MetroRiderLA

I know I just said I was officially on hiatus, but then I logged on to Metro.net today…

OMG. WTF.

I’ve known for a while that Metro was in the process of revamping their website.  From what I hear they hired an outside web firm to help them out.  Well, I hope they didn’t pay too much. (Update 12:13pm 7/16/08 - I just got word that this new homepage was done in house, not through an outside firm.)

The homepage has been completely redesigned visually, and for the worse, yet the functionality remains largely the same.  The most noticible difference is that the content area is significantly larger, in fact everything seems to be bigger and bolder.  This is not neccessarily a bad thing, but it certainly looks less sophisticated than the previous design.  Some absolutely hideous gradients and drop shadows are thrown in with the effect of not only making it look less sophisticated, but making me want to close my browser window immediately.  Metro also took a cue from MetroRiderLA by changing the header color randomly with each reload of the page.

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From Metro:

Share your ideas for funding transit at the next live chat, noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23. Tell Metro Board Chair and Santa Monica City Council Member Pam O’Connor where you think the money should come from to pay for future transit projects and keep the system running. Should it be a half cent sales tax? Public/private partnerships? Parking fees? Toll roads? Or something entirely different? Talk to the Metro Board Chair live today by going to metro.net/chat.