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Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation (2012)

Chapter: Chapter One - Introduction

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14666.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14666.
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Page 5

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5 Overview Social media, also called social networking or Web 2.0, are a group of web-based applications through which users interact with one another. Many transit agencies have begun to incor- porate social media into their marketing and communications strategies. Reasons for doing so vary, but goals for using these channels include communicating with current riders, reaching out to potential riders, developing stronger community con- nections, and enhancing the agency’s branding and messag- ing. Some organizations also use social media applications to support customer service and to obtain feedback from stake- holders on services and programs. While providing these benefits, social networking appli- cations can also pose specific challenges for transit agencies, including content management and strategies for address- ing online criticism; estimating resource requirements for managing social media and staffing; developing techniques to measure the costs and benefits; and ensuring that social media applications are accessible to people with disabilities and individuals who do not have ready access to personal technology such as smart phones and high-speed Internet. Agencies also face legal and security concerns, including online security, privacy protections, and complying with requirements for transparency and records retention. This synthesis explores these issues and documents successful practices among transit properties in the United States and Canada. Because the field is changing so rapidly, the issues and challenges examined in this report could be considered a snapshot of the conditions when the study was conducted. SyntheSiS MethOdOlOgy A review of relevant literature was combined with findings from a survey of selected transit agencies. Based on survey results, several case examples were developed to describe innovative and successful practices in more detail. literature review Because social media are still relatively new (Facebook was launched in 2004, for example, and Twitter came along two years later), there is not yet a large body of academic research. Instead, much of the relevant information about social media was obtained from online sources. These included blog posts, websites, conference presentations, and online journals and publications covering technology and governance. Survey Thirty-nine transportation providers in the United States and Canada were invited to participate in an online survey. Only transit organizations known to use one or more social media platforms were asked to participate. Responses were received from 34 transit operators in the United States and Canada and one U.S. transportation management association, a response rate of 90%. Respondents represented 18 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five Canadian provinces (see Appendix A and Figure 1). Most agencies (80%) were located in large metro- politan areas, defined as urbanized areas with a population of 200,000 or more; 17% were in small urbanized areas (population 50,000–200,000). Only one agency (3%) was located in a rural area. All transit modes were represented, including rail, bus, vanpool, demand-response, and ferry. Annual ridership ranged from fewer than 500,000 trips to more than 2 billion. Survey findings are incorporated in chapters three through six. Case examples Six transit organizations were selected from the survey respondents for follow-up telephone interviews, using the following criteria: (1) include transit agencies of different sizes in different parts of the United States and Canada; (2) include a mix of early adopters and newcomers to social media; and (3) incorporate agencies using different social media strategies. The following six transit properties agreed to participate: • Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)—San Francisco, California • Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)—Dallas, Texas • Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA)—Allentown, Pennsylvania • Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)— New York, New York • Mountain Line—Morgantown, West Virginia • TransLink—Vancouver, British Columbia. chapter one intrOduCtiOn

6 users, and social media metrics. Chapter three presents survey findings and focuses on how transit agencies use social media to address agency goals and to reach different markets. Chap- ter four identifies some common barriers to using social media and presents strategies gleaned from printed and electronic publications as well as the study survey. Chapter five presents the findings from six case examples conducted for this study. Finally, chapter six summarizes overall findings and directions for further research. A glossary of relevant terms follows the body of the report. References follow the Glossary. Appendix A lists the survey respondents and Appendix B presents the survey instrument. The case examples explored issues raised in the survey responses in more depth and provided additional details on successful practices, challenges, and lessons learned. Chapter five presents findings from the case examples. repOrt OrganizatiOn This report is organized as follows. Chapter one introduces the study. Chapter two presents an overview of social media based on a review of relevant literature, covering government use of social media, the demographic characteristics of social media FIGURE 1 Locations for survey respondents and case examples.

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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 99: Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation explores the use of social media among transit agencies and documents successful practices in the United States and Canada.

For the purposes of the report, social media are defined as a group of web-based applications that encourage users to interact with one another, such as blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, and MySpace.

An eReader friendly PDF version of TCRP Synthesis 99 is also available.

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