Public Engagement

The Public Engagement focus area page is a one-stop shop for resources about public engagement and equity in transportation planning on the TPCB website. It includes links to publications, legislation and guidance, recent peer events, upcoming calendar events, and related websites.

• Click here to access a full list of case studies related to public engagement.
• A Guide to Transportation Decisionmaking
• FHWA Public Involvement Reference Tool
• How to Engage Low-Literacy and Limited-English-Proficiency Populations in Transportation Decision-making - An FHWA report that documents best practices in identifying and engaging low-literacy and limited-English-proficiency populations in transportation decisionmaking. The booklet also provides outreach techniques for these populations.
• NTI/NHI course: Public Involvement in Transportation Decisionmaking
• NCHRP report: Report 710: Practical Approaches for Involving Traditionally Underserved Populations in Transportation Decisionmaking
• Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision Making - This is a reference work that makes a wide variety of public involvement techniques available to transportation agencies. It includes the 14 techniques originally published in Innovations in Public Involvement for Transportation Planning. There are four chapters with subsections that group techniques thematically by function. Each chapter ends with a final subsection called "Taking Initial Steps."
• TCRP syntheses:
  • Synthesis 85: Effective Use of Citizen Advisory Committees for Transit Planning Operations
  • Synthesis 89: Public Participation Strategies for Transit
• Transportation Planning Process Resource Guide
• Working with Community-Based Organizations on Transportation Planning (Florida International University) - The Project main objectives are as follows: 1) Identify the circumstances under which partnerships with community based organizations would be the most effective, 2) Provide support for government agencies to partner with community-based organizations and report on the successes and issues in using community-based groups to support agency planning and project development activities and 3) Provide documentation on (1) and (2) for purposes of dissemination. Project should attempt to be national in scope (issues), but local in implementation.
• Click here to access a full list of Legislation, Regulations, and Guidance related to public engagement planning on the TPCB website.
• Recent publications on public engagement:
  • Congestion Management Process: A Guidebook
  • Showcasing Visualization Tools in Congestion Management
To find existing publications and resources on public engagement or to add new ones, visit the TPCB Resource Index .

• Upcoming conferences and webinars related to public engagement:
  • Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations Annual Conference
  To browse all existing events on the TPCB website or to add new ones, please visit the events calendar or the TPCB Resource Index.

• Recent peer events related to public engagement:
  • Integrating Land Use and Transportation Planning
  • Developing Statewide Long Range Transportation Plans
  • Effective Public Involvement Procedures throughout a Multi-Disciplinary Agency
  Read other peer event reports.

• Access Board - Access Board is an independent Federal agency devoted to developing and maintaining accessibility requirements for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and information technology, provides a listing of transportation-related accessibility resources.
• Census Issues - Census population data are used in many transportation planning applications including population forecasting, travel demand modeling and microsimulation, Title VI analysis and land use analysis. The US Census definition of "urbanized areas" is used in the Federal determination of MPOs. Planning (PL) and STP funds are based upon urbanized area populations. The transportation planning community, through AASHTO, contracts for a special tabulation from Census data called the Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP). The CTPP focuses on the journey-to-work, and other tables helpful for transportation planning (including household size, household income, and vehicle availability).
• Center for Community Change - The mission of the Center for Community Change is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change their communities and public policies for the better. The Center strengthens, connects and mobilizes grassroots groups to enhance their leadership, voice and power.
• Choosing Visualization for Transportation: Choosing Visualization for Transportation Knowledge Sharing Web Portal, a project funded by the Federal Transit Administration's Public Transportation Participation Pilot (PTPP) program. This web portal is designed to be your one-stop shop for effectively applying visualization tools and techniques in public involvement.
• EPA public involvement website
• FHWA Public Involvement/Public Participation Website
• FTA Public Involvement Website
• HUD public involvement website
• International Association for Public Participation
• Planning Assistance Tool: The Planning Assistant has reasonable choices of public involvement techniques.
• Public Involvement - Learning the viewpoints and opinions of the stakeholders in transportation projects is one of the chief elements of the project development process.
• Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program (PTP Program) - The Federal Transit Administration seeks proposals for research that will develop innovative approaches to improving public participation in the planning of public transportation. Research is sponsored through the Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program, created as part of SAFETEA-LU.
• State-by-State Summaries of the Processes Used and Local Views on Them (April 2001) - A supplemental report to the Rural Transportation Consultation Processes (May 2000) that contains state-by-state summaries of the transportation processes used during state consultations with local officials. The document also contains local perspectives on these processes.
• TRB Committee on Public Involvement
• Visualization - Visualization can provide the public and decision makers a clear idea of the proposed policies, plans and Transportation Improvement Programs and the impacts to the human and natural environment. Visuals can make information instantly or intuitively understandable. The new technology has made it possible to communicate what the proposals may look like when implemented.
• White House Office of Public Engagement