Agency Coordination
Jurisdictions will need to coordinate with state and local agencies to ensure participation and consistency between agencies, plans, and policies. The early planning processes should identify which agencies should be involved in the TSP, the means and methods by which they participate, and what role they may play in the adoption and/or acceptance of the TSP. The level of agency coordination will depend on the jurisdiction, the available planning project budget, and the type and scale of the planning process. Jurisdictions are encouraged to consider the scope of the project and anticipate the level of agency interest it will generate when developing an agency coordination plan. Practitioners that use the TSP daily, such as the local jurisdiction Public Works Department, should be on an advisory committee. Receiving input from practitioners is critical to understanding what information is needed in the TSP and how the information is presented in the TSP. Developing a TSP that meets the practitioner needs assists them to be effective and efficient in their work in achieving the community's goals.
Advisory committees are the typical medium for bringing together various representatives from agencies, departments, and interest groups from both within and outside of the jurisdiction. They can be composed of local, county, and state agency staff; local/regional public transportation providers; emergency service providers; community members and partners; and other technical and non-technical constituents that can help guide the technical and policy elements of the planning process. Most TSPs developed in recent years with funding from ODOT have included technical and non-technical advisory committees.
Shall
At a minimum, agency coordination shall include:
- An advisory committee process that follows local planning or code requirements
- Soliciting participation on advisory committees from Title II, Title VI EJ, and underserved populations
Should
In addition to the items listed above, agency coordination should include the following elements when locally appropriate and when funding allows:
- A committee to guide the technical elements of the planning process. This is often referred to as the Technical Advisory Committee.
- Technical Advisory Committees focus on the technical analysis methodologies and results to maintain consistency between and within jurisdictions as well as maintain compliance with state and regional plans and policies, including the Transportation Planning Rule (TPR).
- Technical Advisory Committees members are typically identified and appointed by the city/county and include local agency staff such as planning directors, public works directors, traffic engineers, transit agency leaders, and other technical staff such as transportation analysts or modelers. Members might include representatives from ODOT, DLCD, the county, adjacent cities, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (where applicable), public transportation providers, transportation options providers, emergency services providers, local public health agencies, utilities, schools, and liaisons from the planning commission or council/commission/court.
- A committee to guide the nontechnical elements of the planning process. This is often referred to as a Public Advisory Committee or Project Advisory Committee.
- These nontechnical committees focus on policies and outcomes of the technical analyses and provide valuable insight into community priorities.
- Nontechnical committee members are typically identified and appointed by the city/county and include members of the public such as: residents, property owners, business owners, representatives from underserved populations, advocacy groups, civic institutions, community centers, and senior centers. As with Technical Advisory Committees, it can also be helpful to include a liaison from the planning commission or council/commission/court.
- Nontechnical committee members may have constraints that should be accounted for when establishing the committee (e.g., physical, geographical, technological, financial, time, childcare, etc.).
- A project-specific charter that formally identifies roles, responsibilities, expectations, and procedures for attending meetings and providing feedback.
Could
Although not typically required or critical to the development of most TSPs, agency coordination
could include the following elements when locally appropriate and when funding allows:
- Combined Technical Advisory Committee/Public Advisory Committee meetings.
- Combined advisory committee meetings can be effective in small communities, in communities with limited participation, and in cases where each group understanding the perspectives of the other is beneficial to achieving consensus. However, there are several challenges to combining these groups: Technical Advisory Committee members are typically available during the day while Public Advisory Committee members are typically available at night; some Technical Advisory Committee members may not be comfortable speaking openly in front of some Public Advisory Committee members on potentially sensitive issues and vice versa; and some Public Advisory Committee members may not be comfortable with the technical nature of the discussions.