There is a persistent need for improved tools and techniques to facilitate public involvement in transportation decision making.

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Journal Articles & Reports

General Literature on Public Participation

Delineating "Public" and "Participation" in PPGIS

Description: PPGIS is often presented and promoted as a more people-centered GIS compared to traditional technocratic, expert-driven tool or methodology. Yet, the umbrella of PPGIS is quite broad. Within such a wide context, it may be helpful for practitioners and scholars of PPGIS to better understand exactly what PPGIS is. Or, in other words, having a clearer conception of what "public" and "participation" are, and how they relate to expected outcomes and outputs within a GIS context, is very important as the ideas and ideals of PPGIS continue to gain momentum.
Citation: Scholssberg, Marc and Elliot Schuford. "Delineating 'Public' and 'Participation' in PPGIS." URISA Journal, 2005, Volume 16 (2).

Reframing Public Participation: Strategies for the 21st Century

Description: The authors propose that participation should be understood as a multi-way set of interactions among citizens and other players who together produce outcomes. Next steps involve developing an alternative practice framework, creating forums and arenas, adapting agency decision processes, and providing training and financial support.
Citation: Innes, Judith and David E Booher. "Reframing Public Participation: Strategies for the 21st Century." Planning Theory and Practice, 2004, Volume 5 (4).

The Internet Aids Community Participation in the Planning Process

Description: This paper looks at community participation in the planning process. In some ways citizens are the forgotten part of collaborative planning, but changes in the political system since the 1960s demand significant input from the community. Experience and the literature show citizen participation is much more effective if it is channeled through a community organization
Citation: Craig, W.J. "The Internet aids community participation in the planning process." Computers ,Environment and Urban Systems, 1998, Volume 22 (4).

Longer View: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans

Description: Planning can inform actions as both proceed simultaneously. Had New Orleans planners not felt so compelled to complete plans quickly, they might have been more effective at providing reasoned analysis over time to support community actions and engaging a broader public in resolving difficult questions of restoration versus betterment.
Citation: Olshansky, Robert. "Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans." Journal of the American Planning Association, 2008, Volume 74 (3).

Making Participation Work When Interests Conflict

Description: This article uses a public management controversy in California to show how planners who work with contentious publics can learn from skillful mediators. Mediated participation techniques can redirect conflict into joint inquiry, explore options rather than escalate demands, and achieve practical ends that will serve diverse interests.
Citation: Forester, John. "Making Participation Work When Interests Conflict." Journal of the American Planning Association, 2006, Volume 72 (4).

What's the Secret?

Description: The author identifies strategies to increase transparency and accountability in large infrastructure projects delivered through public/private partnerships. The author uses the case of an award winning public/private partnership to plan a rapid rail line in Vancouver by comparing confidential documents released after project approval to the information available while planning was underway.
Citation: Siemiatycki, Matti. "What's the Secret?" Journal of the American Planning Association, 2007, Volume 73 (4).