Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) representatives unveiled a newly-designed ECAT website and online trip planner to the community at an Oct. 27 event. With the new trip planner, users can enter their starting and ending destinations and receive detailed directions, including nearest bus stop location, route transfer information and total estimated time of travel. The new website and online trip planner are mobile-friendly, making planning routes from smart phones while on-the-go convenient.
The online trip planner, available on the ECAT homepage, will benefit those already familiar with ECAT’s routes and schedules as well as potential riders and visitors to the area. Because the trip planner is integrated with Google and Bing Maps, users can simply enter the name of a location, eliminating the need for a specific street address.
“We are so thrilled to introduce the online trip planner on the brand new ECAT website as the next phase of the ECAT technology upgrades,†said Tonya Ellis, Director of Marketing and Community Relations for ECAT. “We are dedicated to constantly improving customer experience, and the new site and online trip planner are the perfect complement to our current real-time bus locator app.â€
The improved website and online trip planner are being introduced in conjunction with the system’s new Track Star initiative, which encourages riders to utilize the new tech features to become ECAT experts. At the event, riders were able to check out the new upgrades and sign up to be an “ECAT Track Starâ€. Riders also participated in the onsite “Beat the Trip Planner†contest, where they competed to win prizes using the online trip planner and traditional maps.
“This event was a fun way for us to get the word out about all of ECAT’s newest features, and it was great to see riders using the technology with ease,†said Ellis.
To check out ECAT’s new website and online trip planner, visit GoECAT.com.