Getting Around on the New SFMTA Website

The long-overdue overhaul of the SF Municipal Transportation Agency’s website launched this week, and it’s certainly sleeker.

Whereas navigating the old cluttered site often felt like a walking through a maze, visitors are now greeted by drop-down menus leading to tidy, image-heavy pages with useful info on the various modes of transportation. The front page features an integrated Muni trip planner which offers a choice of using information from 511 or Google.

One colleague of mine did take issue with the hierarchical order of transport modes on the “Getting Around” page — Muni, then parking, then bicycling, then taxi, then walking, then accessibility for the disabled, etc. — which doesn’t quite match up with the “Muni, walking, and bicycling” priority dictated in the city’s transit-first policy. Granted, I’d imagine getting information on parking is one of the top reasons for visiting the SFMTA website, so it could be geared toward providing the most-requested info first.

So readers, does the new website feel more useful? Should walking and biking be placed before parking as a symbolic show of priorities? Share your thoughts in the comments.