Why Get Involved?
Have you ever:
…been slowed down by heavy traffic?
…had to walk in the road because there was no sidewalk?
…felt like you were playing “chicken” driving across a narrow bridge?
…been late because you had to take a detour around a closed road or bridge?
…been without a car and had trouble running errands?
…thought transportation planning didn’t affect your life?
Transportation planning affects your whole life—not only your commute
Virtually every aspect of modern life is dependent on a strong transportation system. How we meet our transportation needs has far-reaching consequences. For example, good highways help attract industry and generate jobs, which strengthens our area. But we don’t want highways to spoil our natural areas, encourage development that detracts from our landscape, or draw shoppers away from our Main Streets. Done well, transportation planning balances issues such as economic development and environmental preservation and makes life better overall.
It’s your money!
Government money spent on transportation improvements ultimately comes from private taxpayers. You and your family and neighbors have worked hard to earn that money—don’t you want a say in how it is spent?
More viewpoints make a better system
The objective of transportation planning isn’t only to improve specific roads, bridges, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus routes, rail lines, airports, or waterways. It is to make transportation in our region and beyond work better as a system. That requires coordination and partnership to ensure individual projects make sense as part of the bigger picture—thinking globally, planning regionally, and acting locally.
Transportation planning requires a broad range of viewpoints to produce the best results.
Transportation planning matters
Whether you jot us an e-mail or lead a steering committee in developing a new major project, your ideas will be heard and your time will be well spent.