Practices for Online Public Involvement (2019)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

8 Introduction This literature review examines available sources on OPI practices in transportation agencies, as well as OPI in other government and planning sectors. Information was gathered using a database search from Rutgers University Libraries on the topics of transportation, public involvement, and public sector social media use. This included 24 academic journal publica- tions, a survey publication, and two NCHRP synthesis reports. Three professional resources were consulted as well. A majority of the sources gathered for review focus specifically on the use of social media, as these online platforms are widely and consistently used by public agencies. There were a limited number of literature sources that dealt specifically with OPI in the transportation sector. Many of the sources discussed in this chapter cover the public sector and civic engagement more broadly. Importance of Participation Davidoff (1965) and Arnstein (1969) advocated for public participation that allowed for citizen voice and power throughout the planning process. Davidoff was a pioneer in advocating for the role of public involvement in planning. He cautioned that public involvement can often be used to demonstrate an appearance of stakeholder input that does not necessarily create meaningful connections between stakeholders and public agencies. Arnstein pushed this point further by delineating a hierarchy titled the “Eight Rungs on a Ladder of Citizen Participation.” While she acknowledged the simplification of her model, she expressed how the choice of public involvement method on the part of a planner might influence the amount of power a citizen has in the planning process. This ranges from “nonparticipation,” which results from one-sided information dissemination, to “tokenism,” which marginally includes the stakeholder, to “citizen power” where there is “partnership and citizen control” over planning decisions (Arnstein, 1969). While Davidoff and Arnstein published before OPI was possible, they do provide a frame- work for creating a meaningful, two-way dialogue through stakeholder participation. Both Arnstein and Davidoff make a notable distinction between involving and informing the public. While distribution of information to the public plays an important role in how the government functions, it does not empower people in the same way as incorporating public feedback into the planning process through two-way dialogue. Davidoff argues that a lack of outside input in planning can lead to a situation where only a powerful few have influence over government decision-making. C H A P T E R 2 Literature Review

Literature Review 9 Primary Findings The literature review revealed a few key findings on the use of social media and OPI: • Social media is a highly studied form of online public participation. More specifically, there are key differences in how social media is used in the public sector for information dissemination (one-way) and for two-way dialogue. • OPI is a type of Web 2.0 that, when used in conjunction with other types of digital platforms, can lead to improved online communication between agencies and stakeholders. However, full implementation of OPI requires that public agencies use platforms and/or methods to encourage two-way dialogue and public knowledge sharing, and to elicit responses from the public. • Interactive web presence improves agency accessibility with the public by creating oppor- tunities for public entities to more easily receive and respond to feedback. • OPI works best when used in collaboration with offline or traditional “face-to-face” public involvement. • Public agencies can increase the quantity of public feedback and input received through online tools (such as survey responses, crowd-mapping responses, or other metrics). Qualities of Effective Online Public Involvement NCHRP Synthesis 407: Effective Public Involvement Using Limited Resources (Morris and Fragala, 2010) highlights that agencies are quickly incorporating tactics to develop a more visible and robust web presence. However, that web presence is often inconsistent, and with limited budgets, experienced staff or consultants are not always available to ensure high-quality content. Social media is mentioned as a supplement to publicize and promote in-person public involvement events and programs. Measuring Performance of Public Engagement in Transportation Planning (Wagner, 2013) summarizes three “best principles” of public engagement. Although these are not specific to OPI, each of these “best principles” highlights important qualities and recommendations that would facilitate effective OPI: 1. Accessible Events: Income disparities, no presence of racial or age discrimination, ADA com- pliance, comfort of public settings and places, availability of childcare, and other factors that could pose barriers should be considered. Community members should also be aware of participation opportunities, and online tools could be useful for sharing information about these opportunities. In addition, agencies should couple “traditional” strategies (e.g., public meetings) with innovative online, mobile strategies, and these strategies should be linked and mutually reinforcing. 2. Engaging Interactions: Information should be presented in a simple, conversational (not condescending) tone that encourages people to want to read, listen, post, comment, and share their ideas. It should also allow for two-way exchanges of information. This applies to both in-person and online engagement. 3. Outcome-Oriented Process: It is important for participants to see tangible evidence that their input affects decision-making in a meaningful way. For OPI, Wagner (2013) states that this can include responding to posts, comments, or questions and monitoring online debate carefully so that discussion remains productive. Manetti and his colleagues (2017) analyzed tweets and Facebook posts for 35 Canadian and American transit agencies. Their research shows that Twitter was used most of the time as a method of information dissemination, while Facebook was used to “publish content in

