RoundaboutsMarketing, Education and Public Involvement

Southeastern U.S. Roundabouts Peer ExchangeAtlanta, GA

September 22, 2011

Dustin TerpeningWSDOT Communications

Introduction

• Washington State Department of Transportation

• Communications team

• 8 years

• Communications degree

2

I’m here today because…

• Work with engineering teams

• Share my experience

• Love roundabouts

3

My roundabout experience

• Marketing roundabouts for six years

• Lots of controversial projects

• Never “lost” a roundabout to discourse

• 16 roundabouts on state highways

• 23 total (city, county, state)

4

Washington’s roundabouts

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• Built first in 1997 • 65 on state routes • 215 total

Roundabouts are controversial

• Headline: Woodland council set to hear roundabout concerns

- “We won’t be able to come through that interchange,” Johnson said. “For them to add a cost burden to us is unacceptable.”

- “We were here first,” she said, comparing her trucks to the roundabout. “They shouldn’t screw it up.”

• Champion roundabouts with marketing, education and public involvement

6

Be proactive, not reactive

1. Start outreach early

2. Strategic communication plan

3. Problem statement

– Hard to agree on the solution.

– Sample: The intersection has a history of nasty crashes and

congestion. In the last five years, 56 people have been injured and two

people have died, and congestion is horrendous during the morning

and afternoon commutes.

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Take steps to build informed consent

1. Internal – need upper-management support

2. Elected officials – first people to hear complaints

3. Other agencies

4. Media – be the first and best source of information

5. Special interest groups – go to the people

8

Work with the media

• Don’t be afraid

• Meet in person

• Respond to online comments

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Traffic Talka transportation blog written by Jared Paben

Fan mail

• You want the biggest critics

• Better you than the media

• Listen. Learn. Teach.

• Agree on the problem

• Informed consent - let you build the project, albeit begrudgingly

• Respond promptly

• And courteously

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“Sir, we are in America. We are used to stoplights. What we need is a system of stoplights, complete with the directional arrows and a wider roadway with shoulders of sufficient width on each side. We do NOT need roundabouts.”

- Adoring fan

“There is no reason in this world for the DOT to put these very much unwanted things on our highways. None. Stop lights work. Always have, always will. Please don't go against the will of the people who actually live here.”

- #1 fan

Get creative Find unique ways to reach out and educate your audience

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• Roundabout website

• YouTube

• Twitter

• Flickr

• Facebook

• Blogger

• Email updates

Social Media

• Educating adults through kids

• Similar to Twister

• Safe place to learn to drive a roundabout

• Take to all community meetings

Walkabout

Get creativeFind unique ways to reach out and educate your audience

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• Temporary life-size roundabout

• Intended for trucks, farm equipment, buses, emergency responders

• Large vehicles can drive through roundabouts

• Invite the media

• Take pictures and video

Roundabout rodeo

Get creative Find unique ways to reach out and educate your audience

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Positive headlinesThis is what you work so hard for

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• More roundabouts are good – Lynden Tribune

• Roundabouts worth pursuing – Bellingham Herald

• Early stats validate roundabouts – Bellingham Herald

• Put a roundabout at Sharpes Corner – Anacortes American

• Purposeful planning has roundabout moving in right direction –

Skagit Valley Herald

• Roundabout solutions a solid way to go – Skagit Valley Herald