South Central Illinois Mass Transit District (SCT) is launching a new Website soon and with it reaffirms its 25-year commitment to the community. “I’m proud to announce the upcoming launch of our new, highly-interactive Website along with several new rider-focused programs,” said Sherri Bassen, SCT public affairs chief.
SCT has long offered safe, reliable and cost-effective public-transportation and with their new digital platform will make it easier than ever to catch a ride to your favorite local destination, plus you’ll also be able to receive emergency route updates via email, contact their public affairs team when needed and leave a review of your trip or submit a complaint straight from your smartphone.
“It’s all about making things easier for our riders,” says Bassen. “It’s about putting into play viable, state-of-the-art and user-friendly digital tools that keeps us better connected with our clients and their needs.”
After an extensive review and audit of their current Website and notification systems, SCT discovered several key areas that needed immediate improvement. The first was making their Website site mobile-friendly, so their riders could check routes via their smartphone. The second was creating a new email system that would notify riders of route changes and emergency closures the instant they happen. And the third was developing a new and improved brand management strategy that better spreads the word of the valuable services SCT offers.
“We found that even though we’ve been in business for more than 25-years there were still people in the local area and throughout our served communities who know nothing of our service,” said Bassen. “We’re committed to fixing that.”
When launched the new Website will be accessible via any smartphone, tablet or computer with its data presented in an easy-to-read, totally mobile-friendly format. Riders will also be able to search their individual routes for stop locations and times of arrival straight from their phone.
“It’s quite amazing,” said Bassen. “You can simply type in the location of your SCT bus stop on your phone and you’ll be shown all of the scheduled stops. Plus riders also have the option of printing their individual routes or downloading a current bus schedule to their phone or computer.”
The new Website will also offer the opportunity for riders to send SCT a review of their trip right from their smartphone. “We really want to hear from our riders, to know what it is they like, what they don’t like and what they would like to see on our buses,” Bassen said. “Our new review system will make that easy; riders can even leave a quick 1-to-5 star rating of their trip.”
The biggest change however (and to their communication system in whole) is SCT’s new Rider Alert System. Now riders can register for route specific email alert notifications which will inform them of closures and modifications immediately when they happen. “Riders can sign up for the new service right on the Website, right from their smartphones,” said Bassen.
“Plus, we’ve got many other additions in the works as well, including a new interactive community calendar, a job board and more,” concluded Bassen.
The new Website is scheduled for a mid-October release.
