The Reservation Road Planner: Tribal Board Game

The Reservation Road Planner: Tribal Board Game which was developed to educate its players about the environment in which transportation is planning, financed, and developed and to help facilitate increased public involvement within the tribal community in their transportation initiatives. This game has been effective in increasing the availability of user-friendly information regarding the transportation planning process. It has also enabled the tribal community to understand the challenges associated with highway planning and to become more engaged in transportation planning projects in their community. The game describes the various stages involved in reservation road planning including: Develop a Plan, Indian Reservation Road Inventory, Funding, Preconstruction, and Construction. An overview is also provided regarding the various public involvement options associated with each planning stage. The game utilizes scenarios to explain the challenges associated with each stage. Some of the lessons learned that will be featured include the utilization of user-friendly techniques for communicating the transportation planning process, the importance of tailoring information to meet specific needs of the tribal community, and the use of interactive techniques to engage the public in the transportation planning process. The board game was available by request at www.roadplanner.org, but the site is now defunct. You can still request a copy by contacting your local Bureau of Indian Affairs, or the public affairs department of the US Dept. of Transportation.