Home page of redesigned Sound Transit website

Sound Transit’s completely redesigned website went live on Tuesday evening. My first impressions are mostly positive despite the glitches, which should be worked out soon. The design is modern, fresh, and clean. Key customer information is logically organized and easily accessible right from the home page and menu bar. There is a brand new trip planner and interactive mapping system. Check it out and let Sound Transit know what you think by clicking Submit Feedback in the top right corner.

More initial impressions after the jump.

The Trip Planner works very much like Google’s trip planner, with a large map showing the chosen itinerary, and your route options on the side. You can also plan a trip directly from the map by right-clicking on any location. Although the directions are detailed, you can’t click on them to zoom in and follow the route step-by-step, like on Google. It also shows the cash fare versus ORCA fare.

The printed version of the itinerary needs much improvement. Google presents it on a single page, map included. Sound Transit’s takes up 3 pages, wastes half of the paper with very small and poorly formatted text and doesn’t include a map.

The new Maps page is interactive and regional, including bus routes from all six regional bus operators, Sounder, Link, and the Washington State Ferries. It’s missing King County ferries, the South Lake Union Streetcar, and the Seattle Center Monorail. The locations of ORCA/fare outlets (finally!), park & rides, and individual stops/stations (when zoomed in close enough) can be displayed. Clicking on them brings a pop-up with useful information.

All maps on the website use the same platform as the trip planner, however, a trip cannot be planned from the Map page or any other map other than Trip Planner’s. Why not? Multiple modes can be shown on the map at the same time, however, you cannot choose to display multiple bus or ferry routes together. You cannot search for specific stops/stations on the map or website.

There no longer appears to be an overall system map (one can be accessed from the schedule book PDF) even though many pages link to a “System Map”. You cannot print any of the interactive maps on the website. It just gives you a page of text without the map.

The Rider Guide, together with Fares & Passes and Schedules, provide all of the information someone needs to ride Sound Transit. Much of the information in the Rider Guide was buried under layers of navigation and weren’t easily discovered from the home page. There are shortcuts to most frequently requested information from the home page.

On the home page: One can’t tell if there’s an alert for Sounder or Link without clicking on its tab on the home page. A way to quickly see all service status from the home page would be helpful. I hope to see the rotating generic photos eventually replaced with current news and promotions like on Community Transit’s website. A nitpick: each icon’s white background is visible. They should be transparent.

One thing bus and train fans will miss is the information page about the vehicles that Sound Transit uses. Those fans, like myself, will likely not appreciate being called “suspicious” for “taking photos of transit operations and equipment”. Sound Transit has told me this morning they will remove that reference to photography and that their photo policy (which is nowhere on the website) has not changed but I digress.

In my opinion, the redesign is a great improvement, no doubt thanks to the feedback Sound Transit received from users, so be sure to continue providing feedback. Also, STB’s own Ben Schiendelman and John Jensen were on the design committee so they’re reading your comments here, too.