Public Involvement

 

 

 

 

Effective public outreach strategy relies on knowledge and understanding of a variety of stakeholder interests, particularly when potentially controversial issues are involved. Our staff covers the gamut of working with rural, urban, suburban and regional constituencies — local, state and federal government staff, elected officials, community groups, and special interest organizations. Our approach allows us to readily identify key stakeholders and maximize participation in the decision-making process. This process is also scalable — that is, we understand that the same level of public outreach is not necessarily required for a small intersection improvement as what is needed for an interstate corridor implementation. We are familiar with addressing stakeholders of differing socio-economic resources, as well as populations that are Spanish-speaking. We have bilingual staff with a history of communicating effectively with all stakeholders.

Alliance designs and implements comprehensive public involvement programs and Communication Plans, utilizing the Systematic Development of Informed Consent (SDIC) model as well as traditional public information/outreach tools. Based on the scope and complexity or each project assignment, the public outreach may include the following elements:

  1. Identify stakeholder groups, including, but not limited to, neighborhood associations, businesses (small, medium, and large employers), property management firms, civic groups, sports and recreation interests, churches, schools, health providers, cultural organizations and environmental organizations.
  2. Design and construct a comprehensive, integrated database of stakeholder contact information.
  3. Define a public involvement program to include establishing a project website, conducting stakeholder meetings, communicating information about local transportation issues, setting up and promoting availability of an information phone line, and developing a speaker’s bureau capability. Following is a discussion of each of these elements.
  4. The web has become the major resource that individuals seek out for obtaining information. Should a project warrant, Alliance sets up a project website where the public can 1) read about the candidate projects; 2) monitor and review the evaluation process; and 3) provide input to the evaluation and review process.
  5. Stakeholder meetings are held as required with the general public, but also with targeted groups important to the consensus-building process and can be expected to be more issue-focused than the general stakeholder meetings.
  6. Communicating information: Critical to successful consensus-building and public buy-in is presentation of clear, concise, and accurate information about the issues and the proposed solutions. As appropriate to the scope of work, fact sheets, brochures, news releases, maps, newsletters, and meeting presentation materials will be prepared which are appropriate to a diverse range of constituencies.