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How BART used social media to turn crisis into opportunity


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 12 April 2018 - 05:30 PM

Mobility Lab, 4/12/18:
 

How BART used social media to turn crisis into opportunity (and how WMATA didn’t)

 

 

March 16, 2016 was a very bad day for transit riders.

 

Two major transit agencies – Washington DC’s WMATA and San Francisco’s BART – both stopped service.

Unexplained voltage spikes on BART’s longest line took 50 railcars out of service, closing a section of tracks for several days and disrupting service for almost a month. In the nation’s capital, WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld closed the entire Metro system on a weekday so workers could perform emergency inspections of third rail power cables – cables that were responsible for a service-crippling tunnel fire earlier in the week.

 

Riders were understandably upset and used social media to voice their frustrations. But unlike WMATA, BART turned this anger into momentum for an upcoming transit referendum (which passed with flying colors).

 

SNIP

 

Obviously, this has to change. By looking at the differing cyber-communications strategies of WMATA and BART – two major U.S. agencies with aging rail systems –during a day of crisis, we can identify important lessons for transit officials to consider.

 

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