Introduction

Web 2.0, shorthand for Internet applications that rely on users to generate content and information, is widely used in many aspects of life today. While Web 2.0 applications are being gradually introduced in transportation planning, progress is less advanced than in purely private sector businesses. The goal of this article and its associated articles is to encourage greater use of Web 2.0 applications in the transportation planning and operations process.

This article is chapter 1 of a paper developed for the US Transportation Research Board 2010 Annual Meeting by Andrew Nash. The other five chapters are presented in the following associated articles:

• Web 2.0 - 2. Transport Planning Information Applications
• Web 2.0 - 3. Planning Process Applications
• Web 2.0 - 4. Social Networking Applications for Transport Planning
  
• Web 2.0 - 5. Analysis and Evaluation Applications for Transport Planning
• Web 2.0 - 6. Recommendations for Transport Planning Applications

The full paper can be downloaded at: http://www.andynash.com/nash-publications/2009-Nash-Web2forPT-14nov09.pdf

The paper will be presented at the TRB 2010 Annual Meeting: Session 337: Public Involvement in Transportation; January 11, 2010; 2:30PM - 5:00PM; Washington.

 

1. Introduction

The Internet has revolutionized the world. It has changed the way people work, socialize, shop, and travel; it has changed the way companies operate, where they locate and how they manage production; it has changed the way government provides services, how we communicate with government and how we influence public policy.

This paper argues that, while most transportation organizations have entered the Internet age, many are barely scratching the surface of the Internet’s potential. Almost all transport organizations use the Internet to disseminate information (e.g. public transport schedules), many use the Internet to collect feedback and as part of public involvement programs, but there are very few who use Web 2.0 applications effectively to engage the public in a collaborative process designed to improve planning, construction and operation of transport systems.

The paper’s is to introduce some key Web 2.0 concepts and outline how these concepts could be used to improve transportation systems and operations. Web 2.0 refers to Internet applications in which users (help) develop content and/or perform activities. Examples include Wikipedia, blogging, and Facebook.

The rest of this chapter presents an introduction to Web 2.0 and a structure for categorizing Web 2.0 applications. Chapters 2 through 5 describe these four categories of Web 2.0 application and provide transportation-related examples. Chapter 6 presents recommendations for creating Web 2.0 applications to improve transportation systems and operations, and ideas for three potential Web 2.0 applications that could improve public transport operations, improve the environmental planning process and improve the FTA’s New Starts funding program.

 

1.1 - Web 2.0 and data

The term Web 2.0 was developed to distinguish websites where users participate in developing applications and/or providing information from the original one-way Internet (Web 1.0) where websites simply provide information. Web 2.0 was made possible when improved computer technology and telecommunications (e.g. broadband) made information transfer easier.

Making information transfer easier led to two innovations: first, websites could become much more interactive using input from users to perform many different activities (e.g. games, social networking) and enabling users to easily create their own websites (e.g. blogs); and, second, users could develop applications that use data available elsewhere on the Internet (e.g. create real time public transport schedules for mobile devices).

For the first type of innovation users essentially need to provide data themselves. Data in this sense consists of everything from homemade videos and blog text at the advanced level to rating a YouTube video or clicking on a website “likes this” button at the basic level.

For the second type of innovation application developers need to be able to obtain data from existing sources (e.g. public transport operators) since independent data collection is practically impossible. However, obtaining existing data can be difficult, the data may not be available in a useful format and often there are legal issues involved with using the data. For example, in 2009 the question of who “owns” real time public transport schedule data became an issue in San Francisco. [1]

Gendre and Danflous [2] have carefully surveyed the issue of obtaining data for Web 2.0 transport applications and have used data source as a way of structuring their analysis of Web 2.0 transport information applications. Their study recommends that public agencies make every effort to work with independent Web 2.0 developers by making data accessible and encouraging development of new applications.

Washington DC’s Apps for Democracy program is an excellent example of a government fully embracing Web 2.0. As outlined below many of the applications created for this program are transport related. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District is also on the leading edge of making data accessible. Both Washington DC and BART provide information on their website for developers on how to access and use their data feeds (API). The San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s transportation information website (www.511.org) also enables users to obtain transport data for use in their applications.

 

1.2 - Categorizing Web 2.0 applications

In order to provide a structure for understanding the key types of Web 2.0 applications this paper classifies applications into one of the following four categories:

• Information Provision – these applications are designed to provide information. A common transport application is public transport schedule information.
• Planning and Administrative Process – these applications are designed to enable users to complete a task, for example provide specific information to a government agency.
• Social Networking – these applications allow users to create interest groups, share information and ‘meet’ like-minded people. Common applications include Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Analysis and Evaluation – these applications enable users to use website based tools to analyze data. Common applications include ‘cloud-based’ applications such as Google Documents.

However, it must be emphasized that most specific Web 2.0 applications combine these categories by, for example, including both social networking and information provision in a single application.

The links in the list above take you to chapters from the original TRB paper describing each of the categories in more detail and presenting transport related examples. The following link takes you to the paper’s final chapter:

• Recommendations and Examples – recommendations for creating better Web 2.0 applications for transportation planning and 3 example applications: Bus Meister, Peer-to-plan environmental analysis, and Peer-to-plan Federal Transit Administration New Starts Planning analysis.

  

ALSO ON THE LIVABLE STREETS NETWORK

• Web 2.0 - 1. Web 2.0 for Transport Planning
  

• Web 2.0 - 2. Transport Planning Information Applications
• Web 2.0 - 3. Planning Process Applications
• Web 2.0 - 4. Social Networking Applications for Transport Planning
• Web 2.0 - 5. Analysis and Evaluation Applications for Transport Planning
• Web 2.0 - 6. Recommendations for Transport Planning Applications

• Bus Meister - An integrated Web 2.0 Transport Planning Application
  

REFERENCES

[1]   http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/06/26/does-nextbus-own-real-time-muni-arrival-times/   accessed 5 November 2009.

[2]   Gendre and Danflous; Services D’Information Multimodale 2.0, Participation des usagers à l’information déplacements; available at: http://www.cete-mediterranee.fr/tt13/www/article.php3?id_article=195   accessed 11 November 2009.

 

PICTURE REFERENCES

Pictures are cited in the order they appear above. Please keep citation style consistent.

[1]

[2]

 

FURTHER READING

• Noveck, Beth Simone; Wiki Government – How technology can make government better, democracy stronger, and citizens more powerful; Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, 2009.
•