The document presents a report of a February, 1977 conference in Sarasota, Florida, which dealt with local transportation planning and citizen skills. The conference served as a forum for exploring citizen input into issues which had been generated in public meetings, a referendum, the city and county commissions, and hearings before state transportation planners. It was designed to provide dialogue among four types of persons: (1) practitioners of citizen participation skills on all sides of the issue; (2) government officials involved in policy decisions; (3) the general public; and (4) academic humanists from a variety of disciplines. Conference objectives and the program schedule are presented, followed by the bulk of the document, which includes abstracts of papers and remarks offered during the conference. Topics discussed include Sarasota neighborhood characteristics, community change and development, American participatory democracy, federally funded transportation programs, transportation planning in Florida, and Sarasota politics. Appendices include press releases which preceeded the conference and a description of conference handouts. (Author/DB)