Can We Do It Better: Rethinking Engagement and Equity in Transportation Public Involvement

While the practice of public involvement has been studied and honed for decades, new questions are being asked about whether we are really doing it right. And, a recently completed city planning effort might point the way toward how how we can do it differently.

In September, Governing.com published an article that questioned whether public involvement as it is currently constructed favors people who have time and resources to participate in planning processes. Those people with means, the article claims, have an outsized ability to delay and thwart projects they don’t like – adding costs and, in some cases, sidetracking projects that might benefit lower socioeconomic communities or minority communities.

It certainly is worth considering whether and how the public meeting “regulars” – and most cities, counties and states have them – end up with an outsized level of influence on the outcome of various engagement efforts. In an “equal” process, everyone has access and influence.

However, some governments are asking whether equal is good enough. Perhaps it’s time to re-think when and how we conduct public involvement. In at least one city – and there are probably others – the new goal is equity through a process of continuous engagement that de-links the engagement process from individual projects.

The hottest new tactic for transportation agencies is podcasts? Yes, podcasts!

It may be hard to believe, but one of the hottest media tactics is podcasting. And several transportation departments and trade associations have developed podcasts as a way to reach what experts says is a still growing audience.

According to “The Podcast Consumer 2019,” a report published by Edison Research earlier this year, 22 percent of people age 12 and older listen to podcasts weekly, and nearly a third of people listen to podcasts monthly.

Edison’s report finds that the audience share for podcasting has grown a whopping 122 percent since 2014. And, young people age 12-24 are among the largest consumers of podcasting.

Music Oomph has compiled a host of interesting statistics on podcasting.

Toward Zero Deaths Not Just a Vision, It’s Personal

I never realized how dangerous it was for teen drivers to climb behind the wheel until recently when it was time to teach my teenage son how to drive. Not even when I was a  young person did I fully appreciate the myriad distractions, and the literally non-stop decision-making necessary for someone to drive safely on our roadways.

Driving is not easy. Perhaps that’s why more than 32,000 people are killed in roadway crashes each year. That’s a staggering amount by any measure.

State DOTs and other public safety organizations around the country are doing their part to try and get all of us – the experienced driver and the young person – to imagine a future when no one dies on America’s roadways.

Under the banner “Toward Zero Deaths,” a coalition of transportation organizations have decided that our national target goal for roadway deaths should be less than one.

Many state examples of public outreach campaigns touting the target goal can be found online. Mississippi Department of Transportation recently launched its web site and it features a game show-themed video asking regular people safety related messages.

Mississippi’s video follows the lead of states like Utah, Iowa and Nevada by asking people how many deaths are acceptable on the nation’s highways. Then they ask, how many deaths are acceptable in that person’s family. Of course it’s zero.

I have always considered it clever and effective to make the issue of safety intensely personal. But nothing makes the topic as effective as climbing into a vehicle with a young driver.

So I offer a final hat tip to Ford and the Governors Highway Safety Association for offering free driving skills courses for young drivers. My son and I will be attending one of these sessions very soon. Because zero deaths is not just a national vision, for my family and me its personal.

Transportation’s Best of 2013: Communicating with the Public

The Transportation Research Board held its annual meeting earlier this month in Washington DC. More than 11,000 people descended on the three hotels that host the series of discussions, workshops, poster sessions and committee meetings. In the broader transportation world, TRB’s annual meeting is the ultimate place to catch up with industry leaders and hear the latest in research trends and successful tactics.

For the transportation communicator, TRB’s annual meeting includes many important sessions, and one that I always enjoy is the 90 minutes dedicated to the winners of the “Communicating Concepts with John and Jane Q. Public” competition. The TRB Planning and Environment Group each year asks transportation organizations to nominate their best work at communicating a particular aspect of transportation to the public.