How do planners and engineers better communicate with the public? That’s a question that has come up often in recent PenTrans board meetings. I’m sure many readers can relate to a planning meeting description Randy LoBasso gave to PlanPhilly, “It was an engineer-gets-up-in-front-of-a-crowd-and-explains-as-best-he-can-and-the-crowd-gets-up-and-yells-at-him sort of thing.” OTIS is having success with an open house approach (see below).

Do you have ideas on how transportation professionals can better communicate with the public — either on particular projects or on big challenges like the need for funding? Hit reply and let us know.

In our news roundup…
Two perspectives on whether ride sharing is causing more congestion, a thoughtful article that explains the challenges to upgrading water infrastructure, kudos to SEPTA on Positive Train Control, and an architect’s vision of modular streets for Google’s Sidewalk Toronto project.