By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER — The Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization has begun collecting data for Innovations 2050 — a long-term plan to examine transportation projects over the next quarter century.

Planning groups like these form when census data shows that an area has become urbanized. Though they receive funding from both federal and state governments, they do not answer to them.

They are independent organizations tasked with gathering public voices for transportation efforts and ensuring that federal initiatives are being followed.

“Have you heard of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? We aren’t King Arthur. And we’re none of the knights. We’re actually the table,” said Helen Wiles, public outreach manager and equity coordinator for the Dover/Kent organization.

The agency’s next metropolitan transportation plan — updated every four years — is Innovations 2050. Over the next year, officials will gather information about what kind of projects residents would like to see via surveys and the “money game.”

The surveys can be found at doverkentmpo.org, which ask participants questions about how they interact with transportation, what they would like to see in the future, and more.

The money game is an interactive survey that the MPO is holding at in-person events across the county, and hopes to get a wide breadth of people to participate. Essentially, participants get $10 million separated in to $1 million bills, which they place into labeled baskets that represent different categories of transportation projects.

Ms. Wiles says a lot of thought went into designing the money game.

“We wanted to give them enough bucks to be able to spread it around if they felt that they needed to, but we also didn’t want to give them so many that they felt like they could spend enough on everything,” she said.

The result is that participants spend their play money on the projects about which they are most passionate. The fake money is color-coded based on age so when the MPO releases its data, it can be further analyzed.

Ms. Wiles says that while there is still plenty of information to be collected, the big winners right now are passenger rail projects and fixing roads.

Ms. Wiles encourages anyone to participate in Innovations 2050.

“Every voice needs to be heard. So, do not think that you are not who I’m talking to,” said Ms. Wiles. “If you don’t speak English, we will get a translator. If you feel you’re too young, no, this is 25 years from now. You will be driving in 25 years. If you think you’re too old, that you won’t be around in 25 years, we need your wisdom (from today). There is no such thing as a person that I don’t want to hear from.”

Later in the year, Dover/Kent MPO will hold public workshops to discuss the plan, with adoption to come in January.