Civic Resource Group and TransitScreen To Modernize MTC’s Transit Signage In San Francisco Bay Area
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Civic Resource Group and TransitScreen Inc. have joined forces to modernize the transit displays in at least 46 different locations across the San Francisco Bay Area as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Hub Signage program.
CRG is a prime contractor to MTC for elements of its 511 Next Generation System. The company will design and operate the new 511.org website, manage transit data, and migrate the existing Regional Transit Database to the cloud. CRG has subcontracted with TransitScreen, a pioneer in multimodal transportation displays, to modernize signage for the Electronic Traveler Information Displays portion of the project. TransitScreen provides rich, easy to use, and relevant transit information to millions of weekly users in locations throughout the U.S.
511 is a one-stop phone and web source for up-to-the-minute Bay Area traffic, transit, rideshare, bicycling, and parking information. It’s free of charge and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the nine-county Bay Area. 511 is managed by a partnership of public agencies led by the MTC, the California Highway Patrol, public transit agencies and the California Department of Transportation.
The goal of the joint CRG-TransitScreen effort is to provide 511’s comprehensive, real-time and scheduled transit departure information on current and future electronic transit information displays. The redesigned MTC displays will help drive increased transit use, sustainable transportation awareness, and overall usability by the traveling public. Once complete, the system will deliver transit information to 180 transit displays in 46+ high foot traffic locations throughout the nine county Bay Area including San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Mountain View and other Bay Area cities.
“This project is an opportunity to meaningfully improve the transit customer’s experience,” says Matt Caywood, CEO, TransitScreen. “Bay Area travelers have come to trust 511’s departure times delivered through MTC’s network of digital transit information displays. Now, we have the opportunity to use TransitScreen’s proven solutions to jointly create world class information signs.”
MTC initiated its Hub Signage program in 2008 to standardize the signage system, beginning with 21 key transit hubs and three international airports in the Bay Area. The program seeks to simplify transit riders’ experience by creating a consistent ‘look and feel’ through actionable, real-time information.
“Urban mobility is becoming a key focus area for local governments,” says Dr. Gregory Curtin, CRG’s founder and CEO. “Transportation agencies now rely heavily on technical innovation to improve mobility while also reducing accidents, carbon footprint, traffic jams, crowding. We feel that it’s our civic duty to help agencies be more creative not only in encouraging citizens to use alternative forms of transportation, but most importantly making it easy for today’s mobile citizens to get around whenever and however they choose.”
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