EZConnect provides funding, technical support for innovative project to expand customer service capacity for BCRTA and Cincinnati Metro
February 3, 2025
The Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) and Cincinnati Metro have announced a partnership focused on providing enhanced customer support for their customers. This initiative, which was forged and funded through EZConnect, an innovative multi-transit system collaborative that is developing centralized customer service centers in Southwest and Northeast Ohio, will see the new EZConnect call center answering BCRTA customer service calls in addition to calls from Cincinnati Metro customers on weeknight evenings.
The partnership officially launched Monday, January 20, 2025, and is set to enhance both BCRTA’s and Metro’s customer service capacity. Under the new arrangement, calls to Metro and BCRTA’s existing customer service phone numbers will be directed to the EZConnect call center housed at Metro from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM Monday through Friday. Riders from either agency can also call direct to 1-855-499-RIDE (7499). EZConnect customer care associates will assist Metro and BCRTA riders by:
- Pinpointing bus arrival times
- Updating scheduled paratransit trips
- Providing information about fares and the EZfare mobile ticketing app
- Answering general questions about the system
“This project clearly demonstrates the importance and power of cooperation and collaboration,” said Matt Dutkevicz, Executive Director of BCRTA. “The technical assistance and funding provided by EZConnect is enabling us to increase the level of customer service we offer which, in turn, will help us better meet the needs of our existing riders, attract new ones, and expand the use of public transit in our community.”
“Metro is proud to be a member of the EZConnect team because we believe it has the potential to transform public transit in our region, state, and nation,” said Darryl Haley, Metro’s CEO and General Manager. “Our partnership with BCRTA exemplifies how transit agencies can work together to maximize resources, improve service, and expand ridership. And this is just the first of many success stories we’ll be able to share in the months and years ahead.”
Katherine Conrad, Executive Director of NEORide, the multi-state consortium of more than 35 transit agencies that created EZConnect, said the Metro/BCRTA partnership is a small but crucial step in the drive to develop centralized one click/one call customer service centers in Southwest and Northeast Ohio. “Ultimately, our goal is to provide paratransit reservation and on-demand ride scheduling services, information about fixed routes, and customer relation services to multiple public transit providers from a single regional location,” she said. “We’re confident that this project, which is being funded by a portion of the more than $4 million in state and federal grants secured by EZConnect, will show that the level of inter-system cooperation required to achieve our overall goal is attainable.”
