Suggested Design and Management Techniques for Enhancing Public Engagement in Transportation Policymaking

Abstract

This report analyzes how the public can be effectively engaged in democratic decision-making and implementation of technically complex transportation policies. Its contribution is to compile and analyze strategies for enhancing public engagement specifically in transportation planning and policy via a review of the literature, identification of key design choices in organizing public engagement, a case study, and recommendations for further research. It incorporates the following sections: 1) Highlights from existing knowledge about the benefits, purposes, and challenges of public engagement. 2) An assessment of the state of public engagement in transportation and an evaluation of participatory designs currently being used in the sector. 3) A framework that we suggest transportation policy-makers utilize in deciding how to design public engagement processes. 4) Description and analysis of two cases of participatory transportation planning efforts in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 5) Recommendations for further research and proposals for how to engage the public in several current transportation policy issues in Minnesota.