Bay Area Toll Authority

FasTrak Website

A more accessible site for Bay Area travelers

Cars on Bay Bridge
Client FasTrak
Year 2018
Project Type Website Development
The Services

Key services for this project

  • User testing & analytics
  • Competitive analysis
  • Content auditing & development
  • Wireframing & design
  • Copywriting & SEO strategy
  • Brand enhancement
Summary

Getting ahead, together

FasTrak enables drivers to pay for road and bridge tolls via an electronic transponder they install inside their vehicles. Anyone is welcome to use it and signing up is simple. But it didn’t always come off that way.

The Bay Area Toll Authority (or BATA), which manages the FasTrak program, asked us to create a friendly, simplified, and modernized website that would fit in with the tech-savvy audience of the Bay Area while remaining accessible to a diverse range of FasTrak users and non-users alike. From the start, we wanted to know what people look for first, where the eye goes, what the finger taps, and where the mind wonders. Teaming with partner agency Kalamuna, we embarked on a journey to perform collaborative workshops and UX research to inform the new website's design and development.

Responsive website
Challenge

Creating a seamless website to get us all ahead

BATA’s ultimate goal was to reduce call center volume by creating a highly informative, user-centric website, where users could easily learn about FasTrak’s most important features, such as signing up, paying a fine, or learning how the different toll facilities function. In addition to improved functionality, the FasTrak team wanted a robust content re-write that was friendly and easy to understand for a diverse multilingual audience. Creating a website that is easier to navigate would also empower more people to sign up for FasTrak. Our team brought exciting new ideas and best practices, but we always find that the strongest websites are informed by the people who use them.

Content map
Approach

Nothing illuminates the facts like data

We conducted testing with a diverse selection of users. Through a guided process, participants showed us the intuitive ways they find information and learn about how the FasTrak system works. Participants then used the prototype site we created from existing user data to find the information they needed. It’s always fun to see if and where users get stuck in their journey so we can modify that experience to more closely align with what our users expect. Throughout this phase, Convey’s team of transportation experts synthesized content from hundreds of website pages and remolded it into one consistent, clear, and friendly voice.

Result

Technology so good you hardly think about it

Transportation specialists

Having specialists on the team is vital

Convey’s transportation experts rewrote and reorganized the information on the website into language that is succinct, easy to understand, and more enjoyable to read.

FasTrak toll tag

Accessibility for all

The new site conforms to WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines and was translated into Chinese and Spanish by native speakers.

FasTrak site on mobile phone

Mobile friendly for a mobile community

Responsiveness was key in this redesign, ensuring the site was exceptionally friendly to navigate for the large percentage of the Bay Area’s tech-forward culture who access the Fastrak site from their mobile devices—and keeping in mind that for some, mobile is the only way to get online.

"Convey and Kalamuna brought a high level of technical expertise to the redesign of the FasTrak website. Their creativity, deep experience in transportation, and ability to untangle and cleanly organize information vital for Bay Area travelers was paramount to the positive outcome of the redesign. It has been a pleasure working alongside them.”

Lysa Hale, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
In Conclusion

A few of our favorite things

  • The new site is accessible to a wide range of users
  • Convey and Kalamuna joined forces to create a super-team of user experience, web development, and transportation industry experts
  • The new site is easily adaptable to the ever-evolving needs of FasTrak