CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization or MPO, is starting it's household travel surveys for it's 2050 Master Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
For the next year, this is your chance to tell the organization what you think needs improvement for transportation at every level. You can tell them all of this from the comfort of your own home.
"The survey we started at the Corpus Christi MPO is to try to get the public to tell us about transportation issues they are observing as they drive around, as they use transit, as they bike around," Transportation Planning Director at the MPO Rob MacDonald said.
He said the organization uses the same crash reports that all government agencies use to identify problem spots on roads and streets.
MacDonald said this is for everybody not to just identify a problem, but suggest a solution.
"What's the next big project," he said. "Is it a crossing out to Padre Island? Another crossing? Is it fixing current bridges and taking care of pot holes? We want to know, where do you want to take your bike, where do you want to walk, where you can't walk, what are your issues with safety, do you wait too long at a traffic light? You can't cross the street."
This survey will help the MPO Board of Directors vote a year from now on some of the projects to spend a billion available dollars on.
The MPO uses the same information on all kinds of accidents at every location in the two counties, but it's not just new roads but fixes to old ones.
Senior Transportation Planner at the MPO Craig Casper said they're reaching out to our first responders as well.
"The tow truck drivers and first responders because they respond to crashes everyday," Casper said. "They're on the front lines and so they know specific spots where there are different kinds of accidents and have concerns about them, so we're asking them to tell us where those are also."
These survey results will touch on and include ongoing projects like the Harbor Bridge, the Regional Parkway Bridge, a study about golf carts on the Island and continuing roadwork through out the area.
"The more input we get, the better our plan is going to be," Casper said. "We've gotten to the point where the usual suspects are responding to us. We need to get beyond that. We need to hear from everybody and everybody who fills out the survey they're information will be logged and responded to."
To take part in these surveys and to take a look at the projects that are currently on the books, just go to the MPO's website.