Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study

Abstract

The focus of this paper is public outreach in transportation planning, particularly in terms of socioeconomic and community impact assessment. Through federal regulations, MPOs are mandated to perform public outreach and impact assessment. Although there are some established parameters, there is a wide range in the quality and effectiveness of public outreach efforts, and in many instances, information dissemination becomes the central focus of public outreach efforts. However, information dissemination, while essential, is not as effective as a two-way process of public involvement, where members of the public have opportunities to provide feedback to shape agency initiatives. Using research conduced for the Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study (Landside Access Study), this paper will describe the best practices in public outreach that focuses on socioeconomic and community impact assessment. The Landside Access Study represents a dedicated effort by the New York metropolitan region's MPO to approach planning for waterborne services using a comprehensive, land-use based approach. With emphasis on land use criteria, the focus is on people and impacts, rather than the traditional demand analysis seen in past ferry studies. By acknowledging regulatory shortcomings and outlining a plan for implementing public outreach and impact assessment, the success of consensus building is likely. Based on discussions set forth in this paper, practitioners are encouraged to examine the effectiveness of their own public outreach and impact assessment methods.