Virtual Public Involvement: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 8-36
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8 C H A P T E R 3 Summary of Findings from Phase 1 Section 1: Overview of the transition to VPI during the COVID-19 pandemic VPI readiness Most transportation planning agencies had already begun to implement some type of VPI before the COVID-19 pandemic. In focus groups, agencies talked about using social media, digital surveys and participating in the Federal Highway Administration's Every Day Counts initiative that encourages technological innovation.
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9 Navigating the initial transition to VPI was the most difficult task for most agencies. One participant noted that early in the pandemic, it was unclear which virtual engagement tools were most effective and reliable, so the agency cycled through many tools to find the most suitable.
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10 bus advertisements to promote virtual meetings and project information. Over half of survey respondents reported holding hybrid events where there were opportunities to engage both virtually and in-person.
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11 to virtual engagement complicated by varying levels of experience and knowledge of how to do so. Most participants did not experience the benefit of receiving formal VPI training.
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12 meeting; provides tips for conducting virtual meetings; offers instructions on using VPI platforms; and provides a series of templates for flyers, postcards, mail inserts, newsletters, paid advertisements, and other useful public notification materials. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning developed in-house VPI training that included staff instructional guides for using specific platforms.
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13 regional VPI peer exchange. Several MPOs shared this sentiment regarding the value of peer exchanges.
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14 a tool matrix to assist agencies in identifying the most appropriate tool(s) for the type of engagement being planned and audience(s)
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15 build a useful knowledge base for the VPI guide, this report distinguishes between tools, tool features and specific platforms. Tools are broad categories of engagement techniques, such as virtual meetings, surveys, interactive maps and social media.
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16 Figure 1: – VPI Tools used during pandemic and expect to use post-pandemic These responses also were analyzed by agency type (state DOT, MPO, or RPO)
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17 Respondents also were asked about their experience hosting hybrid events during the pandemic, defined as an event that included both in-person and virtual participation. Over half of respondents (58 percent)
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18 Many nonvirtual methods also were used to substitute for in-person engagement during the pandemic, including telephone calls to individual residents, organizational stakeholders or community leaders who could represent or serve as liaisons to their constituents; mailings; door hangers and flyer distribution; and physical displays such as kiosks with project information. Some of these supplemental "offline" methods targeted the population as a whole, while others were specifically deployed to encourage participation by underrepresented groups, as described in a later section of this report.
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19 Figure 3 – Most effective resources to promote VPI events 3 6 7 12 17 23 24 29 29 32 35 36 41 58 63 65 74 116 122 133 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Press Release‐2% Public Access TV‐3% Ads on Local Public Transit‐4% Blogs‐6% Text Messaging‐8% Attend Community Events‐12% Phone Calls‐12% Educational Project Videos‐15% Portable Message Boards/Signs‐15% Local Radio‐16% QR Codes‐18% Printed Flyers and/or Door Hangers‐18% Digital News Sources‐21% Trusted Community Leaders‐30% Print Newspapers‐32% Mailed Newsletters or Postcards‐33% Networks of Partner Agencies/Organizations‐38% Email Blasts‐59% Organization Webpages or Dedicated Project Website‐62% Social Media‐68% Survey Responses
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20 Postcard promotion for Hawaii DOT forum includes call‐in number for those without internet service (Credit: Hawaii DOT and Victoria Ward, Ltd.) Trends in the application of virtual tools In addition to increased use of VPI tools, the pandemic spurred new ways of using these tools.
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21 interested in watching the recording are asked to sign in. The favorability rating is a feature of the Public Involvement Management Application, or PIMA, tool used by Iowa DOT, as described here: "And anyone can watch that meeting.
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22 Enhanced virtual meetings The pandemic allowed agencies to develop virtual meeting facilitation skills and experiment with real-time polling and more advanced features, including virtual breakout rooms and collaborative tools, such as whiteboards and virtual sticky notes. Different ways of integrating language translation and accommodating persons with disabilities were developed as meeting platforms evolved.
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23 Factors affecting tool selection The agency survey asked respondents what factors had most influenced their selection of VPI tools, with the ability to select all that applied from a list of 11 possible factors. The most common response was tool functionality, followed by the audience the agency was seeking to engage and the agency's familiarity with the tool.
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24 The ability to manage participation Security (As an example, concerns about disruptive intrusion by unwanted guests affected certain agencies' willingness to use some virtual meeting platforms.) Ensuring accessibility for screen readers and other accessibility-related needs Access to customer support for technical assistance Also mentioned was the need for clear agency policies on whether in-person, virtual or hybrid meetings were to be used at different stages of the pandemic.
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25 Removing barriers and increasing overall participation When survey respondents were asked whether they thought VPI tools had contributed to engagement among vulnerable/underrepresented groups, 68 percent reported they strongly agreed or somewhat agreed, while only 5 percent somewhat or strongly disagreed. Many research participants from the survey and focus groups noted that virtual public involvement removed many barriers to participation that previously existed for these groups, including lack of transportation, childcare, and time and schedule constraints.
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26 Lack of technology and digital divide While some agencies found success engaging low-income and other vulnerable groups with virtual outreach and participation options, other agencies reported difficulty, especially for those lacking reliable internet connectivity. The literature review showed that the role of internet access in enabling or limiting VPI participation is complex.
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27 access via cell phones, with small screens that make it difficult to see certain displays and detailed graphics. The ADA Center noted that many low-income customers they serve might have unlimited minutes on cell phones but not unlimited data plans and accessing large files and data-heavy websites/meetings could be costly.
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28 sessions/training or individual troubleshooting for technical issues as they arose. One participant included information about these one-on-one sessions on the meeting invitation for any resident that needed an orientation on how to use the online platform.
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29 disabilities but only when the events and platforms were made accessible. The Great Lakes ADA Center advised that the best strategy is to "plan and make it [events]
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30 Importance of telephone participation The telephone has continued to be an effective method of virtual engagement, especially for those with limited access to or comfort with other forms of technology. The literature review found that many practitioners recommend using a virtual meeting platform with a call-in option.
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31 Some participants stated that these low-tech tactics yielded little improvement in engagement. For others, it made a huge difference.
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32 Some agencies partnered with community organizations to hold targeted virtual listening sessions for specific groups who might not be comfortable in larger virtual meetings, such as LEP/non-English speakers, people of color, people living with disabilities, people with lower incomes and youth. Community organizations can assist in fact-checking and "ground-truthing" information.
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33 Others noted that in more rural areas, virtual meetings allowed a broader range of perspectives from geographic regions to interact. For example, one participant described hosting a virtual charrette in Missoula, Montana, that engaged native tribes several hours north.
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34 collect geographic information for their online surveys by looking at IP addresses, although they cannot collect racial, ethnic or income information. Another participant recounted a scenario where extensive effort was made to reach certain communities for a survey.
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35 Most study participants indicated that they have already begun conducting hybrid meetings, defined as an event that includes both in-person and virtual participation. A majority of survey respondents said they had hosted hybrid events during the pandemic, with the agencies representing rural populations implementing hybrid meetings at a higher rate (as those areas were more likely to conduct in-person meetings during the pandemic)
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36 meeting. However, these hybrid meetings require high-quality audio in the conference room and benefit from a designated staff person to ensure the technology functions properly.
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