dshoost88
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
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Hello ArchBoston!
Some of you may have pieced together in recent years that I work at MassDOT's Office of Transportation Planning. Specifically, I am the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Coordinator on the MPO Activities Team. If there is a highway or transit investment using federal aid anywhere in the Commonwealth, it needs to be programmed on Massachusetts' five-year STIP. We update the STIP annually to align with the Massachusetts CIP.
One of the joys of my job is serving as a point person for so many stakeholders in the transportation planning process, including Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff, regional transit authority (RTA) staff, FHWA, FTA, Highway Division engineers, program managers, municipal project champions, the advocate community, and--my favorite people in the world--planners! I'm coming up on my five-year anniversary with MassDOT, and finally feel confident in my comprehension of transportation planning fundamentals and how the federal aid process works. I've even been asked more and more lately to train new stakeholders on the multi-step process of how to get a project idea from 'need identification' to 'breaking ground for construction.'
I use to be resigned to the fact that my transportation planning work does not make sense to a lot of people. But now I'm just angry about that: I want others to learn and understand the transportation planning process. At its core, transportation planning is all about solving problems that affect us all. And if my conversations with the laymen have proved anything, it's that we all feel pretty strongly about our transportation infrastructure and what problems need to be addressed. This forum has made that apparent. Planning is thankless work... another fact I've become resigned to.
One thing is certain: Every person has a role in transportation planning. And I'm beginning to believe with the right context and comprehension of the transportation planning process, stakeholders can more constructively participate in and contribute to the process. We can get shit done.
So here's my offer: I want to be a resource for others to learn about how to make their project ideas come to fruition.
Some of you may have pieced together in recent years that I work at MassDOT's Office of Transportation Planning. Specifically, I am the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Coordinator on the MPO Activities Team. If there is a highway or transit investment using federal aid anywhere in the Commonwealth, it needs to be programmed on Massachusetts' five-year STIP. We update the STIP annually to align with the Massachusetts CIP.
One of the joys of my job is serving as a point person for so many stakeholders in the transportation planning process, including Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff, regional transit authority (RTA) staff, FHWA, FTA, Highway Division engineers, program managers, municipal project champions, the advocate community, and--my favorite people in the world--planners! I'm coming up on my five-year anniversary with MassDOT, and finally feel confident in my comprehension of transportation planning fundamentals and how the federal aid process works. I've even been asked more and more lately to train new stakeholders on the multi-step process of how to get a project idea from 'need identification' to 'breaking ground for construction.'
I use to be resigned to the fact that my transportation planning work does not make sense to a lot of people. But now I'm just angry about that: I want others to learn and understand the transportation planning process. At its core, transportation planning is all about solving problems that affect us all. And if my conversations with the laymen have proved anything, it's that we all feel pretty strongly about our transportation infrastructure and what problems need to be addressed. This forum has made that apparent. Planning is thankless work... another fact I've become resigned to.
One thing is certain: Every person has a role in transportation planning. And I'm beginning to believe with the right context and comprehension of the transportation planning process, stakeholders can more constructively participate in and contribute to the process. We can get shit done.
So here's my offer: I want to be a resource for others to learn about how to make their project ideas come to fruition.
- If you want to know how to initiate a planning study or a project design, I want to point you to the right party to get that ball rolling.
- If your community has a great project in design but doesn't know how to fund it, I want to help you understand what funding opportunities exist.
- If your mission is to advocate for a particular transportation mode/investment, I want to help you understand the 3C Planning process first and then how to earn buy-in from MPO boards and planning staff.
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