I love when technology makes more things possible – such as the translation service available at MVTA in Dakota County. According to Minneapolis Star Tribune…

Minnesota Valley Transit Authority riders whose primary language is not English now can get trip planning assistance and transit information through a network of interpreters who speak more than 170 languages.

The transit agency launched the Language Line service earlier this month.

Callers can ask a transit representative for an interpreter who can speak the language of the rider’s choice. The agent then contacts LanguageLine Solutions, a company in Monterey, Calif., that has a contract with the state of Minnesota for translation services. The company finds somebody from its network of translators and puts him or her on the line. The caller, the MVTA operator and the translator have a “conference call” that is similar to calls that pass through a relay service for the hearing-impaired or speech-disabled.

The cost is $1.34 per minute. I have had plenty of customer service jobs and have purchased train tickets in non-English speaking places. That seems like a good price to be efficient and to know that the customer has been given good information.