Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3214
Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Name
Master of City and Regional Planning/MS in Engineering (Transportation Planning Specialization)
Department/Program
City and Regional Planning
College
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Advisor
Michael R. Boswell
Advisor Department
City and Regional Planning
Advisor College
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Abstract
Community engagement is a critical part of the urban planning process for both academics and practitioners, but transportation planning’s significant technical knowledge requirements and focus on special interest groups make such engagement difficult. As such, college- and graduate-level transportation planning programs must include significant education about public participation practices. However, little research exists regarding how community engagement is taught in these programs or how well this education prepares students for real-world practice. This research is aimed at filling this gap by answering two questions: first, how transportation-focused post-secondary programs in the United States conduct community engagement education; and second, whether this education is effective when transitioning into the workforce. Quantitative and qualitative data from surveys and interviews explore what planning departments within universities are teaching and what transportation planners learn from school, related internships, and career experiences. Results show that while post-secondary planning programs are interested in teaching transportation students about community engagement, the methods they use are limited in both variety and applicability. Transportation planners then learn the relevant engagement skills in non-classroom environments and often face significant challenges and frustrations in the process, having relatively little knowledge or experience of their own to rely on before they conduct public participation activities. Based on this information, preliminary recommendations are presented to assist university planning programs in developing their students’ community engagement skills before they fully enter the workforce, allowing them to build a knowledge base to better connect with the public.