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What is Voyage Fusion?
Who is developing Voyage Fusion?
How does Voyage Fusion work?
Why does the Chicago Area need Voyage Fusion?
What is the coverage area of Voyage Fusion?

What is Voyage Fusion?

Voyage Fusion is a tool that seeks to empower travelers by providing them with a comprehensive decision support tool for choosing travel options that considers convenience, efficiency, cost, real-time information, and environmental implications.

The Voyage Fusion website is being rolled-out in two phases.

The Phase I website, which is currently deployed, provides users with the following information:

Door-to-Door transit itineraries
Transit schedules in station-to-station and full schedule format
Real-time information on next bus and train arrival times
Information on attractions (restaurants, shopping, lodging, etc...) throughout the Chicago region

The Phase II website, which is expected available to the public in November of 2007, will provide users with the following additional information:

Driving itineraries
Multi-Modal trip itineraries such as driving-to-transit
Biking itineraries
Real-time information on transit delays
Real-time traffic data
Parking availability data
User profile that will save personalized information
Emissions benefits

Who is developing Voyage Fusion?

The RTA is providing regional coordination for the development of Voyage Fusion as part of its commitment to developing innovative solutions to traditional transit problems.

Technical and funding assistance is provided by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.

How does Voyage Fusion work?

In order to provide correct and timely transportation-related information to travelers, Voyage Fusion must obtain data from a large quantity of data providers and systems, listed below. For more information on the data providers, please visit the Partners Page.

Provider	Data Supplied
Center for Neighborhood Technology	of carbon dioxide (CO2) expelled by buses, the average car and the average SUV for a specified distance
Chicago Transit Authority	Bus location, train schedule adherence, transit schedules, and stop and station locations, real-time predicted arrival times
Illinois Bureau of Tourism	attractions and events data
Illinois Department of Transportation	real-time travel times, congestion, incident information and construction for regional highways and tollways
Metra Commuter Rail	train schedules, station locations and descriptions, fare information, station parking lot information
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)	current and predicted weather
Pace Suburban Bus	Bus location, transit schedules, and stop location
Standard Parking	location, number of spaces and rate information for parking lots throughout the region

This data is stored in a database where it is easily accessible by Voyage Fusion. The Voyage Fusion Trip Planner Engine uses the data to create trip itineraries.

Why does the Chicago Area need Voyage Fusion?

When the development of Voyage Fusion began, the RTA conducted user research, which consisted of a user survey.

The key finding of the user research is that consolidation of travel information is very important. Multiple, disparate websites can cause people to miss useful information or be unaware of the extensive transportation options available in the region.

Accordingly, there is a need in the Chicago region for a traveler information system that is accessible, integrated, efficient, and offers modal choice.

Sixty-six percent of the survey respondents indicated that they will visit, on a weekly basis, a site that provides multi-modal trip planning.

What is the coverage area of Voyage Fusion?

Voyage Fusion will operate in the six-county northeastern Illinois region, which includes the City of Chicago and the counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will. The region spans approximately 3,700 square miles and includes 272 municipalities.

Voyage Fusion coverage will encompass 24,000 miles of interstate freeways, tollways, and principal and minor arterials. It will cover the operation of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which includes 7 light rail routes and 152 bus routes, Metra's eleven commuter rail lines, and Pace's 233 suburban bus routes.