e-Transit: Electronic Business Strategies for Public Transportation, Volume 4: Advanced Features of Transit Websites (2003)

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Appendix D: Survey Outline for Itinerary Planning Introduction: This survey is part of a Transit Cooperative Research Program study on the best practices in transit Web site design for customer information. The purpose of the survey is to obtain information from people like you with policy-level responsibility for the development, administration, and/or operation of transit agency Web sites. The information we are seeking involves what we have identified as advanced Web site features on your site. You have been selected to participate based on a review of many transit and non-transit Web sites, a process which indicated to us that your Web site has some of the advanced features we want to explore. The survey is organized into the following sections: • Introductory Questions • Current Itinerary Planning On-line Practices • Itinerary Planning System Design • Itinerary Planning Administration and Maintenance • Potential Improvements and Enhancements • Current and Planned Software and Technology • Project Objectives / Realization • Value Creation / Perceived or Actual Benefits • Implementation Issues and Lessons Learned Introductory Questions We are going to start with several general questions about the current advanced features of your Itinerary Planning page. 1. To confirm our on-line review, which of the following advanced features do you currently have on your agency Web site? (Note: If respondent is answering more than one advanced feature questionnaire, it is only necessary to ask this section of questions once.) • Real-time information or near-real time information (give an example of near real-time information and then ask respondent to specify)_____ (a) • Automated Itinerary Planning system ______ (b) • Automatic e-mail notification (or similar system and ask if it is connected to real-time if they have it) _____ (c) • Web site or advanced feature registration to personalize customer experience (provide example if necessary) ______ (d)

2. (Ask only if they have more than one advanced feature) Of the advanced features that you have on your site (review previous list), which do you think is the most important to your customers and why? 3. Are you planning on adding any of these advanced features? 4. How important do you think it would be to add the following advanced features that you don’t already have on your site? (Only include features they do not have.) • Real-time information or near-real time information (a) • Automated Itinerary Planning system (b) • Automatic e-mail notification (c) • Web site registration to personalize customer experience (d) Current Itinerary Planning On-line Practices 5. Overall, what aspect of your Itinerary Planning service do you consider most useful for your customers and why? 6. Have you visited Itinerary Planning sites for other agencies? If so, which ones? (a) Compared to these other sites, how would you rate yours? (b) 7. On the Itinerary Planning sites we’ve looked at, we’ve found a number of different features on the input screen. On a scale of 1 to 5, please tell us how important you think it is for an Itinerary Planning input screen to have the following features. • Ability to enter origin and destination by intersection_______ (a) • Ability to enter origin and destination by landmark_______ (b) • Ability to choose landmarks from a pre-specified list_______ (c) • Ability to enter origin and destination by address_______ (d) • Option to specify a desired departure or arrival time______ (e) • Option to specify the day of week______ (f) • Specification of desired criteria for planning an itinerary (i.e. minimize travel time, number of transfers, etc.)______ (g) • Option to specify the maximum acceptable walking distance_______ (h) • Ability to choose only wheelchair accessible route_______ (i) • Specification of desired mode(s)_______ (j) • Specification of fare category_______ (k)

8. As you may know, Itinerary Planning sites often allow the customer to specify parameters in developing itineraries (such as minimizing travel time or fare). Of the following possible parameters, which do you think is most important? (Ask all responses regardless of whether respondent's Web site has the option, except in obvious cases such as where there is only a single mode.) • Minimize travel time • Minimize fare • Minimize walking distance • Minimize transfers 9. (For agencies that have parameters as in question 8) In terms of the parameters listed above (repeat if necessary), have you collected any data indicating which of these parameters gets used most often? (a) If so, which is it? (b) 10. Insert input form questions specific to the agency here. Note: This will be prepared as we finalize the list of agencies and finish reviewing their Itinerary Planning tools. 11. In our review of Itinerary Planning sites including yours, we have observed that a wide range of potential itinerary output exists. On a scale of 1 to 5, how important do you think the following types of Itinerary Planning output would be to your customers? • Presentation of multiple itinerary options_______ (a) • Written walking directions_______ (b) • Walking map_______ (c) • Fare calculation for each itinerary_______(d) • Calculation of total travel time for each itinerary______ (e) • Direct link to an on-line version of the route map and/or schedule_____(f) • Option to automatically plan the trip in reverse _______ (g) • Direct or automatic link to service changes/disruptions that may affect a particular itinerary______ (h) 12. Insert output form questions specific to the agency here. Note: This will be prepared as we finalize the list of agencies and finish reviewing their Itinerary Planning tools. 13. Can a customer customize their Itinerary Planning experience so that if they return to the site it recognizes their preferences? (a) If not, how useful (scale of 1-5) do think customers would find this if it were added to your system? (b)