10 Practices for Online Public Involvement a dialogue perspective that creates two-way, collaborative conversations with users” (Manetti et al., 2017). The study concludes that a broader, more continuous commitment to inter- action on social media would create new opportunities for improved transparency. Manetti et al. (2017) provide more insights into the conflicts between information dissemination and involvement, including: • Social media has the power and influence to create dialogues between the public and transit agencies. However, the characteristics of this dialogue differ by tool. Facebook is more interactive, and agencies are often actively engaged in two-way conversations on that platform. • Many organizations are not fully utilizing social media tools because they are afraid of being exposed to divergent views. Organizations risk exposing themselves to the effects of negative feedback and many prefer to limit and reduce opportunities for these kinds of comments. • Agencies need to commit to meaningful interaction on social media rather than just use it to communicate updates on service changes. Publishing engaging content on social media and providing opportunities for public comment will encourage more dialogue that is meaningful and ultimately establish a more collaborative process. • By committing to two-way interaction, agencies are improving services and transparency. The authors note that many of the comments (on Facebook) and replies (on Twitter) were left unanswered by agencies. This represents, to the authors, a missed opportunity to create two-way conversations and instead discouraged users from interacting with these agencies. “Meaningful” interaction is a broad term, and some literature attempts to identify how a public entity can create more meaningful online public collaboration. Zavattaro and Sementelli (2014) note that there is expanded interaction when public entities use social media, as these platforms provide more opportunities for constituents to ask questions, make comments, and view information. This interaction, however, is not the same as collaboration. More exposure and interaction between public entities and the public itself does not equate to improved trust, communication, and incorporation of public feedback into planning. However, savvy gov- ernment agencies can use the information that the public shares to discover and respond to patterns. Overall, however, the authors find that the collaborative potential of social media is unfulfilled and that agencies have failed to use the tool to create meaningful, dialogic, collab- orative participation and instead encouraged one-way, “push” communication (Zavattaro and Sementelli, 2014). The Role of User-Generated Content Web 2.0 is the early 21st century shift in internet practices that allows users to not only be informed by web content, but also interact with it and contribute feedback to those who provide the web content (Manetti et al., 2017). Existing literature indicates that this internet shift occurred in 2005 to 2006 and has allowed for greater transparency of public agencies and improved access to input from constituents (Manetti et al., 2017). By allowing constituents’ voices to be heard, agencies using OPI can improve their standing with the public, create a new source of public feedback to inform their decision-making and increase the ability to reach more residents, both in terms of the sheer numbers and the variety of demographic groups (Nash, 2010; Meijer and Thaens, 2013; Landsbergen, 2010). Not only does OPI improve the performance of public entities, but it also serves to improve public trust in government (Nash, 2010).

