Engaging Policy Makers to Support Operations Plenary
The technical program kicked off Monday morning with a session designed to give ITE members insight into the information policy makers need to support the allocation of resources to transportation management and operations focused programs. Randell Iwasaki, executive director of Contra Costra Transportation Authority in Walnut Creek, CA, presided over the session, asking the elected official panelists to share how they discuss transportation operations issues with their constituency and work with transportation engineers and planners to address their needs.
Zev Yaroslavsky, County Supervisor with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, began by noting his 36-year career has given him the knowledge that there is political life after making difficult decisions. The City of Los Angeles traffic engineers to provide him with the facts, which he then uses to make the best decision that provides the best possible outcome. He asks his constituency to put up with short-term inconveniences of a transportation project when he knows the outcome will benefit everyone upon completion. The best way he can gain support for a project is by addressing the needs and concerns of the citizens effected by it, and taking those concerns to the traffic engineers to help solve them. He stressed the need to be honest about whether you can deliver what you promised, and encouraged transportation professionals to give the facts rather than trying to tell policy makers what they want to hear. He noted several examples of how knowing the facts and addressing concerns led to successful projects that exceeded expectations, from the San Fernando Valley Commuter Corridor Orange Line to the 4 million square foot expansion of the University of California, Los Angeles campus.
Providing mayoral perspectives on the panel were Bill Bogaard, Mayor of the City of Pasadena, and David Sander, Mayor of the City of Rancho Cordova, both of whom noted that traffic is one of the major issues in any southern California city. The city of Pasadena, having become a regional thoroughfare, faces unique traffic challenges that need to be addressed in a way that acknowledged the expectations of its citizens. Mayor Bogaard explained that while an increase in traffic may not seem minor to an outsider, citizens react to it based upon what they are familiar with experiencing. Addressing those types of concerns can be significant.
Mayor Sander discussed some of the challenges of relating transportation issues to policy makers, noting they are an eclectic group and there is variety in the level of experience, leadership skills, and analytical skills.
When working with policy makers, Mayor Sander suggested that transportation engineers and professionals do the following:
- Better explain transportation maintenance issues and costs, which are not often understood well by policy makers.
- Show that transportation maintenance is important to public safety.
- Take a more active role in explaining the true cost of infrastructure.
- Remember that context is more important than just data.
A link to the video of this plenary session will be available in the coming weeks and will be announced on the ITE Web site. If you attended this session and have thoughts to share, please do so by commenting on this blog.