Photo cc jk5854
RIPTA is in the progress of redesigning their website and has a survey seeking your input.
RIPTA’s website is something that has come up here time and time again. If they are actively seeking comment on it, we should give it to them.
Certainly take the survey, but if you want to leave comments or discuss here, I’ll let RIPTA know.
News from PBN and EcoRI about RIPTA's proposed fare changes
Is it easy for passengers to buy tickets and passes to ride the bus? Do we offer the types of fare products they are looking for? The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) wants to know how passengers feel about...
RIPTA is seeking public input on their Comprehensive Operational Analysis. So far they’ve collected 10,000 surveys of riders by sending surveyors out to ride every route in their system. They also have an online...
Jef Nickerson
Greater City Providence
I already did so. I strongly suggested they make a mobile friendly web site too.
My number one complaint about the RIPTA site is that the system map is 3 years old. This has caused problems for me on more than one occasion. Most recently, I was in Wickford and needed to take the 14 home to Providence. According to the (outdated) map on the website, the 14 goes down Brown St. in Wickford, which it no longer does. I called RIPTA about it twice and sent them emails from their website. All I ever got was a canned response. As a daily RIPTA rider, I really hope they are planning to take the results of this survey seriously.
In the age of mobile devises and smart phones, why not a RIPTA Mobile App? Realtime updates, schedules, delays, approximates, emergency info and fares.
RIPTA used to have a Palm Pre app but I searched and I cannot find a link for it. Maybe it’s no longer available.
A Palm Pre app? For the 5 people who have one? Just make a damn mobile-friendly site. As awful as the MBTA service is, you at least get a nice mobile site with them.
Yeah, I filled it out a few days ago. I put in the constructive criticism section that I’d love to see RIPTA develop a comprehensive interactive map, where you could just click on a location and get information for that particular route (a la Google Earth).
Here’s my inspiration:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/
P.S. is anyone at some level of government interested in the ideas / complaints we post? Just curious.
To amend the instructions I gave for navigating the map: You first have to put a destination, (i.e. “Kings Cross”) in order to see/use the click-able feature of finding out more information about a route.
How uncanny! In the Oct. 29th Providence Journal, there’s a main editorial from a member of staff who visited London recently. They praise London’s “superb public services, especially in transit. There is a very dense subway and bus system, and very good roads with clear signage.”
It’s not to say that it doesn’t have its problems, but there seems to be a strong commitment abroad to public services like these which are deemed optional here.
It’s a lousy, lousy website. The maps are not only old but hard to read if you’re not a native. I’ve taken to checking Google as well, in an attempt to get my bearings.
It did feel good to write “Nothing” in the box that asked me what I liked about the website. Thanks for the little mini catharsis 😉
New RIPTA website is live. Two first impressions. I like that bus pases can now be ordered on-line. However, route maps on all the bus lines are not showing. Maybe they are still developing this functionality. I’ll have to poke around some more and see what else is new.
http://www.ripta.com
I see many of the schedules not drawing a line, just showing the timetable stops, or drawing an incomplete line. Once those are working properly, they’ll be great.
You can also download the feed if you want to develop apps…
http://www.ripta.com/mobile-applications
New RIPTA System Map now uploaded to their website.