Valley Metro Site Relaunched
Jan 1, 2009Early Sunday, December 28, the Valley Metro website received it’s new, updated look. The new site features a new, task based navigation bar, an updated appearance and other under the hood improvements. The relaunch was timed to coincide with the opening of the METRO light rail service in Phoenix.
We’ve been working with the Regional Public Transportation Authority in Phoenix since last February when we were discovered by them on the ExpressionEngine Pro Network. The web team at RPTA had decided to replace their existing content management system with ExpressionEngine after researching CMS systems, and wished to use an experienced web team to assist in the migration. Our first task with RPTA was to duplicate the existing site, migrate all content into ExpressionEngine and assist in migrating the site to a new dedicated server. We completed this segment in mid July, but it did not go smoothly. The existing site had been built upon for several years and there were some dependencies on offsite technologies that weren’t apparent until the server migration had been completed.
Despite this rocky start, RPTA offered us the opportunity to update the appearance of the site. We worked with their web team to develop a new navigation system in which site visitors would find content by clicking links such as “Fares and Passes” or “Maps and Schedules” rather than choosing a transportation mode and then searching for similar links. This seemingly minor change in approach has resulted in a unified transit site that is more in line with the agency’s goal of presenting viable public transportation options to the citizens of the greater Phoenix metro area.
We are now working on a complete redesign that will take this concept to the next level. Over the next several months we’ll be working with the various agencies to help develop what we believe will be one of the best transit sites in the country. While this has been a very challenging project for an extremely demanding client, it has also been one of the most satisfying jobs we’ve ever taken on.
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