social media in the nepa process - three case studies

DOTs and Public Engagement: Social Media in the NEPA process

Lloyd D. BrownDirector of Communications

American Association of State

Highway and Transportation Officials

Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

Colorado Springs, COJune 21, 2012

What we’ll cover

• Social media tools• How are they being used• Recommendations for decision-makers

Social media tools

What’s so social about today’s media?• Facebook• Twitter• YouTube

It’s all about the conversation!

Most state use social media… but few actually use it socially

2011 AASHTO survey of state DOTS found:• 31 states use Twitter• 26 states use Facebook• 10 states have blogs, another 10 are

planning for blogs• Just 26 states have protocols for how

social media tools should be used.

Putting social media to work

2011 focus groups & interviews reported state DOTs barriers to implementation:• Organizational culture• Budgets• Legal concerns

State DOT Examples

• Iowa & Illinois DOTs: Chicago to Omaha Rail Line

• North Carolina DOT: Driving 95 Project• Maryland DOT: Baltimore Red Line

Iowa DOT:Chicago to Omaha

North Carolina: Driving 95

- Clearly marked- Clear expectations

Driving 95 on Facebook

Baltimore Red Line

Recommendations• Social media are complementary tactics• A social media plan should include:

specifics about how your agency will use social media and what it hopes to achieve,

protocols for dealing with inappropriate comments or sensitive postings,

clarifies team or individual responsibilities for regularly updating the sites

and a process for recording comments

DOTs and Public Engagement: Social Media in the NEPA process

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Contact: Lloyd D. Brown, Director of CommunicationsAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

(202) 624-5802 office(202) 677-5811 celllbrown@aashto.org