High Demand for RTA Travel Information Resources

January 7, 2011

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) today released statistics indicating heavy utilization last year for their Travel Information Center (TIC) trip planning phone service and for goroo, the agency’s online multi-modal trip planner.

For 2010, transit users made 5,300,000 calls to the TIC with only 158 registered complaints that reflects less than 1 percent of all calls taken. Serving those obtaining transit itineraries online, the goroo multi-modal trip planner was developed by the RTA and is the only trip planner that provides transit information for the CTA, Metra and Pace as well as biking and walking directions. Statistics for goroo last year show that:

• About 8,500,000 transit trip itineraries were provided last year
• Over 3 million visits were made to RTA trip planning web sites
• goroo provided about 640,000 CTA, Metra and Pace schedules

"The number of TIC calls and goroo travel itineraries demonstrate the high demand for transit information, and the RTA is pleased to provide resources that offer both options to receive the information and for how riders can travel throughout the region,” said RTA Board Chairman John S. Gates, Jr. The TIC operates 365 days a year from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. and can be reached at 312-836-7000. The multi-modal trip planner can be accessed online at www.goroo.com.

Another noteworthy transit statistic is the amount of dollars that mass transit users can save when choosing public transportation instead of driving. For the Chicago region, the annual savings is $11,660 per individual, according to the American Public Transportation Association. They also report that gas prices are at their highest level since October 2008. “This further validates the need for supporting our region’s public transit system that is financially challenged with the economic downturn,” said Gates. The RTA recently conducted a capital asset condition evaluation that showed the region’s transit system is in need of $24 billion to bring the transit system to a state of good repair. Meanwhile, an RTA market analysis showed that 38 percent of the region’s households use the transit system weekly.