14. Do you know approximately how long it takes the average customer to generate an itinerary on your Web site? Itinerary Planning System Design 15. Approximately when was the automated Itinerary Planning feature added to your Web site? (Prompt for why it was added) 16. When designing the site, who was the primary market you had in mind (existing customers, tourists, occasional customers)? (a) Is this still the case? (b) 17. Did you do market research in designing your Itinerary Planning site? 18. Was the Itinerary Planning system added by in-house staff, or was it contracted to an outside vendor? (a) If so, may we ask which vendor supplied it? (b) 19. (If Itinerary Planning system was contracted…) Which parts of the Itinerary Planning site were part of the vendor’s package and which parts were customized? 20. Approximately how much did it cost to develop your Itinerary Planning feature? (a) Approximately what percentage of your current Web site investment does this constitute? (b) 21. Which of the following issues did you consider when designing your Web site Itinerary Planning system? • Customer ease of use • Attracting new customers • Attracting return customers • Reducing telephone inquiries • Ease of keeping the system up-to-date • Other considerations? 22. When answering calls, do your customer service agents use the same Itinerary Planner as that used by customers on your Web site?

Itinerary Planning Administration and Maintenance 23. How are the features of your Itinerary Planning site kept up to date (for example, so that they link to the most recent schedules/routes)? (a) Which departments are involved? (b) 24. How often are routes and schedules updated for your Itinerary Planning site? 25. What kind of quality control is done for your Itinerary Planning tool? For example, does anyone make sure that the itineraries provided are correct and most efficient? 26. How do you track usage of your Itinerary Planning system? 27. Based on how you track usage of the Itinerary Planning system, how does it rank in popularity among all your Web site pages? 28. How much repeat use of your Itinerary Planning system do you get? 29. (Ask only if respondent indicated in previous questions that they do track usage of itinerary planning feature) How has your customers' use of your Itinerary Planning tool changed over time? In what ways? Potential Improvements and Enhancements 30. Since the automated Itinerary Planning feature was added to your Web site, has it been modified or redesigned? (a) If so, in what ways was it modified? (b) Why was it modified? (c) 31. What do you hear most from customers in terms of aspects of the Itinerary Planning site that could be improved? 32. How could you make the input form(s) of your Itinerary Planning site better for customers? 33. How could you make the output of your Itinerary Planning site more useful for customers?

34. Do you have any plans to add other functionality or make modifications to your Itinerary Planning feature? (Prompt if necessary with list from Current On-line Practices section) (a) Please describe. (b) Current and Planned Software and Technology 35. Did implementation of Itinerary Planning require you to upgrade your Web server hardware or software? (a) If so, how and why? (b) 36. What were the hardware requirements or changes required for implementing your Itinerary Planning system? 37. What were the software requirements or changes required for implementing your Itinerary Planning system? 38. Was the software used to create the Itinerary Planning system or any of its functions ever an issue? (a) If so, how? (b) 39. Was your Itinerary Planning system developed using any of the TCIP standards? Project Objectives / Realization 40. What were the main objectives in adding Itinerary Planning to your site? (a) Do you feel that these objectives have been realized? (b) 41. On a scale of 1-5, how well do you think your Itinerary Planning site is meeting your customers' expectations? (Probe for rationale if appropriate.) 42. On a scale of 1-5, how well do you think your Itinerary Planning site is meeting your agency's expectations? (Probe for rationale if appropriate.) Value Creation / Perceived or Actual Benefits 43. Do you feel that your Itinerary Planning feature adds value to your “business”? How? (a) Do you think the benefit is greater than the cost of developing/maintaining this feature? (b) 44. Can you describe the value or benefits (either quantitative or qualitative) that your Itinerary Planning feature provides to your customers?

45. Has the Itinerary Planning system had any impact on your more traditional transit information services, such as telephone agents? (a) For example, has there been any demonstrable reduction in the number of calls to customer service agents as the result of your Itinerary Planning tool? (b) 46. Do you feel there is a possibility of “overselling” the Internet’s role in providing customer information via the Itinerary Planning feature? (If necessary, probe: Has your focus on the Itinerary Planning feature lessened the resources available for other customer service functions, even though these functions might be necessary? Do you think your customers have higher expectations for the Itinerary Planning site than what can be delivered?) Implementation Issues and Lessons Learned 47. Have you faced any significant implementation or operational issues with your Itinerary Planning feature? 48. Can you describe any other “lessons learned” that you would like other transit agencies designing an Itinerary Planning service to know?