Abstract
Making cities more democratic and inclusive has been a deliberate focus since India launched its Smart Cities Mission and Digital India Programme. The use of more innovative techniques, such as social media posts, has been investigated by urban scholars and practitioners as an effective and progressive way to increase their ability to involve citizens in the management and planning of urban areas. However, there is still a “gray area” surrounding the use of digital engagement tools to increase involvement that necessitates further study.
The article fundamentally focuses on the social media engagement strategies employed by the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), the Government’s Special Purpose Vehicle that handles public transit in the smart city of Bhubaneswar in the state of Odisha, India. This includes ‘Mo Bus’ – the city bus service, and ‘Mo E-Ride’ – the e-rickshaw service. The posts on CRUT’s social media handles across multiple platforms have been critically analyzed through an engagement lens.
The insights gained from assessing diverse digital engagement platforms could help increase the levels of involvement and improve the system to include tools and practices that best align with sociocultural and political contexts, thereby encouraging public engagement for effective governance that is inclusive, efficient, and beneficial for regular commuters.
What is Citizen Engagement?
According to the Digital 2022 report, as of 2022, there were 658 million internet users (Kemp, 2022). The main distinction between participation and engagement is that while citizen participation can come from any group of citizens, citizen engagement entails an active and deliberate dialogue between the public and collective decision-makers.
Benefits of citizen engagement include:
- A process where public values and needs are incorporated into regulatory and corporate decision- making.
- A two-way association and communication that ensures citizens have a stake in decision-making processes.
- Helps in identifying various urban challenges and provides better solutions.
- Help the governing authorities to make better inclusive decisions.
- Develops trust with the agency and a sense of belonging among the citizens.
Maintains credibility and legitimacy.
Need for citizen engagement in improving Government Services
Local governments employ a range of initiatives and strategies to promote public participation in local planning and decision-making. According to the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2), any case of public involvement can occur at five levels, from informing to empowering. The public is urged by local governments to get involved in problem-solving, sharing concerns and ambitions, providing input, and developing alternatives as part of the decision-making paradigm. (ICMA, 2014)
- Inform: At this level, citizens are provided with information about civic activities, issues, and opportunities for engagement, but there is no opportunity for feedback or input.
- Consult: At this level, citizens are invited to provide feedback on specific issues or decisions, but the decision-making process remains with the government or organization.
- Involve: At this level, citizens work in partnership with the government or organization to identify and address issues, co-create solutions, and implement projects.
- Collaborate: At this level, citizens and the government or organization work together as equal partners to address complex issues and make collective decisions. The process is transparent and inclusive, and decision-making power is shared.
- Empower: At this level, the citizens or users hold the final decision-making process.
Mediums for citizen engagement
Citizen engagement could happen through offline and online mediums. The channels available for creating citizen engagement include offline channels like helpline numbers, manual forms, and online channels including formal and informal channels. Formal channels include websites, mobile applications, and e-mail whereas informal channels include multiple social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Koo, etc.
Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), Odisha
Background
Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Services (BPTS) was established in 2010 to manage and operate bus services within the cities of Bhubaneswar and Puri in Odisha. With the goal of reorganizing the public transit systems of the city, BPTS evolved over time into the Capital Region Urban Transport, commonly known as CRUT, on May 4, 2018. It serves as the primary provider of public transportation services for Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, and its neighboring cities, including Cuttack, Puri, and Rourkela. The Capital Region Urban Transit (CRUT) Authority is dedicated to reimagining “The Way We Move” by offering residents mobility options that will support a more sustainable and inclusive future for all.
The organization has a vision to provide excellence in public transit services and strives for continuous improvement of the transportation system in the Capital Region. With its specialized team from diverse fields such as transportation planning, operations, technology, and communications, CRUT has expanded the definition of public transit to include multimodal solutions for both locals and tourists.
On November 6, 2018, CRUT unveiled its new buses under the name “Mo Bus,” which translates to “my bus.” On November 26, 2018, Mo Cycle launched Odisha’s first public bicycle sharing (PBS) system. In 2019, CRUT launched its e-rickshaw service called Mo E-Ride. More recently, on January 5th, 2023, Mo Bus also commenced its services in Rourkela. As of March 2023, Mo Bus has a total fleet size of 200 and operates 44 routes, with a total ridership of 2.6 lakhs in Bhubaneswar. (CRUT, 2022)
Online engagement
CRUT has a website (capital region transport.in) and a mobile application (MO BUS – The way we move). They have accounts on four social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They have 15.9k followers on Twitter (@CRUT_BBSR), 7.7k followers on Facebook (Capital Region Urban Transport), 3,225 followers on Instagram (@crut_bbsr), and 364 followers on LinkedIn (Capital Region Urban Transport).
Analysis of 4 months of data on CRUT’s socials
Data from CRUT’s social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram were collected between October 2022 and January 2023. The data was carefully analyzed to understand the level of engagement that has been occurring across these platforms and to draw comparisons. The collected data points included the number of posts, categories, modes, languages, total replies, positive replies, negative replies, inquiries, suggestions, responses from the CRUT team, retweets, shares, likes, and mentions for each post.
Inferences from the analysis
It was observed that the month of October does not contain any posts under the category of “Involve.” However, the other three months have 5 per cent of posts under the category “involve.” Twitter has received comparatively twice the number of comments compared to Facebook and Instagram. It was noted that the posts in December had received more impressions across all three platforms due to the Hockey World Cup. The top three categories that received suggestions included New Routes, Timings of the current buses, and any new initiative by CRUT.
Facebook and Instagram had no replies from CRUT with respect to customer queries and suggestions. The followers of all the mediums have actively participated in the Quiz category of posts – there are an average of 30 replies each month. The “Housing and Urban Development” Twitter page of Odisha contributed 59% to the impressions. The maximum impressions were created in January when Mo-Bus was launched in Rourkela. They are the most active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with a maximum two-way engagement happening on Twitter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the deployment of social media plays an important role in connecting with the public. It acts as a transparent mode of communication, encourages citizens to voice their opinions, and fosters transparent governance and decision-making.
Increased civic engagement, improved communication between citizens and government officials, and increased transparency, accessibility, and inclusivity of the decision-making process are just a few advantages that can come from effective digital citizen engagement. Governments can foster more democratic and collaborative societies by utilizing digital technologies, giving people more ability to influence the laws that have an impact on their daily lives. By leveraging the power of digital technologies to engage citizens in meaningful ways, cities can create more livable, sustainable, and equitable urban environments for all.
Authors: Devika J., Priscilla Paul, Gayatri Doctor, Bankim Kalra
