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Press Release
News Archives | Wheels Newsletter
For Immediate Release
Posted 2 December 2004
WHEELS HONORED AS ONE OF TOP FOUR TRANSIT WEBSITES IN NATION
Federal Transit Administration recognizes top transit websites
 Wheels Online has been honored with the Federal Transit Administration's "Top Transit Traveler Information Website 2004" award. WHEELSbus.com was one of four transit agency winners on the West Coast that was selected after a national review of 1,455 active transit information websites.
The U. S. Department of Transportation Volpe National Transportation Systems Center reviewed and ranked the websites for FTA and its partner in this project, the Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation Systems. Evaluation criteria included the posting of information, such as route and system maps, schedules, trip planner services, fares and other useful information and links. The organization of information and the ease with which a website user could locate and gain access to the information also were considered.
Transit websites help improve service to customers by making transit system information available 24 hours per day. Websites eliminate time spent waiting for customer assistance in telephone queues and they free up transit agency employees, who may be able to provide other services.
Besides Wheels Online, other winners include the Tri-County Metropolitan District (TriMet) of Portland, Oregon; King County Department of Transportation (King County Metro Transit) of Seattle, Washington; and Omnitrans of San Bernardino, California. Previous winners in the San Francisco Bay Area included the websites for SF Muni and Santa Clara VTA. These links open in a new browser window.
Wheels Online originally started as a college course class project back in 1997 and was hosted on a free web host until January 1999 when it went official at lavta.org and later on wheelsbus.com. The website was recently streamlined and contains current rider information, bus schedules, meeting agendas, a new online Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system and a new helpdesk system that tracks customer comments and provides a response within 72 hours. Some of the more popular sections of the website is the Links page and the Wheels Kids area. Wheels Online averages over 6,000 unique hits a month and is visited by viewers all over the world.
Related Link: (Links open in a new browser window)
- FTA Transit Awards Page - Federal Transit Administration (Currently not available)
The Other Winners : (Links open in a new browser window)
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