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It is the policy of the Georgia Department of Transportation to reach out to Georgians from all walks of life and to invite and encourage them to participate in public transportation decision-making. The policy will: 
1. Provide a structured framework that leverages the resources of the Department for public involvement by establishing standards for reaching Georgia's diverse businesses and communities. 
2. Offer opportunities for groups and individuals to shape decision-making by participating in the development of the long range Statewide Transportation Plan (SWTP), the annual State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and GDOT programs and projects across the state. 
3. Institutionalize the "public voice" into transportation decision-making. 
4. Provide for open and continuous communication to inform the populace of planning and project activities. 
5. Offer timely responsive feedback to concerns and further aims to educate the state's citizenry about transportation programs and issues. 
6. Extend the Department's outreach efforts by consulting with and encouraging input from groups and individuals with interests related to transportation and to traditionally underserved populations. 
7. Implement the public involvement activities outlined in the Georgia Department of Transportation Public Involvement Plan. 
8. Review the Plan annually and update the Plan as needed. 
9. Use measures to evaluate the effectiveness of public outreach activities and use the results to determine the value of the program. 
10. Provide a mechanism for the Office of Communications to report to the State Transportation Board annually on public involvement activities, the effectiveness of the program and changes made to improve public outreach. 
 
 Public involvement is a key part of three specific areas of the Department's activities: 
The Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century (TEA-21) requires development of a long-range Statewide Transportation Plan (SWTP) that incorporates public involvement and long range visioning in decision-making. The Public Involvement Plan for Georgia's Statewide Transportation Plan incorporates a structured public outreach initiative designed to offer all populations, including the traditionally underserved, opportunities for input to Georgia's 25- year plan for transportation. 
The State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) lists transportation projects programmed over a three-year period. The STIP is updated and approved annually. A major component of STIP development is public involvement. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the eleven metropolitan areas of the state have public involvement processes for developing their Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs). The TIPs include a three-year listing of projects identified by the MPOs. The TIPs are incorporated as adopted by the MPOs within the STIP. In the rural areas of the state, the Department has responsibility for cooperatively identifying needed projects, facilitating public input, involving traditionally underserved populations, and including them in transportation decision-making for the STIP. 
Once projects have been identified in the planing process and programmed in the STIP, public involvement is used to inform the public and to gather information about concerns and impacts a project may have on communities. Input from the public is used in development of the project design. 
A Public Involvement Plan to implement this policy and process is published as a separate document. The Plan includes duties and responsibilities of the Department and other organizations involved in public involvement. The Plan addresses the approach to public involvement for transportation planning, project development, measuring the effectiveness of the public outreach and public outreach activities. It also identifies techniques and resources available for public involvement. 
For more information please contact: 
 
 Janide Sidifall Georgia Department of Transportation Office of Planning No. 2 Capitol Square, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30334 (404) 657-6694 janide.sidifall@dot.state.ga.us 
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Last updated on 11/20/00 03:24 PM