Project Development

 Summary:

Public participation is widely practiced among many democratic governments, at all scales, as a way for residents to shape policy and decision-making that affects their lives. Transportation-providing agencies acknowledge that there have been deficiencies in engaging underrepresented communities and there is also a desire to do better by going beyond legal requirements. Considering massive infrastructure investment and policy change, the questions of who is still excluded and how can public participation practitioners connect with the unconnected persist and are increasingly relevant. Additionally, Covid-19 ushered in new community engagement practices that are still being learned from and questions about these practices are unanswered. This mixed-methods research helps fill the gaps by exploring how public participation is accomplished via a case study in Michigan transportation planning and design. In asking how underrepresented groups want to be engaged, this study found that participation levels and challenges of underrepresentation have not changed since Covid-19. Successful engagement with underrepresented communities must consider their context when customizing engagement that is meaningful and relevant to them, and easy for them to participate in. While there is not a preferred way to reach underrepresented populations, making sure that online options are available is important. People understand the importance of participating but do not like to do it and do not think they’ll be heard when they do. Transportation planning agencies are in need of resources (training, materials, and more people) and leadership buy-in to meet these challenges and to be able to measure progress. 

 

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