As you can see if you go into the “Find projects in your area” section of the map above, we’ve started the process of assembling the roster of projects for which many of these firms are lobbying. Staff writers Matthew Lewis and Aaron Mehta pulled together details on more than 100 of the proposals by sifting through lobbying disclosure forms, found through the Senate Office of Public Records. But those forms don’t require information on the specific projects, so our data are incomplete — and that’s where we need your help. Take a look at the map, zoom in to your city, county, or state, and find out who’s lobbying in your area. Then, do some investigative reporting of your own to help us determine what transportation projects, if any, that firm is lobbying for.

We’ve put together some tips to help you investigate:

• Check the Senate Office of Public Records and see if we’ve overlooked anything. You can search through lobbying disclosures using the name of the group that’s lobbying or the firm they’ve hired. It often takes years of effort to get congressional funding for a big project like a new light rail line or an interstate highway expansion. So disclosures from other years might give you a better idea of what public or private interests in your backyard may want from the transportation bill. Senate Office of Public Records

• Contact your local government. Hundreds of project seekers are actually governmental entities; that means local, regional, or state officials are spending taxpayer dollars in an attempt to influence a federal official or navigate the dozens of federal programs which might best fund a local project. Find out the official names of the local municipal public works departments and area mass transit agencies. You might want to contact the state department of transportation for advice, as it’s likely that agency actually distributes much of the transportation money in your state. City council and mayor’s offices are other good places to start. Examples: City of Minneapolis and City of San Antonio

• Find out more about your metropolitan or regional planning agency. Your metropolitan or rural regional area has a multi-jurisdictional planning agency that must complete both short- and long-term transportation forecasts in conjunction with the state transportation department. These planning agencies, which can include a wide variety of local representatives, are often little-known among area residents. But they can play a crucial role in creating “transportation improvement plans,” which usually contain projects long in the works. Federal funding requires that projects come from somewhere among these locally approved lists, so they can be a valuable resource in understanding your area’s transportation investments. Metropolitan Planning Organization Database

• Other officials/agencies. Your state representative, governor, or air quality bureau might also have relevant information. Create a checklist of government officials, from your neighborhood to the state capital, and see if you can learn more about your area’s transportation needs.

• Contact private companies. In some cases developers and construction firms, which take pride in their projects, have already provided details ranging from websites to street signs. These might include transit-oriented development, like housing contingent on the construction of a new rail line, or construction of a new bridge aimed at easing local congestion. Check what companies are lobbying on transportation near you and see if they are publicly involved in local projects.

• Consult local interest groups. The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership has a comprehensive guide to transportation issues from the federal to the local level; the group also partners with local organizations and coalitions focused on transportation issues. Those organizations may know of influential people to contact, or may have the answers themselves. Surface Transportation Policy Partnership

• Check other watchdog groups. Taxpayers for Common Sense, the Sunlight Foundation, and other groups are taking a hard look at earmarks. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with some of these organizations to learn about local projects or proposals.

• Write your local member of Congress. It’s always worth a shot. Write Your Representative

Once you’ve tracked down the specific project for which a group is lobbying in Washington, you can submit the information to us via the form to the right. If we can verify your findings, we’ll include them on our map’s database. Be sure to fill out your name; email address; lobbyist name and the city they’re lobbying for; the specific project(s) that the firm was hired to lobby for; and the sources that you used to compile the data. After review, the Center plans to add each of the confirmed projects to the map, and will feature the names of those who helped us on our project website.

Amassing data on these individual projects will help us compare the amount of money spent on lobbying to the actual earmarks received, once the bill passes in Congress. Some of those earmarks may already be public information from 2010 appropriations bills. The Sunlight Foundation, for instance, has done an excellent job of identifying earmark requests for both the annual and multi-year transportation bills.

These individual projects are also potential leads for stories in your community: Is a firm getting paid a hefty sum to lobby on a project that doesn’t seem worth it? Why was a group in your area unable to get federal funding doled through the state government, the route for most federal transportation spending? What are the priority transportation projects in your area? We encourage you to explore the data in our map, dig deeper, and let us know what you find. Thanks!