IMPROVING PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS BY USE OF CITIZEN COALITIONS Requested by: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on the Environment Prepared by: Leigh Lane and Leah Flax The Louis Berger Group, Inc. 412 Mount Kemble Ave Morristown, NJ 07962 with: Meg Maguire, Community Conservation Consultant, Washington, D.C. Jacky Grimshaw, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago, IL August 2010 The information contained in this report was prepared as part of NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 62, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board. SPECIAL NOTE: This report IS NOT an official publication of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, or The National Academies. Acknowledgements This study was requested by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and conducted as part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 25-25. The NCHRP is supported by annual voluntary contributions from the state Departments of Transportation. Project 25-25 is intended to fund quick response studies on behalf of the AASHTO Standing Committee on the Environment. The report was prepared by Leigh Blackmon Lane and Leah Flax of The Louis Berger Group, Inc; Meg Maguire, Community Conservation Consultant; and Jacky Grimshaw of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The work was guided by a task group chaired by Kelly C. Dunlap of the California Department of Transportation which included: Claiborne Barnwell, Mississippi Department of Transportation; Megan Beeby, Washington State Department of Transportation; Peter Bond, California Department of Transportation; Dianna Noble, Texas Department of Transportation; Kim Thurman, Mississippi Department of Transportation; and Fawn Thompson, Federal Highway Administration. The project was managed by Nanda Srinivasan, NCHRP Senior Program Officer. Disclaimer The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board or its sponsors. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This document is not a report of the Transportation Research Board or of the National Research Council. NOTE: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers‘ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. NCHRP Project 25-25 Task 62 Improving Public Outreach for Transportation Projects by Use of Citizen Coalitions Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 2 II. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 III. Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 7 IV. Coalitions Engaged in Transportation ............................................................................. 14 V. Effective Strategies Used by Coalitions............................................................................ 22 VI. Building Relationships with Coalitions ............................................................................ 40 Appendices A. Completed Inventory Templates .................................................................................... A-1 B. Interview Questionnaire .................................................................................................. B-1 C. Coalition Interview Matrix ............................................................................................. C-1 D. Case Study Write-Ups ..................................................................................................... D-1 The Louis Berger Group, Inc. Page 1 NCHRP Project 25-25 Task 62 Improving Public Outreach for Transportation Projects by Use of Citizen Coalitions I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Citizen coalitions provide transportation agencies with readily available access to members of the public to facilitate meaningful engagement to improve public outreach for all phases of transportation project development and delivery. For the purposes of this research project coalitions are defined as: “An alliance among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in his [or her] own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause.”1 Coalitions form because they believe that together they can accomplish more than alone. They employ many creative methods of communication and often possess both political power and technical expertise that can be invaluable to transportation practitioners in planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating transportation facilities. In fact, citizen coalitions embody many of the principles of a context sensitive solutions (CSS) process in that they ―foster continuing communication and collaboration to achieve consensus‖ and ―strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to provide a basis for decisions.‖2 Effective outreach strategies used by coalitions have the potential to inform agency practices and also point towards opportunities for future collaboration and partnership through idea exchange, consensus building, coordination of efforts and access to the decisionmaking process. Coalitions are particularly proficient at tackling complex societal and environmental challenges that require multi-disciplinary and cross-organizational/agency expertise and involvement to successfully solve a particular problem. At their best, citizen coalitions are very effective at mobilizing human and social capital to solve societal and environmental problems by focusing on community quality of life. This project was conceived to help transportation agencies identify coalitions that can provide valuable insight and input into the transportation decisionmaking process as well as help them more effectively and efficiently engage their stakeholders through the use of citizen coalition groups. The products of this research include an inventory of 85 coalitions that are involved in transportation policies, programs, and projects while representing national, statewide, regional, local, corridor level or project interests. The coalitions inventoried also cover a range of topic areas including social equity, environmental protection, sustainable strategies, public health, air quality impacts, and historic and cultural preservation. For each coalition inventoried a brief description of the following is included: geographic area, engaged groups, structure, history, issue area, sphere and target of influence, mission/goals, programs/activities, budget/funding, and transportation involvement. In addition to the coalition inventory, the report provides tips on how to identify other coalitions during project development activities. 1 Wikipedia, ―Coalition,‖ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition>. 2 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the Federal Highway Administration, (Summer 2007) ―Results of Joint AASHTO/FHWA Context Sensitive Solutions Strategic Planning Process,‖ <http://environment.transportation.org/pdf/context_sens_sol/portlandsummary_final_050107.pdf>. The Louis Berger Group, Inc. Page 2 NCHRP Project 25-25 Task 62 Improving Public Outreach for Transportation Projects by Use of Citizen Coalitions In order to better understand how coalitions meaningfully engage their constituencies, interviews were conducted with 20 coalitions, from which brief case study write-ups were prepared. The coalitions selected for interviews include a mix of policy, program and project level activities, and half of the coalitions reached out to non-traditional populations. The interviews and case study write-ups covered the following topics: Involvement in transportation Barriers and challenges Opportunities for involvement and collaboration Successful partnerships Outreach Approaches Advice to transportation agencies Advice to other coalition groups Findings from these interviews informed the research project as to the effective strategies used by coalitions. The table below provides the major categories of effective strategies gleaned from the interview results and documented case study write-ups. These practices are showcased in this report through ―real world‖ examples that transportation practitioners can learn from and utilize to improve public outreach efforts. Communication Skills Constant contact and presence in community life. On-the-ground messaging Proactive rather than regulatory messages Frame the issues correctly Educate and inform the public Provide forums for diverse stakeholders The Trust Factor Coalition participation legitimizes the process Understand how the system is perceived as well as issues and needs Political Capital Raise funding. Build support of elected officials Facilitate community benefits agreements Technical Capacity Review of documents, reports, and studies Public involvement Data collection Training In addition