An Internet portal for public participation in transportation programming decisions is described. The Internet portal supports participation of large groups (e.g., 100 or more people) through cutting-edge online deliberation tools and a strategic process that fosters meaningful public involvement. The portal is described in the context of a five-step process that has been designed for a particular programming decision situation called a local option transportation tax. A transportation agency could develop a similar process for other programming decisions, such as the creation of a transportation improvement program. The portal can be used by an agency to create a program or merely as a focus-group activity or polling exercise. Various tools used by the portal and the five-step process are described with the help of selected screenshots of the user interface.