The San Mateo County Transportation Authority has redesigned its website to showcase the agency’s important contributions to improving transportation in the county. The website - www.smcta.com – provides valuable information about the voter-approved improvement program.
“One of the primary purposes of the redesign was to make a complex agency easier to understand,” said TA Graphic Designer Robert Casumbal, who spearheaded the year-long project. Functional improvements include easier navigation, text-sizing and language translation. The site also adheres to “responsive design”, which allows it to be accommodated on mobile devices as well as tablets, such as the iPad.
Some of the changes are the result of a survey that asked visitors and other interested stakeholders what information and functions were important to include.
The new website uses photographs and easy-to-understand graphics to illustrate how the sales tax funds collected by the TA are allocated and how they are leveraged with other funds to deliver countywide transportation improvements.
The six program categories included in the voter-approved Transportation Expenditure Plan are shown on a brightly colored pie chart. Each of the categories –transit, highways, local streets and transportation, grade separation, pedestrians and bicycles, and alternative congestion relief – has its own page.
The website also shows projects underway, such as the San Bruno Grade Separation Project, completed Projects and current “calls for projects.” A call for projects solicits applications from eligible sponsors for available funding.
Budgets and Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports back to 2004 are available for viewing.
Various documents that support the TA, such as the Expenditure Plan, the Strategic Plan, which provides a policy framework for programming and allocation decisions, and the Quarterly Capital Projects Reports also are available.
The site also includes information about the board and the citizens advisory committee, including agendas for upcoming meetings and minutes from past meetings.
People with questions about the work of the TA will find the contact form on the site useful.
The TA is charged with administering the proceeds from a voter-approved half-cent sales tax to fund a broad spectrum of transportation-related projects and programs.