Virtual Public Involvement: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)

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NCHRP Web-Only Document 349 Virtual Public Involvement Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic Miriam Salerno Andrea Lubin Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ Pamela Lebeaux WSP USA Washington, DC Conduct of Research Report for NCHRP Project 08-142 Submitted October 2022 © 2022 by the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the graphical logo are trademarks of the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing state departments of transportation (DOTs) administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 initiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques—the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). NCHRP is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of AASHTO and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), United States Department of Transportation, under Agreement No. 693JJ31950003. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, APTA, FAA, FHWA, FTA, GHSA, or NHTSA endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the FHWA; or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board does not develop, issue, or publish standards or specifications. The Transportation Research Board manages applied research projects which provide the scientific foundation that may be used by Transportation Research Board sponsors, industry associations, or other organizations as the basis for revised practices, procedures, or specifications. The Transportation Research Board, the National Academies, and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This material has not been edited by TRB.

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C O O P E R A T I  V E  R E S E A R  C H  P R O G R A M S  CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP WEB-ONLY DOCUMENT 349 Christopher J. Hedges, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Waseem Dekelbab, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs, and Manager, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Sid Mohan, Associate Program Manager, Implementation and Technology Transfer, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Ann M. Hartell, Senior Program Officer Dajaih Bias-Johnson, Senior Program Assistant Natalie Barnes, Director of Publications Heather DiAngelis, Associate Director of Publications Kathleen Mion, Assistant Editor NCHRP PROJECT 08-142 PANEL Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Planning Methods & Processes Katina Lear, Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, GA (Chair) Eileen R. Barron, Utah Department of Transportation, Salt Lake City, UT Kimberly Burton, Burton Planning Services, Westerville, OH Jeff Dietrich, Howard Stein Hudson, Boston, MA Larissa Newton, Diversified Search Group, Mechanicsburg, PA Karla Sims, Arkansas Department of Transportation, Little Rock, AR Carolyn L. Nelson, FHWA Liaison Maggie Kasperski, AASHTO Liaison Claire E. Randall, TRB Liaison

Contents SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1  C H A P T E R 1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................ 4  C H A P T E R 2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................. 5  Literature review/practice scan .......................................................................................................................... 5  Online agency survey ......................................................................................................................................... 5  Focus group discussions ..................................................................................................................................... 6  Targeted structured interviews .......................................................................................................................... 6  C H A P T E R 3 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM PHASE 1 ................................................................................ 8  Section 1: Overview of the transition to VPI during the COVID‐19 pandemic ....................................................... 8  VPI readiness ............................................................................................................................................................. 8  Transitioning to VPI during COVID‐19 ....................................................................................................................... 8  Challenges and opportunities  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9  Reaching targeted audiences .................................................................................................................................. 10  Moving forward ...................................................................................................................................................... 10  Section 2: VPI training and resources utilized .................................................................................................... 10  Staff training ........................................................................................................................................................... 10  Volunteer training ................................................................................................................................................... 12  Other resources supporting VPI adoption among agencies ................................................................................... 12  Training needs moving forward .............................................................................................................................. 13  Section 3: VPI tool use during COVID‐19 ............................................................................................................ 14 

  The VPI toolbox ....................................................................................................................................................... 14  VPI tools used by survey respondents .................................................................................................................... 15  Expectations for future tool use ............................................................................................................................. 17  Most useful tools .................................................................................................................................................... 17  Additional tools mentioned .................................................................................................................................... 17  Promotional tools ................................................................................................................................................... 18  Trends in the application of virtual tools ................................................................................................................ 20  Section 4: Accommodating populations with specific needs ............................................................................... 24  Removing barriers and increasing overall participation ......................................................................................... 25  Lack of technology and digital divide ...................................................................................................................... 26  Strategies that worked to increase participation among the vulnerable ............................................................... 27  Combining virtual and in‐person methods for vulnerable groups .......................................................................... 30  Partnerships with community organizations .......................................................................................................... 31  Engaging with rural populations ............................................................................................................................. 32  LEP residents and accommodating multiple languages .......................................................................................... 33  Challenge of collecting demographic information .................................................................................................. 33  Section 5: Looking ahead: future of virtual and hybrid engagement ................................................................... 34  Participant thoughts on the future of virtual engagement .................................................................................... 34  How hybrid engagement has been implemented .................................................................................................. 34  Challenges and considerations ............................................................................................................................... 35  Section 6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 36    APPENDIX A: LITERATURE REVIEW / PRACTICE SCAN ON VIRTUAL PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT DURING COVID‐19…A‐1  APPENDIX B: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..B‐1  APPENDIX C: SURVEY SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………………….C‐1