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"We are finding out from people in the region what they want to do," Doug Christensen, project manager, for Mead & Hunt, said Monday.

He said the public input process will give people an opportunity to explore options that include transportation corridors and light rail.

Although the region has undergone a number of land use and transportation studies, Mead & Hunt, which has Michigan offices in Lansing and Traverse City, and their team of worldclass experts believes the scope of the study, the process and the focus on implementing recommendations will increase the odds of success.

The study is federally funded by a $1.3 million contract the local Traverse City-Traverse Area Land Use Study group approved with Mead & Hunt and its study team. The six counties included in the study are: Antrim, Kalkaska, Benzie, Wexford, Leelanau and Grand Traverse.

According to Christensen, the study will be a two-year process. The first year will focus on in-put. The second year will see prioritized projects that can be implemented.

The team has begun collecting and analyzing data about the region and will begin conducting an array of public involvement techniques including interviews, polling and public workshops.

The public is invited to any of several 15-minute overview presentations, each of which will be followed by a 15-minute question and answer session on Tuesday, Sept. 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Waterfront Conference Center in Traverse City.

The overview presentations also will prepare people for what Christensen said would be a "signature meeting" in mid-October at the Park Place Hotel. It will be the first of a series of hands-on visualization and scenario-planning workshops for the public. The team hopes to involve hundreds of citizens.

Workshop attendees will sit at eight-person tables, be given a map of the region and a number of chips. They will be challenged to decide where new growth should and should not occur; the general form that new growth should take and the type of transportation system needed to serve it.

"We want to hear from every citizen, every business, every governmental body and every stakeholder group in the area," Christensen said. "At the end of the process, we will Arhave projects that can be implemented because we will have public and political support to transcend differing opinions."

Aiding Mead & Hunt in the project are several nationally-known experts, including Robert Grow, a recognized visioning expert and John Fregonese of Fregonese Associates, a firm specializing in land use and transportation planning, and conducting public scenario planning workshops.

"Interviews and surveys of local people help us define the values of the region," Fregonese said. "Public workshops ... help us explore desirable visions for the future of the area and formulate a strategy for accomplishing those visions. Only after such steps, can planning, funding and building begin." For more information, call Mead & Hunt's toll free number: 1-866-441-5214.