“Social media and IT tools to involve citizens in urban mobility”
Share your opinion and contribute to the next CIVITAS Policy Note!
Nowadays, using IT technologies and tools such web 2.0, mobile apps and social networks to interact with large public is becoming more and more frequent. However, there are some concerns and limitations about the use of such technologies, which sometimes may threaten the usability and the reliability of the information gathered (e.g. privacy issue and personal data use). At the same time, it is evident that the potential of such tools is great, and there are several applications exploiting the new wave of social cooperation through the web.
Examples of interesting cases include:
- CIVITAS ELAN Project: Citizen Engagement in the field of mobility. Work and lesson learned;
- Public authorities that collecting traffic input using social media: Chicago Transit Authority Twitter Feed and Zurich Public Transport Authority Facebook Page;
- Customized reporting applications: SeeClickFix page for San Francisco www.seeclickfix.com or the system set up by the city of Verbeterdebuurt Netherland, www.verbeterdebuurt.nl
- City projects: Street Bump in Boston www.streetbump.org
- EU campaigns, like European Mobility Week and Do The Right Mix continue to gain visibility and influence thanks to social media, as Facebook, Twitter and other virtual platforms allow campaigners from towns and cities all over Europe to connect and share their ideas, success stories and experiences.
- Engaging citizens through social media in sustainable urban mobility planning in Aberdeen (UK) http://www.eltis.org/index.php?id=13&study_id=3785)
- At European level, some European projects are developing and piloting open source platforms and other mobile tools to better involve citizens in the urban mobility projects and plans (e.g. SupeHub project, http://superhub-project.eu/ or GreenCityStreets.com FORUM)
- EIT ICT Labs, one of the first Knowledge and Innovation Communities set up by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, as an initiative of the European Union, is developing some interesting tools, like the Flash-poll http://www.eitictlabs.eu/innovation-areas/urban-life-and-mobility/flash-poll/
See more examples in the presentation done by Andrew Nash during the Webinar on Public Involvement 2.0, here.
Within CIVITAS we are working on a new Policy Note on the use of social media and IT tools for involve all the different social groups in the urban mobility projects and planning of cities and regions.
Do you know any other good examples/cases of social media/IT tools for greater engagements of citizens in urban mobility?
Would you like to contribute to the development of next CIVITAS Policy Note?
Let us know your opinion and share your ideas with us!
