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How Public Transport Could Benefit from Social Media? Evidence from European Agencies

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Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems (CSUM 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1278))

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Abstract

Currently, there has been a research focus on exploiting the information that can be extracted from social media platforms for scientific purposes. Social media data is dynamic, user-generated, and includes a combination of spatial, temporal, and textual information. Mining and analyzing transport information from social media is a relatively new field and it can be used during transportation planning and management, as well as for supporting the achievement of specific transport policy goals. In addition, social media provide public transport agencies with an unparalleled opportunity to connect with their customers. This paper explores the use of social media among public transport agencies in Europe. In this context, a relevant literature review was combined with original findings obtained from a survey on selected public transport agencies. Relevant information was derived from online sources, including blog posts, websites, online journals and publications. The survey results provided an integrated overview of the use of social media among the selected agencies. Public transport operators use social media mainly for: (a) real-time updates and information, (b) information to customers regarding services, fares, and services disruptions, (c) engaging citizens by handling complaints and inquiries, (d) employee recognition and recruitment of staff and (e) video entertainment and contests. Twitter was most commonly used for short communications and service updates, Facebook for short announcements and service updates, but also for community building and branding. Organizations employ YouTube and Instagram to build community support, whereas LinkedIn was used for networking and recruitment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transport Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Georgiadis, Anastasia Nikolaidou, Ioannis Politis & Panagiotis Papaioannou

Authors
  1. Georgios Georgiadis
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  2. Anastasia Nikolaidou
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  3. Ioannis Politis
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  4. Panagiotis Papaioannou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anastasia Nikolaidou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Eftihia G. Nathanail

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Giannis Adamos

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Ioannis Karakikes

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Georgiadis, G., Nikolaidou, A., Politis, I., Papaioannou, P. (2021). How Public Transport Could Benefit from Social Media? Evidence from European Agencies. In: Nathanail, E.G., Adamos, G., Karakikes, I. (eds) Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems. CSUM 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1278. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61075-3_63

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61075-3_63

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-61074-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-61075-3

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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