Cell phones today provide portability and accessibility to people at unprecedented levels. People are becoming more connected, and the ability for consumers to have information at their fingertips when and where they need it is only limited by a organization's ability to provide it. The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) today is launching its own

effort to provide information at a our customers fingertips with a free iPhone Application called CDTA iRide.

From online trip planning capabilities, Twitter and RSS feeds that offer up-to-the-minute service alerts, and a new iPhone application and text messaging options that deliver important information directly to mobile phones and PDAs, the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) today launched a newly redesigned website that offers a host of interactive high-tech tools to further enhance service through improved communications with its 14 million annual riders.

(Albany, NY) – The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) and the Capital District Transportation Committee have collaborated to introduce a new program to the Capital Region offering free approved bike racks to both public and non-profit sectors. The program offers up to a $1,000 subsidy through Travel Demand Management grants. The private sector is also eligible for a 50% cost-share of approved bike racks.

The federal government is giving $3.5 million to CDTA to help it convert to diesel-electric hybrid buses made possible through the "Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction" grant program. The cash grant is part of $100 million in economic stimulus funds to help fund what the Transportation Department called "cutting-edge environmental technologies to help reduce global warming" and "lessen America`s dependence on oil." CDTA was one of 43 transit agencies nationwide who were chosen in the fierce nationwide competition to receive this extra funding.