California Department of Transportation
Caltrans Transportation Planning Planning Offices Office of Community Planning Public Participation and Engagement

Public Participation and Engagement

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Purpose
Presentations
Projects
Best Practices
Getting Started

 

Purpose
Caltrans’ Public Participation and Engagement Contract (PPEC) provides support to help the Districts and Headquarters bring projects to the people by giving communities a critical voice in the transportation planning and programming decisions that affect them most. Caltrans has contracted with MIG, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in public involvement, to develop successful outreach programs for diverse audiences. Through dynamic public meetings, interactive land use exercises and other innovative methods, the PPE process gets people involved at all stages.
Our goal is to translate complex planning and design issues into language and graphics that people can understand. These outreach efforts engage all stakeholders, especially those that are traditionally underserved. This inclusive approach means that more people are aware of the projects that are happening in their communities and are more likely to stay actively invested in the process.
Caltrans has successfully engaged the public on a wide range of projects that support community-based planning, public engagement and Context Sensitive Solutions. Some sample projects are described below.

Presentations

  • Featured Presentation
    Caltrans Planning Horizons
    Daniel Iacofano, founding principal of MIG, Inc., gave the Planning Horizons presentation, “Getting the Most Out of Public Involvement” on April 22, 2009. The 45 minute presentation was followed by questions and discussion with a variety of Caltrans planning staff.

    A video of the presentation and discussion is available by clicking here

    A copy of the powerpoint presentation is available by clicking here

Projects

  • Featured Project
     

    Kroy Pathway Conceptual Improvement Outreach
    Caltrans District 3 partnered with the City of Sacramento to involve area residents and businesses in an open process to improve the

    safety and functionality of the Kroy Pathway. The process resulted in a series of identified design strategies, generated public support and was funded and implemented by the City of Sacramento.
  • Learn more
  • 2009 Project Profiles

    Strategic Planning Workshop for the Crenshaw Community of Los Angeles
    Caltrans convened over 50 representatives from the Los Angeles Urban League (LAUL), the California Department of Business Transportation and Housing Agency (BTH), the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and other stakeholders for a strategic planning workshop to identify opportunities to enhance and improve the quality of life in Crenshaw.

    (link attached 1-page summary)

    Grand Boulevard Forum 
    Caltrans sponsored a public forum in coordination with
     Local agencies and partners to educate the public about the Grand Boulevard Initiative for transforming the El Camino Real corridor.

    (link attached summary report)

    State Route 46 East Comprehensive Corridor Study Public Involvement Summary 
    The attached report summarizes the 18 month, multi-agency planning process that  

    (Link attached summary report)
    Statewide Corridor System Management Plan Online Portal
    With over 40 Corridor System Management Plans (CSMPs) in progress throughout the state, www.corridormobility.org serves as an invaluable online source of information about these dynamic, multi-stakeholder planning processes.

2008 Project Archives

For District Staff

  • Getting Started
    District and Headquarters staff seeking PPEC resources and assistance for a Caltrans project should contact Terri Bridges, contact information below.

    Caltrans’ PPEC provides on-call consultant services to Headquarters and the 12 District Planning units for public engagement and outreach efforts during early transportation planning efforts.

    The goal of the PPEC is to provide the specialized services and skills needed to ensure public engagement successes. The $2.2 million contract, funded by the Office of State Planning and Research, was awarded to MIG, Inc. on November 7, 2006. It will expire on February 28, 2011.
  • Contact Information
    For more information, contact:

    Terri Bridges
    Associate Transportation Planner
    Telephone: (916) 654-3419
    E-mail: terri_bridges@dot.ca.gov

    Office Location:
    1120 N Street, MS-32
    Sacramento, CA 95814

    Mailing Address:
    PO Box 942874, MS-32
    Sacramento, CA 94274-0001