3 Ways KT Rider Alerts Get Better in 2025
In a September survey of rider-alerts subscribers, we heard a desire for quicker notification of trip cancelations and the ability to filter content, such as signing up to receive alerts only on the days of the week they commute.
Good news: We plan to roll out a new messaging platform called SimplifyTransit in early 2025 that will empower riders to do just that and more. You’ll hear more details in the coming weeks. We will give customers plenty of time to subscribe to the new service once a cutover date has been determined.
The shift to SimplifyTransit’s platform is one of a slew of rider-information upgrades in the works, made possible by the advancement of information technology and open data standards. Kitsap Transit has been working with Clever Devices for more than 18 months on hardware and software upgrades to improve our capabilities for managing our transit network, including vehicle locations and tracking how crowded our buses are.
Clever Devices’ system will produce a real-time data feed that complies with the Google Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), and that data feed will be useful to many transit apps as well as SimplifyTransit.
When Kitsap Transit launches SimplifyTransit, customers will be able to tap into powerful new features.
Personalized subscriptions
With SimplifyTransit, you will be able to subscribe to rider alerts for only the days of the week that you ride a bus or ferry and only the transit stops you use. Benefit: More signal, less noise.
In our 2023 origin-destination survey, 40 percent of respondents said they ride KT five or more days a week; 30 percent said they ride three to four days a week; and 30 percent ride less frequently. This shouldn’t surprise anyone in the post-COVID era: A recent Gallup survey found that 53 percent of U.S. workers in remote-capable jobs were in hybrid work arrangements.
Now, KT customers who commute only three days a week can opt to subscribe to alerts that impact just those days of the week. Similarly, customers who ride fixed-route buses can opt-in to get alerts for only the transit stops that they use. If the bus must detour due to construction but the route change doesn’t impact your stops, you won’t be bothered with an alert.
Because of the customization offered by the new platform, all subscribers will need to sign up for the new service. We realize we asked our subscribers to sign up again in late September after we scrubbed our lists to delete inactive and spam accounts. We think you’ll find the sign-up process for the new platform to be relatively simple and intuitive. Stay tuned for details.
2. Real-time bus arrival information
Customers will be able to text a local phone number with the ID of their transit stop and receive information on the next bus arrival. (Your phone provider may charge you for sending the text message if texting isn’t included in your phone plan; check with your provider if you’re unsure.)
Customers will also be able to track their bus in real-time on a website and get the expected time of arrival (ETA) in Google Maps and other apps that consume a Google Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) real-time feed.
These upgrades should address the nagging worry of many a transit rider -- “Where’s my bus?”
For those who use our Doublemap app, that service will expire on Dec. 31, 2024. We are working diligently to launch a new real-time bus location map as soon as possible.
3. Translated alerts
While 99 percent of Kitsap Transit riders in our origin-destination study took the survey in English, Kitsap Transit also offers translation services. Spanish and Tagalog are the only two languages that meet Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population thresholds in Kitsap Transit’s Title VI plan.
Providing alerts in these languages will expand access to our transit services for those who need it. In our September rider alerts survey, nearly half of respondents told us it was “very important” or “extremely important” for subscribers to get alerts in their primary language.
Mobile app?
One of the bigger takeaways from the September rider-alerts survey was the strong desire by subscribers for a KT mobile app (see chart below).
We asked, “How would you like to receive Kitsap Transit service information in the future?” and presented six channels through which customers could get the information. The most preferred channel, by a wide margin, was a mobile app. The second most preferred channel was the Kitsap Transit website.
The Google Maps mobile app was the most downloaded travel app in the United States in 2023, according to Statista, a global data provider. Some riders also use more transit-focused apps: The most downloaded ones in the Apple and Google app stores are Transit, Moovit, and Citymapper.
In 2025, Kitsap Transit will explore what mobile apps could offer our riders. At the same time, we’ll start a website redesign project to meet today’s needs, including a better browsing experience on mobile devices.
In our September rider-alerts survey, respondents were given a list of features and asked to rank up to three in a website or app they said would motivate them to use our bus services. The chart below shows which features got the most votes.
If the survey respondents reflect the views of the wider ridership, your experience using our services will be much better when our GTFS real-time feed launches in 2025 with a web-based trip planner.
Did you want to give us your thoughts on mobile apps and websites? Take our online survey here.
This month, exactly a decade ago, Kitsap Transit sent its first rider alert to the public through an SMS/e-mail messaging management platform.
Over that decade, we’ve seen much growth in our subscribers and the volume of rider alerts. We are excited for this next chapter in how we engage with our community. We hope our customers find the upgrades make their experience on transit even better and give more people a reason to try transit.