News

CHK America launches transit kiosk in Santa Barbara

March 27, 2014

CHK America, a provider of customer information solutions for the U.S. public transportation industry, has installed its first ConnectPoint interactive touchscreen transit kiosk in its home town of Santa Barbara, Calif.

The kiosk has been deployed at the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District's Transit Center. The Santa Barbara MTD is a public transit agency providing bus services in the southern portion of Santa Barbara County, Calif.

Santa Barbara MTD is the first transit agency in the U.S. to install the ConnectPoint kiosk, according to CHK America. The company said it is in negotiations with transit systems across the U.S. to roll out the kiosk.

As well as providing information on bus departure times and route planning, the Web-enabled kiosk provides extra information for cars, cyclists and walkers. Customers can enter their email or mobile phone number to receive trip-planning directions.

CHK America said its interactive kiosks can be customized to provide non-transit information such as the weather, Yelp reviews for nearby businesses or news headlines. The kiosks can also generate revenue by displaying online advertisements.

"ConnectPoint is the next step for transit agencies which are already providing passenger information via bus stop panels, system maps and websites," Rick Wood, CHK America's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our interactive kiosk is an efficient way to deliver real-time bus information."