CHSRA Wants Your Input Regarding Their Website
About a year ago Rafael posted 14 suggestions for how the California High Speed Rail Authority could improve its website, based largely on feedback submitted by blog commenters. Few of these seem to have been implemented, although the website has been improved in other ways (such as adding a calendar after Californians For High Speed Rail suggested it).
The Authority hasn’t forgotten about the need to improve their website, however. To that end they’re asking the public to take this online survey to provide feedback on the website, and about the Authority’s methods of communicating to the public.
It’s a worthwhile survey and I encourage all of you to take it. It’s not intended as a survey about the HSR project itself, though the survey does ask respondents whether they support or oppose it, so that might be added incentive for you to get your thoughts in.
Took it. Takes about 5 minutes.
Bobierto Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Me too. Some of the questions were poorly worded but I appreciated the outreach.
Good survey. Told them I support HSR because I am sexually aroused by trains. Can’t wait to rub up against that aerodynamic nose cone.
AndyDuncan Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
If Virgin gets the operations contract, then maybe you can convince them to let you name a train. I suggest “Freud”.
Sometimes a trainset is just a trainset…
AndyDuncan Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
(FYI I’m referring to Virgin America’s naming of their planes)
Maxi Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I was thinking of Virgin UK’s trains. They have some sexy looking Pendolinos.
Spokker Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I hope Virgin operates some trains in California, if only because most of us who support the project probably are.
Anyway, I actually just told them I think it would stimulate commerce and tourism and I think electric trains (not just the HSR kind) that run on renewable energy are important to helping us get off foreign oil or something.
I also told them I read this blog and Clem’s blog. The other web sites I listed were stuff like LATimes, San Jose Mercury News, Palo Alto Online, etc.
bossyman15 Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
i answered that question. i said that i support this project because high speed rail is sexy.
that is fact. no doubt about that.
After responding to the survey, I just realized that it’s not linked anywhere on the main page, and therefore would qualify as “What do you have difficulty with on our website?”.
Joey Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
The survey? It’s on two places in the main page (firstly at the top right corner and second at the top of the newsfeed).
CHSRA related.. but not survey related…
Has HSR terminating at San Jose and forcing a transfer to Caltrain been beaten to death already? The Hybrid option? I always thought it was a non-strater – not consistent with the proposition passed by voters. That said, I suppose the legislature or voters could always be asked to revisit that decision.
Anyway…. saw that Bob Doty spoke to the hybrid option… forwarding that it would result in Caltrain needing to run much more service, add tracks, and perhaps abandon express service… and at the end of the day, the same impacts on the peninsula would be experienced. The point… the hybrid option does not provide the relief as envisioned by proponents of the idea.
Joey Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 8:06 am
I think Diridon mentioned a little while back that both are illegal. They’ll probably still appear in the AA though, at least nominally.
Texas unveils HSR Plan
“Navigation” exclusively via some crappy Micro$~1-captive “content management system” from Completely Unclear on the Concept http://www.canright.com. How do people even come up with something that:
(a) requires Javascript just to navigate.
(b) doesn’t support the futuristic concept of “links” (<a href=…%gt; is just not good enough)
(c) doesn’t support the futuristic concept of “URLs”. (Quick, try to mail me a reference to “Fresno – Bakersfield” section of the library that doesn’t involve “then click on …”)
(d) as a result if completely invisible to search engines. (But, we have our own AWESOME “Library Search” form … that doesn’t work.)
And then if one ever gets anywhere (by running Javasscripts on ones local browser) one finds that the content is a complete mess of random junk . (Example, the “Fresno – Bakersfield” section of that “Library” thing … WTF are half the documents there doing there?)
Utterly worthless. ie exactly what you’d expect from the parties involved.
And the best thing: you know that when they spend a few hundred thousand dollars of your money “transitioning” to the “new web design” and “new content management system” with “fresh user interface” etc etc etc then absolutely every external link into the site has every existed
AndyDuncan Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
They actually fixed the library linking problem, here’s a link to the Fresno-Bakersfield section of the library thing.
The site still blows, but that part is fixed.
Richard Mlynarik Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Wow. “Links”. On a web site. After two years! Amazing.
Richard Mlynarik Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
We were looking at different things.
Check out this super-awesome, ultra-bitchin, mega-intertube-webmastery:
http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/library.asp
and
http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/library/
are completely different and have completely different ideas of “Fresno-Bakersfield”.
What a mess!
I’d be all for parallel alternate realities if at least one of them were any good.
Dan S. Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Question, is it easier to find clear and topical information on the CHSRA website or in a Richard Mlynarik rant? ;-)
… from every external site and every piece of email sent will immediately break.
Arrghhh!
Big news from Caltrain. Their environmental impact report was cleared by the FRA. See here: http://www.caltrain.com/news_2010_03_25_electrification_EIR.html
I assume either Robert or Clem, or both will have a discussion on this development.
O/T: Update to DesertXpress
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/mar/25/work-high-speed-rail-set-begin-year/
Joey Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
At least they’re talking about compatibility with CAHSR.