Workshop participants break out with flipcharts.

Almost 80 participants from Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth filled the Middletown Council chamber this evening for the first public information meeting of the recently launched Aquidneck Island Transportation Study. In a highly interactive three-hour session, attendees heard a high-level overview of the study objectives and then provided input to the study team from the consulting firm of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB).

Officials from Newport and Middletown and Rep. Amy Rice were on hand as Tina Dolen, Executive Director of the Aquidneck Island Planning Commssion, kicked off the event just after 6:30 pm. After a quick overview of the study's goals and schedule from Bill Ashworth, the VHB project leader, the evening was turned over to the participants.

Ken Schwartz, the director of planning at VHB, led an interactive multiple-choice exercise driven by little radio-frequency keypads distributed to the workshop. Turned out that Newport and Middletown each accounted for 31% of the group, with 21% being Portsmouth residents.

Other interesting stats that surfaced: cars represented the primary mode of travel for 70% of the participants, and 48% thought that reliance on the auto was the biggest challenge. A surprising (to me — I thought I was an outlier) plurality of 32% thought that improved rail service was the place to invest, with bus coming in second at 29%.

Large majorities thought that traffic and parking were not effectively managed during special events on the Island (51%) or during construction (61%). And when asked what the key criterion for evaluating transportation alternatives should be, 34% picked impact on the environment as the most important, with 23% picking the reduction of automobile miles driven as the second most important.

Participants then broke out into facilitated idea gathering around three "modal stations" led by VHB staffers. Groups considered walking and bicycling; bus, rail, and water; and auto and truck. At the end of the evening, the participants were scheduled to reconvene for feedback from the breakouts and public comment.

Editorial note: Yeah, I snuck out during the breakouts. Sorry. It was a long day.

Resources:
Aquidneck Island Transportation Study
Aquidneck Island Planning Commission