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Citation |
Unsworth DJ. Transp. Res. Rec. 1994; 1463: 45-47. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 1994, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Public involvement requirements have been part of government programs for at least 20 years. But they are often still seen as one of the more onerous aspects of project development, as part of the bureaucratic red tape: necessary, but more an obligation than a productive part of the process. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act fostered a new spate of grumbling, as public involvement requirements were expanded from project development to short- and long-term planning. While the scope of the detail and the requirements expand, decision makers and project staff increasingly find that heightened public interest and activism grind projects (and sometimes entire agencies) to a halt. Information meetings, scoping meetings, and hearings are poorly attended, but then controversy swells and citizens turn out in droves to point fingers and raise angry voices. Frustration over an increasing number of controversies arising late in the project development process led the Montana Department of Transportation to develop a new process intended to minimize controversies that stop projects and erode public trust. The goals for that process are described and information contained in a new handbook intended to redirect Montana's public involvement program are highlighted. Language: en |