Equitable Community Outreach and Partnership Models in Oakland and San Jose

For Oakland's 2019 Bicycle Plan and San Jose's Bike Plan 2020, planners tossed out the old playbook on public involvement. Oakland officials identified five community organization partners and added them to the project consultant team, based on their geographic focus and deep knowledge and experience with transportation, housing, equity, and other social justice issues within these underserved areas of Oakland. San Jose planners used community partnerships, social media, and innovative strategies to reach their 1.1 million diverse residents. This workshop will discuss the hits and misses and lessons learned from these intentional efforts to engage communities whose voices have historically been overlooked.