The Boca Raton-based company continues to support major transportation agencies across South Florida.
BOCA RATON, FL, UNITED STATES, May 3, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Boca Raton-based software developer Daruma Tech is leading the effort to reduce South Florida’s notoriously congested street traffic with its innovative mobile apps and websites for public transportation agencies and users. The two apps, commissioned by the South Florida Regional Transport Authority (SFRTA) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU), respectively, aim to increase public transportation ridership by improving the rider experience and taking the guesswork out of scheduling, trip planning, and calculating fares. The two websites, for Broward Metropolitan Planning Agency (Broward MPO), on which Daruma Tech is partnering with Goodman PR, and Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (Palm Beach TPA), aim to enhance communication between the agencies and their communities by providing a secure, user-friendly resource for community members to find and submit information, ask questions, and share feedback on local transportation policy.
The first of the apps, the Tri-Rail app for SFRTA, enables riders of the Tri-Rail commuter rail system to map and plan their commutes, see train locations in real time, learn about amenities and nearby attractions at each Tri-Rail station, and get real-time alerts about service changes or interruptions. The app also lets users save information on frequently used commutes for future use.
The Tri-Rail app, first launched in 2019, was a hit was commuters, boasting 20,000 monthly users pre-pandemic. To further enhance the rider experience, SFTRA has recently commissioned Daruma Tech to upgrade the app with in-app ticketing functionality. With this enhanced functionality, app users will be able to calculate and purchase fares and store digital passes and tickets on their phones. These upgrades will also let users store their payment information securely to make purchasing fares quick and easy.
The app’s ticketing functionality will feel familiar and natural to use for most Tri-Rail commuters, since it is built on the online ticketing and payment technology used by the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works, said Daruma Tech’s Martha De Leon, the lead developer on the app. “So what we were able to do is just integrate it into the app and offer the same product that users most likely are familiar with,” she said.
Daruma Tech is also partnering with FAU on a second app designed to help college students find their most efficient commuting options. Currently targeting students at three South Florida colleges—FAU, Broward Community College, and Palm Beach State College—the U-Ride app incorporates real-time information from multiple regional transportation agencies and rideshare companies to help users calculate optimal routes and modes of transportation.
Daruma Tech’s work on the Tri-Rail app led FAU Associate Professor John Renne, who is spearheading the U-Ride project, to choose them over the two better-known providers of mobility as service apps that he’d been considering. Following Tri-Rail’s recommendation, Renne contacted Daruma Tech to learn about their capacities before choosing them for the project. He was not only pleasantly surprised to find a high-end developer just across campus at FAU’s Research Park, but pleased with the product and service he’s been getting. “I've been very impressed with their work,” he said.
Daruma Tech is also supporting better public transportation by building robust, user-friendly websites for high-profile public transportation planning agencies such as Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (Broward MPO). For its latest collaboration with Broward MPO, Daruma Tech partnered with Goodman PR to update Broward MPO’s site, ensuring it was user-friendly for both front-end and back-end users and fully functional and readable on a full range of digital devices. “Broward MPO deals with a lot of time-sensitive information— meeting schedules, application deadlines, and the like,” explained Susan Erickson of Daruma Tech. “So it’s critical that website users be able to both find and submit information easily. We’re also providing round-the-clock monitoring and support to ensure the site is always functioning and secure.”
More recently, Daruma Tech was tapped by Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (Palm Beach TPA) to rebuild their site. Like Broward MPA, Palm Beach TPA is a public agency serving a large constituency—the over 800,000 residents of Palm Beach County—in need of time-sensitive information about transportation and public works projects. Daruma Tech is charged with rebuilding the website with an eye to ease of use and accessibility for all potential users. New features will include multilingual functionality and full ADA compliance. Daruma Tech will also provide continuous monitoring of the site as well as regular trainings for back-end users.
Daruma Tech’s strong working relationships with regional transportation authorities and familiarity with the public transportation landscape—including the needs of both commuters and public transit agencies—have made Daruma Tech the total solutions provider for transit agencies looking to expand their impact, said Daruma Tech co-founder Susan Erickson. “We’ve had a productive partnership with SFRTA, developing their Tri-Rail app, and this in turn led to our work with the FAU team,” she said. “We’ve also worked closely with the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization and similar agencies. So we can bring not only up-to-the-minute technical expertise, but a deep store of current industry knowledge, to any future transportation projects.”
For more information, contact Rick Griswold: 561-990-1625.
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p class=”contact” dir=”auto” style=”margin: 1em 0″>Rick Griswold
Daruma Tech
+1 561-990-1625
email us here
