PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSPORTATION DECISION-MAKING

A NOTE FROM THE ADMINISTRATORS: FHWA AND FTA

We join with Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena in putting people first in all of our endeavors. People have a key role in the decisions shaping what transportation systems and services will be part of their communities. Public involvement helps State and local transportation agencies assure that individual neighborhoods are neither overlooked nor unfairly made to bear the burdens of public works while reaping few of the benefits. Consulting with the public--the transportation consumer--is a crucial way to identify public values and needs, to gather information, and to build consensus on transportation programs. Finally, and most importantly, public participation makes for better transportation decisions.

Since the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1950 and the Federal Transit Laws originally enacted in 1964, we have worked to ensure that all interested persons have the opportunity for a voice in how our transportation system is developed. We began with an opportunity for the public to speak to highway and transit agencies at public hearings. However, public hearings typically occur close to decision-making. Often, this is too late for incorporation of public views. We also encouraged public involvement in transportation planning and programming. In conjunction with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, we extended opportunity for public involvement throughout the location and design process for specific transportation projects. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 greatly expanded public involvement in transportation planning and programming. We responded with a performance approach to public involvement where State and local transportation agencies custom design their own public involvement processes in response to local conditions.

This collection of public involvement techniques provides the building blocks State and local transportation agencies can use to craft effective public involvement programs. Of course, we do not expect any one agency to use all of these public involvement techniques to involve the public in a transportation process and its products, plans, programs, or projects. But the careful use of a variety of these techniques by all agencies will ensure that we plan, design, and build the transportation system America must have to address the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.

Rodney E. Slator Federal Highway Administrator

Gordon J. Linton Federal Transit Administrator