Literature Review 11 Nash (2010) categorized types of Web 2.0 interactions that could be used by transportation agencies. These include online tasks (such as surveys and comments) that provide informa- tion to agencies, social networking tools (like Facebook and Twitter) that provide information quickly and concisely, and analysis tools (such as interactive maps and games) that allow the user to evaluate data. Nash provides examples including wikis (collaborative editing from the public using free, open web content) for transit agencies, so that the public has a space to share and publish information. Nash notes that wikis have been successful in European cities and could be used as a form of public involvement for transportation data contribution in the United States. In addition, Nash suggests crowdsourcing platforms (crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, especially from the online community) as tools for online tasks, social media platforms for networking and involvement, and the use of games and simulations to allow the public to evaluate data and scenarios. Kaplan and Haenlin (2010) also note the distinction between OPI and social media. While social media is a form of OPI and interactive Web 2.0, it does not always foster user-generated content and two-way public/government agency dialogues. The scholars emphasize the need to choose the type of social media to be implemented wisely and to be intentional with whether the content is open to comment, questions, and involvement, or whether the content is intended for the transfer of information only. OPI and the Relationship Between Public Accessibility and Transparency Manetti et al. (2017), Meijer and Thaens (2013), Landsbergen (2010), Evans-Cowley and Hollander (2010), and Nash (2010) all highlight how OPI has the potential to improve the trans- parency of public agencies. In addition, Picazo-Vela et al. (2012) and Seltzer and Mahmoudi (2012) describe the ability for OPI to broaden the accessibility of planning. Findings about accessibility and transparency include: • Increased transparency is a motivating factor for implementing OPI at public agencies and can be achieved if properly used and implemented (Meijer and Thaens, 2013; Sivarajah et al., 2015). • Government and public agencies recognize that internet access continues to grow, and mobile and desktop internet access has become ubiquitous (Purdy, 2017). As a result, public entities need a strong online presence to serve the needs of their constituents who increasingly look to online platforms for information and to share their ideas (Kavanaugh et al., 2012). • Strategies for successful OPI include: – Keep information regularly updated so that users have current information and timely responses to their questions, concerns, or comments (Wagner, 2013). – Provide staff training that is specific to OPI and the practice of engaging in two-way communication online (along with clear staff guidelines and protocols for these types of engagement) (Meijer and Thaens, 2013). • Public agencies should participate in social media and other online platforms to stay abreast of public dialogue and online forums/discussion that are occurring about particular issues or decisions (Evans-Cowley and Hollander, 2010). Meijer and Thaens (2013) examined social media usage in urban North American police bureaus. Toronto’s Police Bureau had successfully used social media to build two-way relation- ships with community members. The Toronto Bureau accomplished this by training staff, which allowed for less centralized communications through public involvement offices. Instead, police

12 Practices for Online Public Involvement officers participated in rigorous training that, once complete, enabled the officers to engage directly with the public on their own. This created a stronger, more direct link between officers in the field and the communities they serve. Manetti et al. (2017) also claim that some information dissemination and social media merely provide entertainment in an attempt to show a more human side of the agency. This helps the public view the transportation agency, and other officials, as more approachable and open to public involvement. Not only can agencies appear more personal, but also continuous usage of two-way communication through OPI can build trust between an agency and the public (Sivarajah et al., 2015). Similarly, the study conducted by Sivarajah et al. (2015) (through inter- views with a local government agency in Great Britain) indicated that public officials hope to improve transparency and trust with the public by adding a new suite of accessible communica- tion through OPI. Additional literature confirms the importance of including participation tactics in an agency’s online presence if it wants to retain trust with its constituents, particularly younger generations (Purdy, 2017; Landsbergen, 2010). These younger generations are leading the practice of sharing ideas and opinions using online platforms. As the level of influence this population exerts on society grows, agencies are shifting to and/or increasing use of OPI to expand opportunities for interacting with them (Purdy, 2017). Information Gathering and Sample Size OPI not only changed the way agencies interact with the public, but it also affected the amount of information that can be acquired by public agencies through public involvement. In his assessment of the use of public wikis in Austria, Nash (2010) finds that public feedback significantly contributes to knowledge of transportation system performance and quality, which can serve as a source of data to be analyzed by transportation agencies. Meijer and Thaens (2013) analyzed how the Washington, D.C., police used social media to collect crime-related information from the public. Posts pertaining to incidents and suspects and invitations to the public to submit “tips” online created a new source of crime-stopping information and data. Social media increased their success in obtaining this information from the community by allowing active participation in law enforcement through these platforms. Manetti et al. (2017) state that social media can help in the collection of increased and better-quality information from various stakeholders. Seltzer and Mahmoudi (2012) examine how citizen participation can be channeled through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is the practice of presenting an issue or problem to the public via an online platform and seeking input on how to address the problem, often looking for creative solutions. They discovered that crowdsourcing, which has been successfully harnessed in the private sector, could also be useful in the sharing of knowledge between the community and public officials. Crowdsourcing allows for immediate information gathering directly from the source (e.g., the public) that has firsthand experience with the problems or challenges the agency wants to address. This premise provides a mechanism to achieve the public involvement goals espoused by Arnstein (1969) and Davidoff (1965), who advocate for stakeholder ideas and input to be valued as legitimate and incorporated into plans. Kavanaugh and her colleagues (2012) highlighted how government usage of OPI allows for the accumulation of real-time information to improve service and communication with residents. However, the authors also note in their findings that new tools are needed to help government agencies makes sense of the “overwhelming” amount of information that is generated by social media use.

