Every project has a communications need, from simple meeting minutes to complex public outreach. Lisa Miller has experience across that spectrum.

She has built a career leading transportation infrastructure communications, working with engineers, planners, and department officials to proactively update, inform, and respond to the traveling public.

Since joining Olsson in 2024, Miller has used her expertise to help our public agency clients. She recently sat down for an Olsson Q&A about her work and its impact on transportation projects:

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Why is communication so important for a public agency?

Miller: Much of my work boils down to helping clients provide answers to three basic questions: What’s happening? Why is it being done? Why should I care?

In any project, those are the questions people are going to be asking. Providing an answer to those questions doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to be expensive. But it needs to be done.

Let’s say that a city decides to build a new bridge. The planning department knows why a new bridge is needed. The city engineer and the mayor do too.

But does the public? Probably not. In this case, the city needs to – in clear, nontechnical terms – explain how the bridge is being built. It needs to explain how the bridge is being funded. And it needs to explain why the bridge is needed.

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When should agencies begin to think about communication?

Miller: Before a shovel breaks ground. You can’t just jump in at the 11th hour – after plans have been made and designs are final – and say, boom, here’s a news release.

Communication is as important to a project's success as the wire in the ground or the radio waves going back to the traffic management center. The public wants to know the reason behind the work a public agency is doing. And we can help make that happen.

It’s a small line item in the budget. But good communication can go a long way in helping stakeholders understand the reasons behind a project.  

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Strategic communication can shift the public's perception of a project from grudging acceptance to enthusiastic support.

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How have you seen communication impact a project?

Miller: Here’s one example: we’ve been working with the City of Pleasant Hill, Iowa – just outside Des Moines – to update traffic signals along a busy corridor. Inevitably, the work required lane closures and other disruptions for the traveling public.

We knew those disruptions were going to happen. They are an unavoidable reality of infrastructure work. But we also knew that people are pretty understanding if you just tell them what’s going on. So, we at Olsson created a simple package for city representatives to share with constituents to convey three simple points:

Here’s what we’re doing.

Here’s why we’re doing it.

Here’s how it will improve the city.

Just that little change in communication made a big difference. Once the word got out, the mayor wasn’t hearing “Darn you, Pleasant Hill.” She was hearing “Thank you, Pleasant Hill.” That makes a huge difference.

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Where does it fit within a budget?

Miller: We work very closely with Olsson’s transportation teams. They’re the people designing the infrastructure that citizens are going to encounter. I work right alongside them.

For instance, I work closely with our TSMO and ITS experts here at Olsson. TSMO is “transportation system management and operations” and ITS stands for “intelligent transportation systems.” Basically, they’re two types of strategies that help agencies optimize the performance of their existing transportation infrastructure. And both are great jumping off points for strategic communications.

Example: we worked with a state transportation agency on a project to implement updated management and operations standards across a large metro area with multiple municipalities. Municipality A had one need, Municipality B had another, and Municipality C needed something with similarities to both A and B. We were able to work with the project manager to summarize the needs of each constituency and then help them implement a plan that was effective for the entire region.

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What's one thing you'd like agencies to remember?

Miller: The public has an enormous amount of control over what their built environment looks like. If they don’t understand the work you’re doing; if they don’t trust the infrastructure you’re building; then they aren’t going to use it and they aren’t going to fund it.

So, be a part of that public conversation. Share the why behind your work. And I think you’ll be happy with the results.