Many transportation agencies use social media to inform the public about plans and projects.
But fewer take steps to develop a robust following through continuous engagement.
A community of engaged followers provides a ready audience when an agency needs feedback
for a plan or project development.
As the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization has learned, the key is two-way communication.
It's a conversation, right?
So, it's a two-way conversation, so we don't just push information one way to the general
public.
We actually take measures to make sure that we create a natural, ongoing conversation,
and that dialog with the public is so essential to why we’ve had success with it.
So, if we get a question, we answer it.
If we have any type of comment that we can address, we try to address it as soon as we
can, and if we have a partnering agency that they need to be connected with, we try to
connect them with them as soon as possible.
We try to make sure that it's not just a government entity that's answering them, but they're
actually having a real conversation with an actual person.
In 2014, Broward MPO set a goal of getting 5,000 followers on social media.
They reached that goal in 2016, and now have over 10,000 followers across several platforms.
To manage their social media program, Broward MPO uses a monthly content calendar, organized
by date and social media platform.
The calendar includes events in the area and in-house, helping to plan relevant posts on
a continuous basis.
There’s a lot that goes into curating the content, because you want to have stuff that's
interesting to people that are coming to our social media platforms.
We do something called Talk Back Tuesday, where we'll ask something that's normally
on a walking audit, or a transit survey, but we ask them the one question.
It's also something that we want to get feedback about, but not necessarily making them sit
through an entire survey.
If it's Florida Bike Month, we'll do one centered around biking and how often do you bike and
where do you bike and what type of places do you like to bike to?
Things like that.
Very simple plain speak, easy to answer.
The MPO sends out an email blast each week with four different articles.
They also share information from other agencies such as Florida DOT and area transit providers
about projects and initiatives relevant to the region’s residents.
The MPO evaluates social media and other public involvement activities on an ongoing basis
and makes adjustments as needed.
Broward MPO’s strategic use of social media, along with other types of public involvement,
helped generate over 3,000 visits to their Metropolitan Transportation Planning website
and over 2,000 responses for their plan survey.
For a successful social media campaign, it’s important to monitor user responses.
Each platform offers analytics to help assess the reach and engagement obtained.
By monitoring engagement, an agency can see what types of posts generate the most involvement.
Building an engaged following was also important to the Michigan Department of Transportation
during the reconstruction of Interstate 96.
MDOT focused on building relationships in the community before any traditional in-person
meetings were held.
They posted daily, using photos and humor to help deliver the message, and responded
to comments immediately.
The DOT also showed an interest in the broader community by sharing local news and events
along with project information.
The effort ramped up over a 3-year period from design through construction, and became
the primary source of project information for the community.
Social media was used to gather input at key points in the design process.
An MDOT survey asked the public to choose between closing the freeway completely for
construction, or a partial closure that would extend construction by up to two years at
a higher cost.
The survey was widely promoted on social media with 1,700 responses.
A majority chose the full-closure option, which MDOT adopted.
As a result of this continuous engagement with project stakeholders, MDOT experienced
an enthusiastic response to the project, culminating in an opening day celebration that attracted
10,000 people.