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Friday, October 13, 2006

Saving Money and Building Goodwill 

From LinuxInsider.com

Portland, Oregon's Tri-Met is doing something few transit agencies have been able to do—wrench themselves free from proprietary software in at least one area of operations—providing timely and convenient scheduling information to their customers.

They are partnering with Google to provide arrival times to about 300,000 commuters per month via cell phone. Lack of timely information for customers is one source of frustration for them that can be eliminated by this kind of technology. And it can help build goodwill in the community by positioning a transit agency as taking active steps to help improve customer service.