Microparticipation with Social Media for Community Engagement in Transportation Planning

Abstract

Transportation planning processes may be enhanced and plans improved by engaging the community through social media technologies. “Microparticipation” means the engagement of the public with social media methods for the purpose of maximizing the information going into a planning process while minimizing the plan's development time and the cost to the public. Twitter, Facebook, and other microparticipation media have been used for planning but have not been extensively evaluated for that purpose. This study examined more than 49,000 posts on Twitter and other social networking sites tracked by the Social Networking and Planning Project to determine public engagement in the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan. With the use of a mixed methods approach, relevant posts were examined to determine sentiment, extent of engagement, and impact on the decision-making process. The study found methods that could be used to analyze microparticipation. The report concluded that microparticipation could be effective in generating participation but faced substantial technical, analytical, and communication barriers to influencing decision making.

Where does bicycling for health happen? Analysing volunteered geographic information through place and plexus

“…Various aspects of crowdsourcing and "Web 2.0" technologies including social media have been studied in transportation planning (EvansCowley and Griffin, 2012;Krykewycz et al, 2011;Twitchen and Adams, 2011), and a few studies are emerging in the health and informatics fields (Kamel Boulos and Al-Shorbaji, 2014;Kamel Boulos et al, 2011;Kass-Hout & Alhinnawi, 2013). The transportation studies have primarily focused on increasing public involvement or crowdsourcing problem areas, rather than technologies for estimating bicycle volumes and locations.…”

Examining social inclusion among pedestrian plans in Canada

“…The mailing of brochures detailing plan design procedures to all residents (St. John's) and continuous public engagement over two years at a downtown mall storefront (Saint John) demonstrate proactive outreach to communities with poor news or internet access while simultaneously generating public interest in planning objectives and, ultimately, helping planners to glean insights from non‐opinion‐leading constituencies (Elvy ; Boisjoly and Yengoh ). Making its way into the more recent plans, social media facilitates transparent debate among community members about planning issues, particularly benefiting those whose neighbourhood and household circumstances preclude attendance at set‐time, brick‐and‐mortar meetings (Evans‐Cowley and Griffin ). Social media and collaborative events like workshops and pop‐up tables for participatory mapping offer deliberative, even ludic, platforms to register concerns about the built environment and related open‐ended topics, such as housing affordability, in a way not easily achieved by surveys or informational meetings alone (Shipley and Utz ; Jankowski et al ).…”

Public Transit Equity Analysis at Metropolitan and Local Scales: A Focus on Nine Large Cities in the US

“…The best analysis will likely be implemented when supported by robust public involvement with engaged public officials (Evans-Cowley and Griffin 2012; Slotterback 2010), and staff that work to explicitly incorporate social equity into the objectives and measures of transportation plans (Manaugh et al 2015). …”