MBTA Website Update

[mitch3910]

mbta.com has been updated with a new (and actually useful) section on the front page for T-Alerts!

Alerts are grouped by line/route with RSS functionality.

It's in the same place, but actually useful now.

The App center is now on the front page as well, and not hidden like it used to be.

Now if there were only no need for alerts, we would be golden....

[aline1969]

I like how the alert says, B line disabled train @ Packard Corner. If they did not get rid of the A line spur (Thanks a lot Hamilton Reality) a dead train could get shoved in there and clear the line.

[digitalsciguy]

mbta.com has been updated with a new (and actually useful) section on the front page for T-Alerts!

Alerts are grouped by line/route with RSS functionality.

It's in the same place, but actually useful now.

The App center is now on the front page as well, and not hidden like it used to be.

Now if there were only no need for alerts, we would be golden....

It looks like they've reverted the alerts section to the old format, which is unfortunate. It may just be that there are no alerts for any of the rail services, but I still contend they should maintain a line-by-line status display, like over at the MTA, NJ Transit, CTA, WMATA, etc. etc. etc...

[mitch3910]

It looks like they've reverted the alerts section to the old format, which is unfortunate. It may just be that there are no alerts for any of the rail services, but I still contend they should maintain a line-by-line status display, like over at the MTA, NJ Transit, CTA, WMATA, etc. etc. etc...

yeah, I noticed they reverted back. It's a shame too because the new one was actually useful.

[saulblum]

yeah, I noticed they reverted back. It's a shame too because the new one was actually useful.

It reverted back during one of the snowstorms the past week or so when there were over 15 commuter rail delays and over 20 bus delays.

[digitalsciguy]

yeah, I noticed they reverted back. It's a shame too because the new one was actually useful.

It reverted back during one of the snowstorms the past week or so when there were over 15 commuter rail delays and over 20 bus delays.

In that case, the use/non-use of this line-by-line delay/advisory breakdown on the main page is ambiguous and is a silly form of minimalist web design. I'm a fan of the ultra-minimalist Swiss Design, but having the information format change so drastically violates the established UI pact between the web site and its users. Even if there are no delays, it is absolutely necessary positive reinforcement to show that outright.

I will see who I can talk to in order to make this UI improvement permanent.

[saulblum]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... e_crashes/

The three-hour failure on Jan. 12 was largely caused by the T’s attempt to redesign the four-year-old “Service Alerts’’ box on the homepage. But that required the database server to run more queries than it could handle, and most visitors got a blank page when they tried to visit MBTA.com during three peak morning hours in the storm.

The T responded by reverting to the old box and tweaking the database, but it had not finished by the next major storm, Jan. 27. The site then crashed for about an hour and a half — again during the morning rush — and the T estimates that as many as 40,000 visitors may have been turned away, on top of the 144,000 who made it through.

[danib62]

That stinks because I liked the new t-alerts box. It was much more informative. I hope they figure out how to make it more efficient and bring it back.

[caduceus]

Sounds like the T is learning what a lot of web site programmers learn the hard way - some really neat ways to display up-to-date information work great - when you've only got a handful of people looking at your site.

[saulblum]

The new alerts display is back!

[danib62]

They also now let you flip through the various "ads" in the main spot on the homepage. I'm glad the new display is back. I find it much more informative then the old one. hopefully they fixed up the back end properly so it's less demanding on the servers and doesn't crash under heavy traffic loads.

[saulblum]

I especially like the advisories are shown on the main page with the new alerts layout.

[digitalsciguy]

I especially like the advisories are shown on the main page with the new alerts layout.

Yes! I had mentioned that directly to a project lead a year or so ago and am glad they made that as part of that whole section. Immediate delays are important, but it's also critical that such delays are differentiable from long-term/planned service changes and that both are visible side-by-side at a glance.