A model for public involvement in transportation improvement programming using participatory Geographic Information Systems

Public involvement in transportation improvement programming is becoming increasingly important as well as being a recommendation of federal legislation in the United States. Although most transportation planning agencies have not actively involved the public during this stage of the planning process, there are many benefits to doing so, such as, gaining support from the public for the funded project list, increasing the credibility of agencies, reducing project costs, and avoiding construction delays. Effective public involvement during the programming step incorporates inclusive participation, two-way communications, transparent processes, and serious treatment of the public’s input. This paper presents a model for public involvement in the programming process with all these features using a web-based portal application with a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS). The process is composed of the following five steps: describing values and concerns, determining criteria, reviewing projects, evaluating scenarios, and creating reports. Challenges agencies may encounter in implementing such a system are also covered in this paper.