MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT APPROACHES

In creating a sustainable transportation system, practitioners and scholars have developed approaches which include more effective and meaningful public involvement. But, as the author states, unless there is rigorous evaluation of public involvement efforts, current practices may continue to waste resources and may fail to promote larger societal goals. Pointing out that few efforts at public involvement have made an impact and few researchers have attempted rigorous evaluations of the processes and outcomes, the author calls for research to identify the most effective ways of minimizing conflict, using available mechanisms productively, and developing new mechanisms to enhance the quality of transportation decisions.