Literature Review 13 The Relationship Between Online and Offline Public Involvement Purdy (2017) analyzes the relationship between online civic commentary and offline activism, finding that there is a major difference between the type of internet use and its effects on civic engagement. Online activity linked to “information gathering” (getting news or information about events or politics, or looking for information on a hobby or interest) had a generally posi- tive influence on offline engagement (i.e., more likely to engage in civic activity or have physical discussions with others). “Social expressive” online activity (posting comments on social media or blogs, sharing photos/videos, passing along content created by others, talking/chatting online with family and friends), however, had a net negative impact on physical, face-to-face discus- sions with others but also a positive impact on offline civic activities. This suggests that the rela- tionship between online and offline civic engagement is both positive and negative, depending on the type of interaction. Purdy (2017) also concludes that the relationships are not the same in both directions, with a slightly stronger effect of offline activities on online activities, rather than the other way around. Even though both types of civic activities build on or support each other, offline civic engage- ment has a larger effect on how people engage online. Purdy determines that these findings have the potential to facilitate the planning and organizing of engagement activities, noting that a combination of offline and online tactics may be the most productive in terms of increasing civic involvement, “such as holding traditional meetings offline and also hosting discussion boards in order to continue the conversation online . . .” Moore’s (2016) case study of Springfield, Illinois, supports Purdy’s conclusions. Moore examines community outreach for an upcoming Environmental Impact Study for a rail project. For this project, the outreach team exclusively used social media (such as Twitter and Facebook) to promote and inform the community of upcoming in-person meetings, as opposed to using those same platforms for online two-way dialogue. While Moore’s study does predate some of the newest OPI practices, her paper reinforces a few key points: • A great deal of OPI includes spreading the word about upcoming meetings and events. • Online tools used to drive attendance at public meetings (as opposed to interaction and involve- ment online) allows for strict adherence to laws and regulations regarding public participation. Evans-Cowley and Hollander (2010) also examined two case studies with similar findings— one in Austin, Texas, and one in Aspen, Colorado. In Austin, a particularly active community Facebook group had been organized to advocate against the opening of a large retailer. However, this large and vocal Facebook group did not organize effectively beyond the online platform. As a result, there was little in-person participation and the city planners were unaware of the opposition to the project. Conversely, in Aspen, there was a well-organized and politically active group of stakeholders from the community who were often able to influence decision-making. This group used social media as well, but primarily as a means to promote attendance at in-person public meetings and forums for various planning projects and zoning decisions. Online engagement, in this case, served to supplement and support the interactive, face-to-face public involvement by encouraging participation at public events. Evans-Cowley and Hollander (2010) conclude that: • There is a need to connect in-person and online participation, including providing online technologies at physical place-based forums where those residents without internet access can participate. • OPI can allow for participation that is not meaningful (such as in the case of the Facebook group that was against the large retailer); however, it can be used effectively in coordination with offline or traditional engagement (as was the case in Aspen where social media was used to promote attendance at meetings).

14 Practices for Online Public Involvement Summary and Conclusions There appears to be limited research on state DOTs’ use of OPI, as the majority of the research reviewed involves public transit or other types of non-transportation public agencies. Further- more, much of the research emphasizes how governments and public agencies have used social media as their preferred form of digital communication, rather than examining a broader set of online tools and platforms that are now available to gather feedback and input from the public. However, it is clear from the literature that new forms of OPI are affecting how government and public agencies are interacting with their constituents, improving accessibility for these agencies, and increasing the amount of information that can be collected during the public involvement process.