Citizen Transportation Planning: A Working Model

Abstract

All communities, regardless of their location or size, face the need to re-think and plan their transportation futures. In recent history transportation planning has begun to move from the public hearings to more input and consensus based processes. To facilitate this trend it has become necessary for transportation officials to communicate technical information in a manner that is accessible and understandable. One technique that has come into increasing use is that of graphic visualization. This method, while very effective in presenting a variety of planning and design options to a community, runs the risk of closing down dialogue by being too formal or too final in its appearance. To bridge the gap between information and public dialogue the Minnesota Department of Transportation has begun using a process called the Transportation Action Model (TAM). The TAM, initiated and designed by a national consortium led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was created with two guiding principles. First, sound transportation systems and the decisions behind them are critical to the social and economic well-being of communities. Second, informed community participation creates better transportation decisions. By linking technical information with a citizen-driven decision process, the TAM helps communities produce their own blueprint for local action. In 21 weeks, with a minimum of 25 participants from a broad range of transportation stakeholders and citizens, a community can become an active voice in their transportation future. Two rural communities in Minnesota, Two Harbors and Nisswa, challenged themselves and their planning histories by using the TAM. Both communities, each with unique transportation histories and development, sought this model as a way to deal with existing congestion impacts and future development pressures. Through public dialogue and graphic visualization, each community could frame and prioritize local transportation issues and develop potential solutions, creating a Transportation Action Plan that will assist the transportation plans and decisions of the future.