Guide the Ride - Smart Moves Regional Transit Vision: Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program, Final Evaluation Report

摘要

With the main outcome being to coordinate transit planning activities and refocus the regional transit conversation, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) sought to develop a multiphase process for involving the region's residents and local governments for the creation of a new regional transit vision. MARC contracted with its One KC Voice citizen engagement program to help carry out elements of the public participation process. Engagement techniques used in this process included a steering committee, facilitated discussion w/ surveys, technical workshops, and the One KC Voice Web Site which hosted online surveys, internet forums, and online comment submission. This report evaluates the effectiveness of those techniques against a set of criteria for the ideal citizen engagement process from both the participant and decisionmaking perspective. In general it was found that One KC Voice proved useful in providing a geographically and demographically broad participation. The most useful technique to those drafting the final vision was the technical workshops as it provided the most usable feedback. This technique was also successful as a meaningful participation tool. Each technique offered advantages but did not perform well across all criteria. Overall, with the combined techniques, there was satisfaction with the process and outcomes.