Transportation Leadership Education

Transporation Leadership Education With increased competition for transportation dollars, it is more important than ever to provide citizens with the skills and knowledge to effectively participate in transportation decisions affecting their neighborhoods. For more than ten years, the City of Portland and Portland State University have teamed up to offer a class intended to help city residents become more effective advocates on local transportation issues. The course, designed for the neighborhood activist, is facilitated by a transportation planning consultant. A series of guest speakers that includes policy- and decision-makers, planners and engineers from the city and regional governments, and the…

Transporation Leadership Education
With increased competition for transportation dollars, it is more important than ever to provide citizens with the skills and knowledge to effectively participate in transportation decisions affecting their neighborhoods. For more than ten years, the City of Portland and Portland State University have teamed up to offer a class intended to help city residents become more effective advocates on local transportation issues.  The course, designed for the neighborhood activist, is facilitated by a transportation planning consultant.  A series of guest speakers that includes policy- and decision-makers, planners and engineers from the city and regional governments, and the regional transit agency, provide insight on how to negotiate the maze of traffic and transportation issues and agencies. 

This project is intended produce a course curriculum and implementation handbook to provide transportation education and leadership skills to community residents, activists and leaders.  It will first document the effectiveness of the existing course by conducting a case study of the course over time and use that information to provide a blueprint for other communities to replicate the course for their local citizenry.  The study will examine the underlying motivations for the course, content, delivery methods and outcomes, including knowledge and skills gained and used by past participants.  The project also will identify and assess the current gaps in citizen knowledge and skills that could be incorporated into future courses.  A secondary objective of this project is to identify other populations, especially for those typically under-represented in traditional transportation planning processes, who could benefit from such a course and to make recommendations for course content and delivery method.  This project will be an updated model course curriculum and handbook for implementation that can be used in cities across the country, with special attention to traditionally under-served populations.  The intended outcome is to provide a way to impart knowledge and skills to local residents and activists so they may become more informed and active leaders in their local transportation planning efforts.