Metlink App: Efficient Travel Info & Enhanced UX

"As well as developing a feature rich website and app, we provide easy to access open data for 3rd parties to provide customer information for public transport.

We believe choice is good. We also believe in being open and ready for the increasingly digital experience customers will expect for planning and paying for their journey."

David Boyd

Customer Experience Manager, Metlink

Delivering UX that Works

Seamless UX guides users to the services they need. The App and website handles a lot of complex data but makes the overall user experience for the user easy and intuitive. Many people visit the Metlink site on mobile, often at bus stops or on the move, so we focused on delivering a great small-screen experience. Somar Digital's expertise in UX design drove the site’s extensive functionality, such as being able to track vehicles in real-time and select from hundreds of timetables. We recruited external user test participants and oversaw user testing, findings, and recommendations to Metlink to ensure a great end product.

Plan Your Journey

The Journey Planner feature is a core tool for users needing to navigate public transport in the Wellington region efficiently. This intuitive engine simplifies travel planning from point A to point B, displaying trip cards with clear, easy-to-understand labels. Users can access detailed information about available services, including departure times and stop locations.

Enhanced functionality allows Metlink to incorporate points of interest directly on the map, enabling users to plan trips to specific destinations like Te Papa or nearby Snapper card top-up locations, not just to traditional stops. This innovation aims to make public transport more accessible and user-friendly, encouraging more residents and visitors to take advantage of the services offered by Metlink.

Real Time Information

Metlink users have the ability to see Real Time vehicle positions for routes and individual trips. This functionality is particularly useful at stops without digital signage, offering predictions for upcoming stops and notifying users about the punctuality of their bus—whether it's on time, early, or late.

By clicking on a specific stop, users can view upcoming services, and by selecting a desired service, they can track its current position along the route. This precise, real-time data enables users to plan their journeys more effectively, reducing unnecessary waiting times. Designed by Somar Digital, the interface maintains clarity and ease of use, ensuring that even on mobile screens, the information is accessible and not overwhelming.

Timetables

Timetables offer a user-friendly interface where all times and destinations are easily visible at a glance. Users are able to fully tailor the information shown on the timetable to just the stops that they care about - without favourite stops from their user account shown automatically.

The timetable also shows information like trips that have been cancelled with the ability to switch to the live tracking information at the tap of a button.

Screenshot of a desktop window of the Metlink website, showing a timetable for the route 110 in Lower Hutt, with timetable grid on the left and map on the right. Route drawn in purple.

MyMetlink User Accounts

MyMetlink user accounts help tailor the Metlink app and website to users preferences and creates a more personalised experience for them. These accounts allow users to receive timely service alert notifications, ensuring they are always informed about any changes or disruptions. Users can also save their frequently used routes and stops for quick and easy access, streamlining their planning process.

MyMetlink accounts allow users to have the same seamless experience across all devices. The service alerts are customisable and contextual, designed to ensure that the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

Service Alert Management

The Service Alert Management feature on the Metlink app and website offers administrators a robust tool for publishing timely information and warnings. This system uses the standard GTFS-RT specification to ensure seamless integration and dissemination of alerts across platforms like Google Maps.

Alerts are directly sent to users through email and push notifications, providing immediate updates on any trip cancellations or disruptions. This communication tool is essential for keeping users well-informed and able to adjust their travel plans promptly.

Outcomes

Efficient Implementation

The efficient implementation of the Metlink app for both Android and iOS utilises build-it-once technology, significantly reducing technical debt and shortening implementation timeframes.

This streamlined approach ensures a rapid and consistent rollout across platforms, enhancing overall performance and user satisfaction.

New Website and App Preferred by Users

Over 20,000 people rely on the Metlink website and app every day and the Greater Wellington Regional Council have received extremely positive feedback to date - 94% of users surveyed prefer the new site vs. the previous website.

The Most Trusted Form of Public Transport Information

On average 38 million trips are taken on Wellington’s public transport network a year: the Metlink website and app are the most used forms of information for passengers on the network.

Server Load and Emergencies

The Metlink website needs to handle the stress of a natural disaster or other serious unplanned disruption. Somar Digital set up a robust, reliable server solution using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform then completed several stress tests. We pushed a test scenario for 30,000 server requests per minute (far above what the site might expect), and it performed admirably.

Personalised UX

Users are able to set up favourites for routes, stops, and services so that they get a more personal experience using the app. This gives users information when they open the app that is attuned to what they want to see like when the next bus gets to their bus stop. Users can also set up alerts for the services they catch so that they can get notified if there are any changes like cancellations to their service.