Adapted from Passenger Transport, Monday, June 23, 2003
Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit in Ithaca, N.Y., recently deployed a web-based trip planner on its web site. Instead of searching through schedules and maps to plan their trips, visitors to the TCAT web site can simply enter their origin, destination, and desired time of departure or arrival. The trip planner then returns the three best itineraries for the trip.
The trip planner uses only the agency's schedules and focuses on landmarks rather than specific addresses, emphasizing simplicity for new users who may be unfamiliar with their surroundings. For example, users may enter a destination into the planner as simply "supermarket" or "restaurant" and the planner returns suggestions for appropriate stops and routes. The origin and destination can also be a general district, such as a college campus or downtown area.
TCAT also noted other benefits it will gain from implementing the trip planner: the ability to add and change schedules quickly and easily, to notify riders about current delays or system problems, and to view real-time statistics about their riders' trip choices. With the targeted advertising capabilities of the web page, TCAT will have the opportunity to generate revenue from the trip planner as well.