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Case Study: LINK
Services Provided: Site planning, web design and development, site maintenance, site hosting

LINK is the transportation management authority for Reston, Virginia. As a not-for-profit organization, it has the charter to inform the residents and workers in the local area of all transportation-related issues and information. The organization was new to the Web when they approached Cyber Services in February 1996. They appreciated that many businesses and residents in their local area had access to the Web. They also recognized the community would be better served if their information could be posted in a public location as soon as it became available.

Cyber Services, Inc. began the process of learning LINK's charter and understanding the information they wanted to make available. The bus schedules quickly became the most voluminous package of information. The nature of the information lent itself nicely to the Web. The number and details of the bus routes change with time, and users will usually come to the site looking for a specific piece of information. In this type of situation, the user is best served if they can search the site for specific information without having to scroll and navigate through extensive files.

CSI designed the LINK web site to efficiently show the user the types of information and resources available through LINK. From the homepage, the user gets an overview of the topics available. If the user elects to pursue Bus Information, they are allowed to search for the bus schedule of interest to them based on location and day of service. Maps are provided for those unfamiliar with the bus routes. Based on the criteria selected for the search, an HTML page is dynamically generated to display the search results. This "results" page offers links to more detailed time and stop information on the selected route. Over 200 pages can be generated from the bus schedule database. And, as the data in the database are updated, each HTML page is automatically updated, eliminating the requirement to go back and manually correct static files.

The bus schedule search system was initially developed in Cold Fusion with a Sybase database as the back end. CSI expanded the functionality of this system. Based on greater-than-anticipated use of the database search function, we revised the system to add new search criteria and trip planning features. Power Builder and Web PB were used for the expansion.

In addition to the database, LINK provides weather-related press releases, service-related press releases, a newsletter, and the ability to sign up online for a carpool/vanpool, taxi resources and METRO information. Survey forms and contests are also incorporated into the site to encourage contact with users.

The latest addition to the LINK web site is the Business Locator. It is a frames based service that allows users to select a Reston business, to see the business' location on a map, and to view the bus maps and schedules that serve the selected business.

LINK has received comments from local users, as well as individuals planning to visit Reston. They have been thrilled with the fact that visitors from around the world have contacted them via email to request information. One measure of success for LINK is the number of individuals served. After the first year, their Web-requests for information equaled their telephone requests, a fact that is very satisfying to them. LINK recognizes its Web site has fulfilled its requirements and continues to add features to meet user demand.

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