Bregman, S. (2012). Uses of social media in public transportation (No. 99). Transportation Research Board. https://www.nap.edu/read/14666/chapter/1
http://www.buzzcapture.com/academy/top-vervoerders-op-social-media/ (Dutch)
Kleine, R. and Koster, H. (2017). Interview about the use of social media
For successful use of social media, social media policies can be developed. Common elements of these policies are:
At first, there should be decided for what purposes a PTA or PTO want to use social media (monitoring/customer care). If social media is used to communicate, a strategy about content is necessary.
The support of management is very important as the use social media also suggests transparent communication. This might scare management as communication about PTOs tent to be negative.
Although setting up social media sites is generally free, they do require ongoing maintenance and monitoring. This requires staff (and therefore investments).
Social media can be used by PTAs and PTOs to communicate with passengers, market their services and collect useful information. Possible channels are: Twitter, Facebook, Forums, WhatsApp, Youtube, Snapchat, Linkedin
They can be used for monitoring (specific topic by alerts + general reputation), helpdesk, marketing and branding, sales.
There are no supporting actions required but cybersecurity is an issue. Governments may be able to address this by creating guidelines (what personal information should and should not be shared on social media).
