When MoDOT started developing this document, it decided public involvement would play a key role. MoDOT went to great lengths to involve the public from the beginning. When MoDOT asked the people what they expected of their transportation system, it employed three different methods to get information critical to developing this plan.

First, it held a series of Road Rallies where randomly selected citizens and civic leaders in different parts of the state were driven along a predetermined course on state roads and bridges.As they rode along, they graded road conditions based on factors such as pavement smoothness, lane and shoulder width, striping, signage and others.

MoDOT already had driven the same routes and used engineering standards to assess the conditions. Public input allowed the department to apply scores, based on the engineering standards, to what the people found acceptable. These scores are the baseline against which MoDOT will measure its success in meeting its objectives. For example, if an acceptable score for pavement on the national highway system is 32, MoDOT knows what percentage of the system currently meets or exceeds that standard and can set goals to bring more of the system up to that level.

In addition to the Road Rallies, MoDOT conducted statewide public surveys of randomly selected citizens and civic leaders. More than 2,400 Missourians helped MoDOT establish the top priorities for all modes of transportation, including aviation, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, the highway and bridge system, passenger rail and bus service between cities and public transportation. As shown in Table 1, the top two priorities among those surveyed were a safe transportation system and maintaining the existing system. Maintaining the existing system is not meant to imply no improvements will be made to the current system. MoDOT's ultimate goal is to bring all aspects of the system up to and acceptable level and maintain them there.

When asked to choose priorities among the modes of transportation, both residents and civic leaders said highways were more important than the other modes. They were asked to further choose priorities within each mode. Whether they lived in the major urban areas or elsewhere in the state, Missourians overwhelmingly said taking care of the existing highway system was more important than building new roads. See Figure 1

Their more specific choices for the highway and bridge system are illustrated in Table 2.

Finally, MoDOT conducted a series of consensus-building sessions in which randomly selected Missourians were asked to consider the relative importance of the modes of transportation. Small groups were asked to allocate a hypothetical $100 among five modes (aviation, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, highways and bridges, passenger rail and bus service between cities, and public transportation).See Table 3.Missourians devoted half the money to highways and bridges, with $17 going to aviation and $16 to public transportation, the other top finishers.Once they divided the money among the modes, they were asked to subdivide each mode's share between the top two priorities in each mode. This helped MoDOT understand the transportation issues most important to Missourians. It also educated the participants about the challenges associated with planning improvements.

The information gathered in the early public involvement sessions was invaluable. When combined with engineering data, it set the direction for this document's development. It told the department what Missourians consider important in the transportation system and played a significant role in establishing the transportation goals.