News Release - June 26, 2006
Ontira Communications’ TripFinder Launches in St. Louis to Provide Web-Based Trip Planning for Metro Customers
VANCOUVER, BC - June 26, 2006 - Metro St. Louis has launched TripFinder, a web-based transit trip planning application distributed by Ontira Communications Inc. (OCI®). TripFinder provides Metro customers with 24/7 accessibility to plan transit trips in the greater St. Louis area.
Customers visiting Metro’s website can plan full address-to-address, multi-modal trips, which are generated by TripFinder’s state-of-the-art routing algorithm and dynamic mapping. TripFinder also includes Call Center integration that allows customer service representatives to improve service with functionalities such as the ability to directly email or fax trip and route information to customers.
Metro St. Louis is the first installation to utilize Ontira’s DataLoader application which imports and audits transit/GIS data for validity. DataLoader provides significant benefits, such as reducing the time and effort required to load new schedules, eliminating the need for costly proprietary export interfaces to scheduling applications, and helping to quickly identify and repair errors in scheduling databases.
"Metro is extremely pleased with the software, service and support we are receiving from Ontira. We have requested numerous customizations and they have been a true partner in providing the solutions we need. Data integration has been made seamless and very reliable using Ontira's DataLoader, which they developed for our project. Our customers, both internal and external have given us excellent feedback since the system was put in service,” says Tom Dutton, Director of Operations Systems for Metro St. Louis.
"TripFinder can substantially improve a transit agency's customer service and call center capacity by automating responses to trip planning requests from the public. The newly enhanced TripFinder interface also adds to the software's usability and user-friendliness," comments Gerald Bachmayer, Director of Ontira Communications.
TripFinder was formally released to the public on June 16, 2006, following 2 months of beta service that began in mid-April. Statistics indicate that TripFinder is gaining strong momentum, with over 36,000 visitors in the month of May and average daily site traffic increasing 57% from April to May.
Metro St. Louis (www.metrostlouis.org), formally Bi-State Development Agency, was established in 1949 and is the public transportation system operator of MetroBus, MetroLink, and Call-A-Ride in the greater St. Louis area.
About Ontira Communications Inc.
Ontira empowers transit operators with solutions that enhance customer communications. Providing Automated Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) technology since 1984, Ontira has earned a reputation for reliable and user-friendly multimedia applications and superior customer service. Ontira’s information solutions enable transit users across North America and Australia to access traveler information via telephone, Internet, kiosk, fax, wireless technology and digital signage.
- For more information contact:
- Heather Liau
- Marketing & Communications
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