Public Participation Panels
About PPPs
 Involving our public in the regional planning
processes is a high priority for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.
As one means of receiving valuable public input, SPC maintains Public
Participation Panels (PPPs) for each
county in its transportation planning region. Citizens do not
need to travel outside their own county to address SPC, because
through the PPPs, SPC comes to them. PPP meetings are open to the
public.
PPPs are a bit like focus groups: members are
appointed to represent the population of their respective
counties in regards to age, income, ethnicity, special needs,
and special interests. Members are expected to "get the word
out" about what they learn at meetings to the groups they represent.
They also assist SPC by reaching out to involve the general public.
PPPs meet on an as-needed basis, generally when
a major document (such as the long-range
plan, the TIP,
or the Air Quality
Report) is under public review. When meetings are scheduled,
they are listed in our Meetings section and in your local newspaper.
You can always communicate your views or request
information from SPC by visiting our Contact
Us section and calling or e-mailing the appropriate party.
For questions about Public
Participation Panels, contact Matt Pavlosky at (412)
391-5590 x361 or e-mail mpavlosky@spcregion.org.
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Public Participation
Download a PDF version of SPC's Public Participation Plan.
Public outreach is the cornerstone of an effective transportation planning process. SPC conducts an open process that actively involves individuals, groups and communities from the earliest stages, including identifying needs and resources, developing alternatives, and deciding to implement solutions. SPC gives the public an active role by bringing planning directly to residents in each county through Public Participation Panels (PPPs), which reflect diverse needs and perspectives.
For questions about Public
Participation Panels, contact Matt Pavlosky at (412)
391-5590 x361 or e-mail mpavlosky@spcregion.org
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Public Involvement In 2007
 Project Region convened workshops with volunteers from over a hundred local organizations throughout the 10-county region to review current county, state, and local development plans with the purpose of creating a new, unified transportation and development plan developed through consensus of the many planning partners and the public at large. Using initial input from Public Participation Panel meetings in each of its member counties, SPC went well beyond standard meeting formats commonly used in transportation planning. SPC used interactive touch screen kiosks for surveys conducted at meetings, electronic keypad polling for instant feedback on policy choices, illustrative scenario schematics of development patterns, facilitated table discussions of future development scenarios mapped with GIS technology, index measures of likely impacts of policy choices shown on maps, and a regional town meeting broadcast over the internet with public meetings conducted simultaneously in 10 different counties.
The recurrent theme of the policy discussions was restoring and reinvesting in the region’s existing communities. The outcome of the  outreach process known as Project Region was a new regional transportation and development plan focused on a vision of “transportation and land use that supports and enhances the regional economy and the communities within it,” with 16 policies hammered out in the Project Region workshops.
The consensus policies set the expectations of how the region will reinforce existing places, economic activities and the connections among them with a strong emphasis on preservation, maintenance and operation of existing infrastructure. Limited expansion would be encouraged in the most cost-effective development corridors linking existing communities. While there are major projects in the Plan, virtually all of the Plan’s major project resources that are programmed by the SPC are reserved for bridge restorations linking existing communities, limited extensions and operation of public transportation, and highway reconstruction and operations in existing corridors.
2008 APA Excellence Award
In December 2007, SPC was advised by the American Planning Association that Project Region, the public engagement process used by SPC to develop the 2035 Transportation and Development Plan, is the recipient of their 2008 National Planning Excellence Award for Public Outreach. The American Planning Association is the largest organization of its kind in the world with approximately 25,000 members working to advance best practices in urban and regional planning. This award will recognize the innovative methods used in Project Region to organize planning partners, volunteers, and the public, in meetings enhanced with electronic polling, geographic information systems technology and internet web-based conferencing.
For more information about this honor, please see our Press Release section.
For questions about Public
Participation Panels, contact Matt Pavlosky at (412)
391-5590 x361 or e-mail mpavlosky@spcregion.org.
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