Public Involvement

How do you fit into the transportation planning process? There are many ways to get involved. It all depends on your interest and time. It starts with learning about the issues, potential solutions, and what already has been accomplished. You can make a valuable contribution by getting the facts and commenting from personal experience. The comments go to the elected officials. Your input is important—it’s how elected officials get an understanding of our community’s needs.

	Mailing List Sign up to receive emails and/or mailings about meetings and public comment periods. Sign up at events or on the Sign Up page.
	Website View meeting calendars, agendas and minutes; learn about public comment periods; view documents; and contact the MPO staff all on this website.
	Public Meetings Comment informally at meetings of the Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizen Advisory Committee, the Metropolitan Policy Committee, and at various elected bodies such as the Board of County Commissioners. These meetings are open to the public--attend to learn about what is happening with transportation planning in our region. See the calendar or committees pages for information about meetings.
	Public Comment Periods Comment formally about adoption or amendments to a transportation plan or program. Testify at public hearings or submit comments in writing through mail, email, or fax during formal public comment periods advertised through email notices, web and newspaper advertisements, and posters on buses. See the public comments and public hearings webpage for  announcements.
	Public Hearings Testify formally during public comment periods. Notice is sent to the mailing list, advertised in the newspaper, and posted on this website on the public comments and public hearings webpage.
	Public Open Houses and Workshops Learn about what’s happening with regional transportation planning. Sign up for the mailing list. Fill out comment forms. See the news page for announcements on open houses and woekshops.
	Citizen Advisory Committee Volunteer to serve on the Citizen Advisory Committee for the Metropolitan Planning Organization. Recruitment is advertised through the mailing list, newspaper, website, and posters on the bus.

How can you raise awareness about issues of regional importance?

• Bring issues up at homeowner or neighborhood association meetings
• Ask a transportation official to speak at your service club, community organization, school, or other civic organization
• Tell friends and family about upcoming meetings and urge them to attend
• Teach your kids about the importance of these issues

The Public Involvement Challenge

Public involvement in transportation planning poses a major challenge. Most everyone could agree that the transportation system affects all of our lives every day. But, many people are skeptical as to whether they can truly influence the outcome of a transportation project, such as widening a highway or building a rapid transit system. Others feel that transportation plans are too abstract and long-term to grab on to. Transportation planning is complex—it is technical, involves several layers of government, and has its own set of jargon. Often the public struggles to make heads or tails of a transportation document such as the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program or the Regional Transportation Plan.

How then does a transportation agency grab and hold people’s interest in a project or plan, convince them that active involvement is worthwhile, and provide the means for them to have direct and meaningful impact on its decisions? This is the challenge for the public involvement program of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

Current Federal and State statutes and regulations guide local public involvement processes and procedures. Local transportation agencies, however, have a lot of flexibility in developing specific public involvement programs. Every given situation is different, and each approach to a specific public involvement challenge may be unique.

It cannot be over-emphasized that citizens become involved at the earliest possible time in the process to provide constructive comment and local insight. For city or county projects, this may mean that citizens begin involvement at the local-level when the jurisdictions’ Transportation System Plans are developed and projects are scheduled through Capital Improvement Programs. The MPO is regional and many local transportation issues do not involve the MPO.

Public Participation Plan (PDF )
The Public Participation Plan, adopted by the Metropolitan Policy Committee in January 2007, does the following:

• Meets federal requirements
• Lists core public involvement for each product of the MPO
• Tells how to measure whether the plan is effective
• Provides for an annual review so changes can be made to make the Plan more effective
• Makes changes required by the federal transportation legislation called SAFETEA-LU
• Has public involvement policies

Nondiscrimination and Environmental Justice
The Central Lane Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has prepared a nondiscrimination policy and procedures, also referred to as the Title VI Plan, which addresses how the MPO is integrating nondiscriminatory practices in its transportation planning, public participation, and decision making.

For more information, see the Title VI and Environmental Justice Website

  Title VI Plan  (2.50 mb PDF )

In accord with environmental justice initiatives, the public involvement plan must identify and address adverse impacts of the transportation program, policies and activities on minority and low-income populations within the MPO area. An environmental justice baseline data analysis has been prepared to begin assisting the process of outreach to potentially impacted populations. This analysis will be refined to include other populations as adequate analysis procedures are identified and tested.

Piercing the Fog – Guides for Citizens
It's How We Get There That Matters—A Citizen's Guide to Transportation Planning (PDF )
Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-making. USDOT publication, Sept. 2003.
Glossary of Transportation and Related Terms (PDF )
Transportation Dictionary (links to Bureau of Transportation Statistics web page)

Contact Us
Contact Kathi Wiederhold,
Lane Council of Governments
859 Willamette St, Suite 500
Eugene, OR 97401-2910
FAX: (541) 682-2635
(541) 682-4430
Email: kwiederhold@lcog.org