FY 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program Outreach Summary

Public involvement remains a hallmark of the planning process in Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) funding and authorization bill that governs the U.S. federal surface transportation spending. MAP-21 was signed by President Obama on July 6, 2012, although the law was not effective until October 1, 2012. FAMPO’s first Public Participation Plan (PPP) was adopted on April 16, 2007 and updated on November 18, 2012.  The PPP served as a development guide for outreach methods used for encouraging public involvement during development of the Fiscal Year 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

The 30-day public comment period began on May 21, 2014 and ended on June 20, 2014.   During the FAMPO Policy Committee meeting on June 16, 2014, a public hearing was held, and the Fiscal Year 2015-2018 TIP was adopted provided that no adverse public comments were received before the close of the 30-day public comment period.  No additional public comment were received and the public comment period was officially closed on June 20, 2014.  The following represents the public outreach activities used to encourage public participation during the 30-day public comment period:

Draft Document for Review

Draft Fiscal Year 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

Public Comments

Public comments received during the public comment period.  A total of 25 public comments were received and addressed by the FAMPO staff.

Mass Email Notification

A mass email notification was sent to the FAMPO contact database.  The contact database consisted of 610 recipients.

Public Information Officers/Communications Managers

The following email notification was sent to the region’s city, county and military public information officers/communication managers which consisted of 7 contacts:

The following represents the outreach efforts by jurisdiction that resulted from the electronic notification sent to the city, county and military public information officers/communication managers:

Press Release

A press release was electronically distributed on May 22, 2014 to media contacts.  These media contacts included print and radio contacts as well as city, county and military public information officers.

Government Access Channels

To utilize television exposure within our region, both English and Spanish slides were aired throughout the comment period on the following nine (9) Government Access Channels:

  • Stafford County:  Comcast Channel 23, Cox Channel 24, Verizon Channel 39
  • Spotsylvania County:  Comcast Channel 23, Cox Channel 24, Verizon Channel 35
  • City of Fredericksburg:  Cox Channel 25, Verizon 42

Printed Document Distribution

Draft documents were mailed to nine (9) regional libraries, seven (7) planning offices and ten (10) Title VI Community leaders who did not have an email addresses.  A cover letter accompanied each document along with a variety of outreach materials printed in both English and Spanish.  These outreach materials included with each draft document the following:  flyers (420 English /50 Spanish), project maps (420 English/50 Spanish), handouts (230 English/130 Spanish), infographics (3 English /3 Spanish) and comment forms (300 English/160 Spanish).

Flyers/Project Maps

Printed and electronic flyers in both English and Spanish which included project maps in each language were distributed to key special interest groups, Title VI community groups, community buildings and to the FAMPO Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) in the FAMPO region.  The Fredericksburg Regional Transit (FRED) posted both English and Spanish flyers in three locations within the FRED hub.  A total of 643 English and 225 Spanish printed flyers were distributed, and a total of 733 English flyers and 733 Spanish flyers were electronically distributed.

Handouts

A total of 280 English and 223 Spanish “Understanding the TIP” handouts were distributed with the printed draft document and were also mailed throughout the region.  These handouts were also part of the Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) outreach package.

Infographics

As a new element added to FAMPO Public Outreach, three infographics were created.  An overview of the 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program was developed in both English and Spanish and a TIP Development Process in English was developed to help the citizen better understand the dynamics in the development of this short-range plan.

Newsletter Article

On June 11, 2014, one of the Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) members published an article in a community newsletter titled “Celebrate News”.  The Celebrate community is the home of approximately 400 homes.

Printed/Online Advertisements

A Public Notice was advertised in the various newspapers and publications around the region to include the Free Lance Star, Stafford Sun, Caroline Progress, Journal, Quantico Sentry, The Chamber Link and Celebrate News HOA Newsletter.

Website Notifications

The FAMPO website provides detailed and regularly updated information.  Notifications were placed on the public notices webpage and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) webpage.  An interactive map was embedded that detailed each project on the project list.  The Regional Chamber of Commerce posted a notice with a link to the draft document. Caroline County posted a notice linked to the Press Release, and Spotsylvania County posted the information in the County Meeting Calendar that linked to the public hearing date and draft document.

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) webpage and the Public Notices Webpage featured the following electronic links:

Social Media

The FAMPO facebook page and Twitter page were updated with the announcement of the public comment period.

Public Hearing Documents

A Public Hearing was held on June 16, 2014.  The following outreach materials were available to the public upon request:

Resolutions

  • Resolution No. 14-10:  A Resolution of the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization directing that a Public Comment Period and Public Hearing be held prior to the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
  • Resolution No. 14-17:  A Resolution of the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization adopting the Fiscal Year 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)