Metlink Wellington

Site purpose

Wellington is well known in New Zealand as having the country's most loyal public transportation users. Public transport in the Greater Wellington region comprises over 100 bus routes, 5 rail lines, a harbour ferry service, and the iconic Wellington Cable Car. All totalled, there are over 1.2 million services a year.

Residents and visitors to the region require a easy way to access routes, timetables, fares, news, and service disruption notices, so Metlink.org.nz is key to the daily lives of many Wellingtonians.

Furthermore, travellers often need information while they are already in-transit. For this reason, Metlink needed a version of their site tailored to mobile phones and portable devices, but didn’t want to spend the time and money to recode the entire application suite.

What we did

• We ported the website from an ageing platform to the SilverStripe CMS, as the first stage of a multi-year plan to enhance the website.
• We overhauled the visual design and information architecture of the website, and undertook a thorough analysis of site usability. For that analysis, we worked with external consultancy Optimal Usability, and members of the public visited our offices to provide user feedback.
• We integrated the website with existing journey-planning and timetabling software. In the finished product, data from the software can be cached or accessed in real-time, depending on the nature of the data.
• We optimised the homepage to carry out the top three user tasks identified, which were "How do I get from A to B?," "When is my next bus?," and "How much will my trip cost?"
• We redesigned key pages to reduce the time it takes for users to get relevant information. For example, searching on how to build a journey now displays route numbers, fares, and maps on a single page.
• We migrated the map software, which was hard-to-read and not interactive, to the familiar Google maps.
• We implemented a high degree of WC3 accessibility and made sure the site adhered to Government Web Standards.
• We re-used Metlink's current investment in Microsoft technology, experience, and infrastructure by helping Metlink IT staff deploy a PHP-based solution in Metlink's Windows Server 2008, IIS 7, and SQL Server 2008 production environment.
• We provided Metlink staff with in-person CMS user training.
• We designed a version of the Metlink site specifically for mobile devices. Re-using the same data and applications as the main site kept development costs down.

What users can do now

• Users now perform common tasks in less time, with less difficulty, and in fewer steps.
• Frequent users can easily bookmark pages that interest them; pages on the new website are addressable and use a logical naming convention.
• Users better understand transport routes because they are mapped much more clearly and are interactive.
• Users can subscribe to news, or to service alterations to the transport routes they choose through RSS feeds.
• Users can access route information and timetables from their mobile phones, allowing them to adjust their planned route on the go.

Measures of success

• Metlink staff can now update content that shows on the site within seconds, rather than hours.
• Non-technical Metlink staff find it easier to update the website.
• The website is run from a single production server with low CPU load. A typical daily average is 3000 visitors, with 23,000 page views, and 2.2GB traffic.
• We were able to contribute the work done for the council back into the open source SilverStripe CMS project.
• Public feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Numerous people commented on how the new website made it easier to find the information they want.
• Metlink staff are pleased with the work. Peter Glensor, Chair of Greater Wellington's Transport and Access Committee said:

"The new site is part of Greater Wellington's investment in the public transport network. Getting more people to use public transport more often is imperative for our region's environmental and economic wellbeing. People will choose to use public transport, instead of their cars, if the system is reliable and convenient. Clear, easily accessible and reliable information is an integral part of a high-quality public transport network. I'm delighted that the new Metlink site delivers on that score. The new website is simple, quick and easy to use and a vast improvement on the old website."

The website for The Greater Wellington Regional Council, at gw.govt.nz, was also redesigned and rebuilt by SilverStripe Ltd.