Transit Discovers Social Media

For many transit agencies that may not have conceived of themselves as the hippest kids on the block, social media are opening up legitimate avenues for public participation, outreach and dissemination of information. The migration to social media has been so rapid of late that for agencies that have not yet joined Facebook or Twitter—no matter how unfamiliar these media may be—the question is not 'if," but "when."

"At the [Transportation Research Board Annual] Meeting in January we had a Sunday morning workshop at 9 . . . and we had a full room," said Jennifer Weeks, senior transportation planner at Parsons-Brinkerhoff and chair of the TRB's Committee on Public Involvement. "I think everybody is like, 'Wow, holy cow—we've got tO get on the bandwagon.' If there are any contrarians, they're shouted down."