Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) supported the University of Minnesota to investigate social media options for effective public engagement. A three-part approach assessed 1) the state of social media use through a literature review; 2) the status of social media use and interest in its use for transportation in Minnesota compared to national data; and 3) actual and perceived effectiveness of social media in two pairs of case studies in Minnesota. In sum; results reveal social media is effective as a strategic and select part of engagement plans and can likely effectively engage select groups. Survey results revealed 11-21% of respondents participated in planning for transportation programs; policies or projects in the last 12 months; 72% use social media of some sort; and 36% expressed interest in using social media to get information; provide feedback or make suggestions related to transportation. Finally; social media analytics and interviews related to four case studies revealed social media does indeed lead transportation projects to make more connections with stakeholders; but the quality and effectiveness of those connections vary. Four main opportunities include: 1) integrating social media into multi-pronged; dynamic engagement approaches; 2) considering the demographic qualities of the key stakeholders to determine how social media can be most useful; 3)employing best practices for social media engagement; and 4) expanding and/ or developing research and evaluation plans to understand and assess future social media engagement efforts.
