Midweek Takes #23

Public Engagement strikes cold, again. Oh, and another cool newsletter to check out.

If We’re Serious About Outcomes, We Have to Be Serious About Inputs.

My mom sent me the “project page” for a bridge New Jersey’s Department of Transportation (NJDOT) out of compulsion, I think. I’m not sure how she found this site, nor do I think she understood how to use it. Mom’s a smart lady, so it’s not because the links and videos baffled her, it’s because the page wasn’t meant for her, or anyone else really. I think this page was meant to satisfy a funding requirement, all else be damned.

I’m a professional transportation planner.¹ I’ve been at it for nearly a decade—more if you consider my “pre-planning” work as a real estate finance bro tangential. I’ve written requests for proposals (“RFPs”); I’ve responded to them. I’ve coordinated with agency professionals, and I’ve worked as…