PITTSBURGH, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- PENNDOT's website, http://www.epenndot.com,
has grown from its inception in February to one of the region's top web sites,
officials of the state Department of Transportation said today while unveiling
statistics showing the popularity of the site.
The web site went online February 29, 2000 to provide details of the Fort
Pitt Bridge and Tunnel Rehabilitation and serve as a primary communication
tool for western Pennsylvania motorists.
The web site, along with a 24 hour live operator telephone information
line, helped shorten delays for over 1.2 million motorists and the 148,000
motorists who travel the bridge daily, PENNDOT spokesman Dick Skrinjar said.
"The dramatic growth of cyberspace traffic to epenndot.com shows it is
providing information people need," Skrinjar said. "Users of the site access
it for information not only on contractor schedules but for maps so they can
navigate in and around the work zones."
A good portion of the public's awareness of the Fort Pitt Bridge and
Tunnel Project is attributable to epenndot.com. The web site is one of the
top 20 most frequently visited sites in the Pittsburgh area, based on
comparisons with published statistics of other top web sites in the area.
Like newspaper readership estimates, consultants estimate that each
regular user of epenndot.com equates to two people informed of road
construction, based on figures from America Online.
PENNDOT officials noted increases in hits related to days when significant
milestones were reached on the project. For example, epenndot.com was the
focus of a barrage of hits in August, when PENNDOT hosted the Fort Pitt 2000
Contest. The contest awarded a guided tour of the Fort Pitt Bridge
construction site and numerous prizes. Entries for the contest were received
from as far away as Texas, California and Washington.
In addition to giving drivers instant access to current information on the
project, the site has featured links to animated color-coded maps and video
tours of detour routes along with printable versions of high-resolution detour
maps. A message system for the web site provides timely project related
information to about 1,000 "e-partners," as they are called.
Users of the site can direct questions to the Internet information line,
info@epenndot.com. Epenndot.com also lists the department's toll-free
information phone line, 1-877-450-4279, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. A page on the site lists PENNDOT's most frequently asked
questions and provides helpful answers to questions posed to the department.
Boasting the slogan, "Always open to traffic," the site will be updated
with "2001 A Tunnel Odyssey" at noon on Friday, January 26, 2001 at
http://www.epenndot.com.
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
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Related links:
http://www.epenndot.com
CONTACT:
Dick Skrinjar of PENNDOT, 877-450-4279
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