Overview
This report explores the use of social media among transit agencies and documents successful practices in the U.S. and Canada. Thirty-four of 39 transit agencies in large metro, small urban, and rural areas responded to a survey, and six of those participated in phone interviews to develop case examples.
Reasons to use social media include:
- Providing realtime service information/advisories
- Providing general information (services, fares, projects)
- Connecting with customers informally (citizen engagement)
- Recognizing and recruiting employees
- Entertainment (songs, videos, contests)
Despite these advantages/benefits, there are also concerns with social networking’s use: resource requirements, managing employee access, responding to online criticism, accessibility, security, archiving and records retention, use privacy, and adapting to the changing social media landscape.
Key lessons learned include:
- Keep social media in perspective (users still represent a relatively small number of riders)
- Consider the organizational impacts
- Identify the real costs (especially staffing)
- Find the right voice (avoid jargon, don’t sound impersonal, acknowledging mistakes)
- Listen to feedback to learn what the agency is doing right or wrong
- Respect social media’s strengths (e.g. applicability of Twitter vs. blogs)
- Have fun (to build stronger relationships with riders/community)
- Just get started (it’s worth trying no matter the approach)
Finally, the research identified gaps in knowledge:
- Identify elements of social media policy (only about ¼ of the agencies had adopted one, although more than half had one in development)
- Apply social media metrics (effectiveness is not well understood)
- Recommend internet security protocols
- Identify features to improve accessibility for the disabled
- Understand multicultural/demographic usage to ensure fair access
- Integrate social media with other information platforms
- Identify revenue opportunities from location-based technology and social-buying services
The report’s findings are likely applicable to a broad range of transportation agencies, not just the transit sector surveyed.