Government Technology - June 2008 - (Page 38)

geo info Trip Planner pays dividends to the agency. “Since December 2006, we have seen a 193 percent increase in unique visitors to our Web site,” he said. “We had 1.3 million visitors in 2007 and 185,000 in January, so the number of customers we’re serving keeps growing.” Additionally people getting directions through self-service instead of calling for help translates into cost savings, and Benjamin said his agency has started work to quantify them. For instance, the abandonment rate on calls — people who get tired of waiting on hold — has dropped dramatically. “This is allowing our call center to handle calls from substantially more people, and we can redeploy some staffers who previously answered phones.” Through the portal, users can get real-time information about elevator and escalator outages. Alerts provide riders with information on unplanned disruptions in subway service, and users can sign up to receive email notifications of planned construction work. Advisories, which detail information on planned service disruptions, are attached to all itinerary requests. Users can send emails directly to individuals assigned responsibility for customer service by rail line, and they can read the results of riders’ customer service report card survey results. “With the portal, we try to offer as much information as we can because we recognize it has become a vital tool for people,” said Fleuranges. “We always offered directions and fare structures online, but we have made a big push in the last three years to improve on that.” Kevin Adler, a Microsoft geospatial solutions specialist, said one of the neat things about the Trip Planner upgrade is that the agency “built it themselves and have made it much more of an immersive experience. They are not geospatial specialists, yet they can create something quite sophisticated — for instance, using a tool called MapCruncher to overlay subway routes on city maps.” Adler said improvements in geospatial technology make it easier for public-sector Trip Planner features a host of nextgeneration mapping tools for those trying to make their way through Gotham City. However, travelers familiar with the city can still access traditional time and location diagrams for a quick summary of what goes where and when. Making the Portal Interactive Trip Planner improvements are just one of many enhancements to NYC Transit’s Web site. Riders can use Trip Planner not just from PCs but from mobile devices as well. TransitTracker that provides real-time bus and light-rail train arrival times that riders can access online, on the street and over the phone. By equipping every TriMet bus with a GPS transmitter, the agency can relay to users exactly how far a bus is from their stop. “This is allowing our call center to handle calls from substantially more people, and we can redeploy some staffers who previously answered phones.” Fred Benjamin, assistant vice president for customer service, New York City Transit JUNE_08 Making your way through New York City and its boroughs can be a challenge even for those who live in the area. While you could always hail a cab to get where you need to go, public transit is a far more economical solution. With a few mouse clicks on NYC Transit’s Web site and $2 for a subway ticket, even ﬁrst-time visitors to the Big Apple can make sense of, and make their way through, the ultimate concrete jungle. This Trip Planner map is an aerial view showing subway lines in a portion of the city. customers to innovate. For instance, in Texas both the El Paso and Houston areas created portals that allow the public to check on traffic flow, accidents, camera views of highways, and message signs — with all data overlaid on maps. “These examples are enabling public agencies to better expose their data to citizens,” Adler said. “The cities can visualize their data on top of our maps, and they can focus on their data.” Other transit agencies around the country are looking at ways to use GIS and GPS technology to enhance their trip planners. For instance, TriMet, the public transit agency in the Portland, Ore., area added a feature called Powered by Google Maps and map data from Tele Atlas, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Boston-area Trip Planner allows riders to add to their itinerary map landmarks such as museums, shopping centers and hospitals, with walking directions and their distance from the nearest subway stop. NYC Transit’s Mallick said his team constantly seeks ways to improve Trip Planner and other interactive features of the agency’s portal. “We are always looking at the best and brightest in other regions for ideas,” he said, “as well as at the newest technology on the market or about to come on the market.” CONTRIBUTING WRITER DAVID RATHS DRATHS@MAC.COM IS BASED IN NARBERTH, PA. 38 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - June 2008

Government Technology - June 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions For... 3 Technologies That May Change Your Job ...And Your Life Loosening Medicaid's Grip Better Living Through Technology Immersive Itineraries Help Yourself Taking the Bait Shared Connection Up Close Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities Contents Digital Tactics for a U.S. Recession E-Dilemma Stifling Community Innovation Leadership Interview Estonia Becomes E-Stonia If It Were Up to Me …

Government Technology - June 2008

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