Metro Transit asks you to ‘test drive’ new version of Metro Online home page

Metro Transit is testing a new home page design for its website, and is looking for feedback from the bus-riding community.

Metro is hoping to make it easier for customers to connect with the most-requested information. Not only is Metro working to make the information easier to find, but it is also setting up the website to display better on mobile devices and be more accessible for the visually impaired.

A beta version of the site is now available for review, and Metro has set up a quick survey to collect comments. The redesign can be viewed at metro.kingcounty.gov/beta.

User surveys and visitor reports show that customers use Metro Online primarily for planning trips, finding route schedules, and reading announcements. The redesigned home page highlights those features and organizes other key sources in ways that make the information easy to get to.

“When building a site as large as Metro Online,” said Bob Virkelyst, supervisor of Metro’s Marketing and Service Information group, “it's useful to have a period of time where our customers can test it out, give us feedback, and help us make revisions and improvements to the website. The comments will also help shape how the site develops as we move forward.”

In 2011, there were more than 13 million visits to Metro Online.

Virkelyst said this is a test of the home page design only. Later this year, Metro plans on making other changes to the site including updates to the navigation bars, and ways to improve the features and functionality of the Trip Planner.