Learn how South Carolina DOT recently engaged 13,000+ residents for their MTP!
Explore one of the most outstanding public involvement case studies we’ve seen. The South Carolina Department of Transportation was looking to reinvent its public outreach to engage more people in the most cost-effective way possible. They hit it out of the park!
The NIMBY folks come out when lines are being drawn. Yet, broadening public engagement on policy-oriented projects like long range plans can be tough. SCDOT describes how they followed best practices for online engagement to increase participation from 94 people to over 13,000 engaged residents to support their most recent update of the Long Range Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan.
Was it cost-effective? They achieved these unprecedented results for less than the cost of an average public meeting. You’ll hear from Nicole Riddle and Stephen Allen at SCDOT as they unpack this story and take us on their highway to high engagement. You’ll take away 12 tips to engage 1000s on a tiny budget.
Together, we’ll explore:
“There are so many presentations on online engagement. It's great to see one that gives honest feedback and suggestions on what really works.”
“Impressed with the ease of engagement, the fun ways to participate, and educating the public on just how challenging it is to allocate limited funds.”
"Very informative - eyeopening - creative use of social media!”
“Clearly SCDOT's online public engagement efforts have been much more successful than old-fashioned public meetings.”
Nicole Riddle
Public Involvement Coordinator & Biologist, SCDOT
Nicole Riddle joined SCDOT in 2009 as a summer intern. She then took a full time position in 2012 as an assistant NEPA Coordinator and biologist prior to her current role as Public Involvement Coordinator / Biologist for the Environmental Services Office. Nicole has a recovery permit with USFWS (US Fish and Wildlife Service) to conduct presence / absence surveys for the endangered Carolina Heelsplitter Mussel and conducts biological assessments in the coastal areas of SC. She graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2011 with a B.S. Degree in Marine Science.
Stephen Allen
Program Manager – Asset Manager,
SCDOT
Stephen Allen has 22 years of professional planning experience in South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, covering a multitude of municipal, military, transportation, and community planning activities. Prior to joining SCDOT in 2018, Stephen held progressive management positions within the York County Planning and Development Services Department for over 12 years. For an interim period, he served as the Planning & Development Services Director managing over 40 staff. Steve serves as Director at Large with the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association. He holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the University of Colorado-Denver.
Dave Biggs
Chief Engagement Officer,
MetroQuest
Dave is a die-hard champion of community engagement and has built a reputation for leading edge community outreach. He is an internationally-recognized speaker, author, and public engagement strategist focusing on the use of software tools to enhance community participation for planning projects. Dave is honored to serve as an advisor on best practices for public involvement to many planning agencies such as APA, FHWA, and TRB and public participation organizations such as IAP2 and NCDD.
Thank you to our webinar sponsors!
Educational credit available through the APA.
