Case Study Spotlight: Triangle Transit Authority
Synopsis
Ontira’s TripFinder provides door-to-door, web-based trip planning across multiple counties in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region.
Background
Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) is a public transportation provider, operating in North Carolina's Research Triangle region, which spans the Durham, Orange and Wake Counties. The TTA works together with three partner transit authorities to provide local and regional bus services. Additional transit services are also provided by seven other organizations.
The Need
With so many agencies working together to provide services, the TTA needed a unified approach to customer service. The TTA and its partners in the Research Triangle region each worked independently to provide trip planning services to their customers. Therefore, customer service agents were unable to provide full itineraries for trips that required transfers between transit systems. Instead, callers were being referred to other agencies to find information about connecting services.
When completing a trip planning request, customer service agents were manually generating itineraries by using paper schedules or their own knowledge of the system. Customers visiting individual agency websites could also piece together this information on their own. However, if a trip required transfers between systems, the customer had to visit multiple websites to put together a complete trip itinerary.
This situation reflected a need for improved customer service and an integrated, easy method for planning trips across counties.
The Solution
In 2003, the TTA selected WM-data (formerly Novo Group), one of Northern Europe’s leading IT companies, and its North American partner, Ontira Communications, to provide an Automated Traveler Information System (ATIS) solution for trip planning. Ontira worked with WM-data to provide the TTA with TripFinder, a web-based trip planning application. Available 24/7 via a website developed specifically to provide multi-agency regional transit information (www.gotriangle.org), TripFinder provides transit riders in the Research Triangle Region with address-to-address itinerary planning as well as schedules, route maps and general information. With numerous agencies involved, the challenge was to accurately incorporate the multiple scheduling, fare and GIS databases from the agencies involved. Ontira and WM-data’s team successfully tackled these challenges by utilizing TripFinder’s open architecture to ensure smooth integration of all available transit information. The result was a truly multi-modal, regional trip planning system, capable of generating itineraries that cross service boundaries and transportation modes.
Riders now visit one website to plan trips across counties and to receive accurate information on the varying fare schedules that exist in each service area. TripFinder users enter the trip origin and destination by typing an address, intersection, or landmark, by selecting a stop from a list, or by clicking an interactive map. Once users adjust the date and time of the trip, TripFinder does the rest. TripFinder quickly returns detailed trip plans, including the length of the suggested trips, transfer locations and times, fares, and walking directions. Trip itineraries are also shown dynamically on a map, which allows users to pan and zoom in/out on desired locations or routes.
At call centers in each of the four partner transit agencies, agents now use TripFinder's Customer Service Module to retrieve trip planning information. Agents utilize TripFinder to provide trip plans to callers, search for stops and routes, and retrieve detailed schedule information not available to the general public. Instead of the old paper-based method, agents are able to respond much more quickly to customer inquiries. The time saved also allows agents to focus on customers who require more attention or personalized service.
Results
TripFinder has been online and in operation since the fall of 2003 and currently averages well over 100,000 trip requests per month, peaking at 390,297 requests in the month of September 2005 alone.
Not only is TripFinder a handy tool for the public, it is also enhancing public awareness of transit and contributing to community goals. Online trip planning is highly publicized during the annual six-week SmartCommute Challenge, where commuters are asked to pledge to try to use any alternative mode of transportation to get to school or work, like carpool, vanpool, bus, bike, or telecommute. The convenience and 24/7 availability of an online trip planner contributes greatly to the success of this campaign.
Future Plans
TTA and its partners actively develop their services within each agency’s operations and on a regional basis. TTA’s plans for trip planning enhancements include upgrading to the new version of the TripFinder system to provide users with an easier-to-use
public interface and greater functionality. In addition, the TripFinder Call Center module will be highly utilized in a new regional customer call center, which will begin operations in March 2007. TTA and its partners also intend to integrate IVR and AVL technology
with the TripFinder system in the next 5 years.
More on TripFinder
Read more to discover TripFinder’s features and benefits. |
