Public Participation Policy (2014)

The Winston-Salem Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) updated the Public Participation Policy (P3) in 2014. The policy was adopted by the Transportation Advisory Committee of the MPO on March 20, 2014.

Goals

The Public Participation Policy has the following goals:

1. Bring a broad cross-section of the public into the public policy and transportation planning decision-making process.
2. Make special efforts to increase the opportunities for involvement by groups of citizens who do not generally participate in community affairs, particularly low-income and minority populations.
3. Provide citizens with opportunities to participate in developing plans and programs for their communities.
4. Make information on government activities widely available to the public.
5. Maximize the use of communications technology to facilitate the exchange of information between public officials and citizens, including use of the MPO website and other electronically accessible formats (CDs, email, etc.).
6. Ensure that technical information is available in an understandable form and that all segments of citizens are afforded access to this information.

Changes

This version of the P3 document contains several important changes:

1. References were added to indicate that P3 measures apply to the Program of Projects (POP) for both the Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) and the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART).
2. The public review period for the P3 policy was changed from 30 days to 45 days.
3. The policy was reorganized, removing the former "three-tier" hierarchy of public involvement in favor of a new set of three sections that provide more specific guidance: General Guidelines, Strategy and Policy Toolkit, and Implementation Guidelines
4. The policy was expanded to update the Federal, State, and other requirements for public involvement; and to specifically address Limited English Proficiency (LEP) populations and reference the upcoming LEP plan for the MPO.
5. Appendices were added with an updated Glossary, a Public Outreach Timelines Table, and Media Contacts.

2020 Public Participation Plan

Staff is underway updating the Public Participation Plan and a draft is available for public review.  This document can be found with other Public Review documents below.  Please submit questions, comments and feedback, before December 10, 2020, to:

Victoria Bailiff
Transportation Planner
victoriab@cityofws.org

There will be a virtual public meeting held on December 3, 2020 and a public hearing for this document during the January 2021 Transportation Advisory Committee meeting.  

November Public Review Document
October Public Review Document