public engagement processes and methods that lead to meaningful public engagement in transportation decision-making.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5139

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 08-161

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Weeks, Jennifer

• Performing Organizations:

  Center for Neighborhood Technology

  2125 West North Avenue
  Chicago, IL  United States  60647
• Principal Investigators:

  Persaud, Heidy

• Start Date: 20231127
• Expected Completion Date: 20260526
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Low income groups; Minorities; Public participation; State departments of transportation; Transportation planning
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01772195
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 08-161
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 24 2021 11:22PM