Streaming live events is not necessarily a new idea for transportation agencies. But one state DOT has found that leveraging live streaming capabilities within Facebook can generate huge results.
The Washington State Department of Transportation was one of the first state DOTs to experiment with Periscope, a live streaming service owned by Twitter. The 2015 State DOT Social Media Survey found that about 10 percent of DOTs in 2015 were using either Periscope, or the similar Meerkat, streaming media service.
Not every current event is appropriate for a transportation social media feed. But the folks at Washington State Department of Transportation continue to show off their deft ability to connect with their audiences by tying in with the latest Pokemon game.
Release July 7, Pokemon Go challenges players to find Pokemon characters – in the real world. So basically, people are walking around – or worse driving around – looking for these virtual characters. Clearly, a word of safety advice is in order here, right?
And before you think that WSDOT was just overly opportunistic, consider this item posted on Vine: (editor’s note: the Vine was deleted from the site. But visit Vine to see other examples.)
One of the tremendous opportunities offered by online video is the ability to take transportation stakeholders to places they might never go and to see things they might never see.
According to WSDOT, the massive tunnel boring machine Bertha had carved nearly a third of the length of the nearly 2-mile-long tunnel that will ultimately replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct that runs north and south along Seattle’s iconic waterfront.
My friends at the Washington State Department of Transportation posted this photo on their Flickr feed recently. Amazing how a photo can offer a glimpse into the world of transportation.
From WSDOT: “Avalanche Specialist Alan Willard yells “FIRE!” as he shoots a howitzer. Crews are working to reduced avalanche hazard near SR 20 at Liberty Bell. The successful mission knocked down 8 feet of snow covering both lanes of the highway.”
Departments of transportation have all kinds of responsibilities that go far beyond filling potholes and making sure the traffic signals are synchronized. During my time at the Washington State Department of Transportation, I was constantly amazed at the variety of projects and programs that were carried out by the dedicated agency staff and consultants.
I have suggested many times that giving the public a peak at what things look like behind the detours and road closures can only help tell the transportation story. The Washington State Department of Transportation team regularly does this, and the public seems to enjoy it.
Recently, the WSDOT team took advantage of an annual bridge closure to get some additional road work completed.
The project itself, while awesome to watch, is not necessarily the most amazing work the agency has underway right now (for instance, check out the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project). But the peek at what a weekend closure can accomplish certainly impressed WSDOT’s customers. Take a look at the comments left below the video.
YouTube is often the place where the worst of people comes out in the comments. But in this case, the public truly appreciated the effort WSDOT made to look behind the scenes.
I had planned to post today on measuring public relations success. But that will wait until next week.
After seeing the latest video from the Washington State Department of Transportation, I decided to share this instead.
I have some history with this project from my time working at WSDOT and one of the challenges the project team faces is the remote location of the work, which is located in a heavily traveled mountain pass between major population centers. This video does an excellent job explaining the project and how it will impact drivers without bogging down in jargon.
I’m not sure you’ll see a better summer construction video this year.
I had planned to post today on measuring public relations success. But that will wait until next week.
After seeing the latest video from the Washington State Department of Transportation, I decided to share this instead.
I have some history with this project from my time working at WSDOT and one of the challenges the project team faces is the remote location of the work, which is located in a heavily traveled mountain pass between major population centers. This video does an excellent job explaining the project and how it will impact drivers without bogging down in jargon.
I’m not sure you’ll see a better summer construction video this year.
