CDOT Telephone Town Halls Engage Thousands

From early April through late June, CDOT held 16 telephone town halls.  An automated system reached out to approximately 350,000 people statewide and invited them to take part in the telephone forums.  Residents who did not receive a call could participate by dialing in, toll-free.  Those who chose to join the calls had questions and expressed opinions regarding local traffic operations, safety, pavement conditions, funding and the expansion of travel options, including transit and rail.

“These telephone town halls were an effective way to hear from citizens throughout the state,” said CDOT Executive Director Don Hunt.  “We were very pleased to see the number of people who got involved in this process and engaged with our transportation commissioners and local officials. Now with the feedback we’ve received, it’ll assist us in developing the Statewide Transportation Plan.”

Follow-up calls to gather participants’ feedback about the town halls indicated 93 percent of those contacted thought they were “very” or “somewhat” informative and a good use of their time.

CDOT will continue to employ telephone town halls to reach its constituents since they reach a substantially broader audience, they provides a forum for informal discussions with key decision makers and are cost effective compared to holding a public meeting.

“It was vital that we hear from people in every county and it appears we did just that,” said Colorado Transportation Commission Chairman Doug Aden.  “Using the telephone town halls to reach out to the citizens about transportation was an excellent use of resources and I look forward to their continued use as a way to engage users of our transportation system.”