2023 early engagement
In summer and fall of 2023, WSDOT completed early engagement for the Public Transportation Plan update. The purpose of this early engagement was to learn from communities across the state about how to best partner together to develop a plan that addresses needs and offers strategies that truly improve mobility and access for all.
WSDOT met with service providers, community-based organizations, and coalitions of community groups serving populations WSDOT hadn’t successfully or sufficiently connected with during previous outreach efforts:
- Unhoused and precariously housed individuals.
- Young adults.
- Communities WSDOT defines as “vulnerable populations in overburdened communities.”
WSDOT connected with these groups through two methods:
- Conducting briefings with staff or boards of community-based organizations.
- Conducting interviews with community based organizations.
Interview questions for early engagement (PDF 100KB).
Briefing presentation for early engagement (PDF 549KB).
Map of the location of organizations WSDOT worked with during early engagement
Top recommendations offered to improve WSDOT’s engagement:
- Make engagement as easy as possible for community members and for partnering community-based organizations. Examples from interviewees:
- Follow the advice of community-based organizations about how to shape the engagement.
- Conduct engagement at events that people are already going to and where partner community-based organizations already have a role or a presence.
- Ensure the engagement is accessible and easy to participate in.
- Build ongoing and sustained relationships in the community by showing up consistently, even when not collecting feedback. Examples from interviewees:
- Report back to partner community-based organizations in between outreach phases to let them know what is happening and what the next steps are.
- Have a consistent presence at community events even outside of engagement phases.
- Offer fair and appropriate compensation for time and lived experiences. Examples from interviewees:
- Offer monetary compensation for those providing feedback at the time of engagement.
- Offer vouchers, bus tickets, or other ways to help with daily necessities.
- Conduct outreach with a good understanding of existing barriers to transportation, and expecting to hear things that are difficult, including critiques of previous outreach.
- Make partnership easy for community-based organizations, community service providers, and community leaders. Examples from interviewees:
- Keep partners updated and provide sufficient notice ahead of outreach.
- Support, sponsor, and attend events that partner organizations are hosting, organizing, or participating in.
- Take on logistical and administrative tasks, or tasks like translation and interpretation if that is helpful for the partner organization.
- Share findings and results of outreach when possible.
Broadly, WSDOT learned that strong community partnerships would benefit both the agency and community members. Additionally, through this partnership, WSDOT may better understand community needs, which may lead to better engagement and outreach, and a public transportation plan that better reflects community needs and priorities.
If you’d like more information, please contact:
Coby Zeifman
Project manager