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Keys to Success and Lessons Learned The plan is organized around three target groups identi-
fied in the board goals: Customers, Employees, and Stake-
Good communication and wide involvement are believed to holders. Under each target group, there are "outcomes to be
have been crucial to the success of the strategic planning achieved," "management objectives," and "strategies." For
process. In addition to involving agency personnel, the CEO example, under the Customer target group, there are two pri-
believes that it was important to involve the whole community. mary outcomes to be achieved:
DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT · Increase Effectiveness (optimize ridership) and
· Increase Efficiency (improve subsidy per passenger).
Agency Description
DART is a regional transportation authority that was created Under Increase Effectiveness, there are two management
in 1983 to serve the Dallas metropolitan area. It operates objectives:
more than 700 buses and 95 light-rail vehicles, and serves an
area of 700 square miles and 2.1 million people. It also oper- · Improve Customer Satisfaction and
ates commuter rail service between Dallas and Ft. Worth in · Manage System Growth.
conjunction with the Ft. Worth Transportation Authority.
Under Improve Customer Satisfaction, there are four
strategies:
Strategic Plan Document
DART's strategic plan is a 1-page document that provides a · Improve service reliability,
framework for annual business planning, budgeting, and cap- · Provide a customer friendly environment,
ital programming (see Figure 2). It is considered to be a 5-year · Provide a safe/secure service, and
plan that is reviewed annually and updated as necessary. · Provide effective customer communication.
FIGURE 2 DART's strategic plan (Source: DART FY 2004 business plan).
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DART's strategic plan identifies what needs to be accom- Plan Development
plished and is the basis for what is at the heart of DART's
annual business planning process. The business plan defines Initially, management retreats were used in the strategic plan
how management intends to achieve the initiatives outlined in development process. The agency's mission, vision, and board
the strategic plan and provides DART's performance projec- goals drove the development process. More recently, the plan
tions and commitments for the organization as a whole and is reviewed in a team format with representation from each
for each of its strategic business units (bus, light-rail, com- department. It is then reviewed by management each Janu-
muter rail, and paratransit modes). The plan includes 2-year ary, at the beginning of the annual business planning process.
scorecards of key operating, financial, and quality measures, Factors considered in the review include
and identifies the work program initiatives that are needed to
achieve them. In addition, the plan includes the annual bud-
get and a 20-year financial plan. · An analysis of business results;
· The results of employee, customer, and climate surveys;
Other examples of the scorecard concept are presented in · External events (such as issues being considered by the
Tables 17 and 18. Each scorecard includes 2 years of actual state legislature); and
data, an estimate for the current fiscal year, and a projection · Benchmark comparisons with other transit agencies and
for the subsequent 3 fiscal years. private-sector companies.
TABLE 17
DART SCORECARD OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
KPI Measure
Goals FY01A FY02A FY03B FY03 Q3 FY04B FY05B
Ridership
Total ridership (millions) 95.7 93.8 96.2 94.8 95.3 96.5
Fixed route (millions) 60.7 58.7 61.2 60.2 60.2 61.4
Efficiency
Subsidy per passenger $2.34 $2.76 $2.65 $2.81 $2.50 $2.55
Fixed-route subsidy per passenger $3.24 $3.93 $3.73 $3.74 $3.43 $3.48
Administrative ratio 11.5% 11.2% 11.7% 10.6% 9.1% 10.0%
Service Quality
On-time performance--bus 92.8% 92.8% 91.0% 92.4% 91.0% 91.0%
On-time performance--LRT 95.2% 97.0% 97.0% 97.4% 97.0% 97.0%
On-time performance--TRE 97.9% 97.2% 96.0% 97.5% 96.0% 96.0%
Customer Satisfaction
Complaints per 100,000 passengers 24.7 34.8 31.0 42.6 32.5 32.1
Managed Growth
Sales tax for operations 59.6% 77.5% 75.4% 84.4% 76.1% 72.9%
Notes: KPI = key performance indicators; LRT = light-rail transit; TRE = Trinity Railway Express.
Source: DART FY 2004 business plan.
TABLE 18
BUS SCORECARD--KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Indicators FY01A FY02A FY03B FY03 Q3 FY04B FY05B
Customer/Quality Indicators
Fixed-route bus ridership (millions) 47.5 42.4 41.4 40.4 39.8 40.7
Charter ridership (millions) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3
Revenue miles (millions) 30.3 31.2 30.9 30.9 27.9 27.9
Passengers per mile 1.58 1.37 1.35 1.32 1.43 1.46
On-time performance 92.8% 92.8% 91.0% 92.4% 91.0% 91.0%
Mean distance between roadcalls 3,783 3,827 4,200 4,124 4,200 4,200
Vehicle accidents per 100,000 miles (all service) 2.87 2.40 2.80 2.20 2.80 2.80
Avg. no. of operator unscheduled absences (days) 25.1 22.5 20.0 16.3 23.0 22.0
Financial/Efficiency Indicators
Revenues (millions) $29.2 $27.2 $28.0 $25.6 $28.8 $29.1
Expenses--fully allocated (millions) $183.3 $205.1 $192.0 $191.3 $174.5 $178.3
Net subsidy (millions) $154.1 $177.9 $164.0 $165.7 $145.7 $149.1
Subsidy per passenger $3.22 $4.12 $3.92 $4.06 $3.63 $3.64
Cost per revenue mile $6.05 $6.57 $6.22 $6.20 $6.25 $6.39
Pay-to-platform ratio (hours) N/A N/A 1.29 1.29 1.28 1.28
Note: N/A = not available.
Source: DART FY 2004 business plan.
