Early, effective, and continuous public involvement brings diverse viewpoints and values into the decision-making process. Transportation agencies can increase meaningful public involvement in planning and project development by integrating virtual tools into their overall public involvement approach.
Using virtual public involvement tools enhances and broadens the reach of public engagement efforts by making participation more convenient, affordable, and enjoyable for greater numbers of people. Virtual tools provide increased transparency and access to transportation planning activities and project development and decision-making processes.
However, using virtual public involvement techniques does not change existing public involvement requirements established by statute, regulation, or executive order, and these tools are not intended to completely replace in-person public involvement opportunities, which remain an important part of a balanced public involvement approach.
The Virtual Public Involvement Initiative is jointly led by the Office of Planning, and the Office of Project Development and Environmental Review. For more information please contact:
In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration launched the "Every Day Counts" (EDC) program to help state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and local public agencies advance practice-ready innovations into everyday use. VPI is a featured initiative in EDC-6, building on a successful EDC-5 campaign. For more information about the focus of VPI in EDC-6, visit the VPI EDC-6 webpage.
