Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and Transparency Practices (2018)

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42 This chapter contains four case examples of North American transit agencies that responded to the survey and have relatively robust and well-established customer-focused practices, particularly service guarantees and customer-focused transparency. The synthesis team contacted chosen case example transit agencies and arranged one to several conference calls or web conferences with transit agency staff. In this chapter, meetings with transit agency staff are not cited as sources. This chapter’s case examples are organized in the following order: • Dayton RTA, • SFMTA, • MBTA, and • GO Transit. Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (Dayton RTA) provides bus, demand- responsive, and trolleybus services within Montgomery County and western Greene County in Ohio. Established in 1972, the transit agency serves a population of 725,000 people with an annual ridership of over 10.3 million trips as of 2015. Dayton RTA operates 35 bus routes throughout the service area. Vehicles are diesel, hybrid diesel, or fixed-guideway transit (trolleybus). RTA’s Premium Service is the general public demand-response service provided to Miami Valley residents. Paratransit service is available for ADA-qualified riders within three-quarters of a mile from all fixed routes. All fixed-route buses are offered free of charge for ADA-eligible riders to encourage more use of the fixed- route system. The synthesis team chose Dayton RTA as a case example for several reasons. The transit agency has a well-defined on-time service guarantee with a claims procedure and customer remuneration that is part of a broader customer service promise. In addition to the on-time service guarantee, three other guarantees for cleanliness, customer experience, and accessibility are included in the agency’s customer service promise. This charter has been in place for close to a decade and has provided an opportunity for the transit agency to speak to any improve- ments or challenges since implementation of the charter. Another aspect is that Dayton RTA is a medium-sized system that does not operate rail transit (many on-time service guarantees are for C h a p t e r 6 Case Examples

Case examples 43 rail routes or systems). Dayton RTA’s long-standing on-time service guarantee for a medium-sized nonfixed-guideway system makes it a good agency for a case example. This case example presents Dayton RTA’s customer service guarantee and includes a dis- cussion of • Dayton RTA’s customer-focused practices, • The customer service promise, • Challenges and lessons learned, and • Key findings and notable practices. Dayton RTA’s Customer-Focused Practices Dayton RTA is a customer-centric transit agency focused on providing connections to people and communities within the service area. The transit agency’s mission statement reads as follows: “To provide a great value, dependable service, and to be responsive, timely and accountable for all that we do” (Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority n.d.-a). The transit agency also has a set of core values centered on empowering employees, serving customers, and upholding ethical and environmental standards. The core values are composed of six main tenets: respect, its people (employees), integrity, safety, quality service, and steward- ship (Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority n.d.-d). Figure 16 displays the six core values with short descriptions. Dayton RTA’s customer service initiatives include several common transit agency practices and some unique communication avenues. The transit agency provides a customer service telephone line that is open 7 days a week, including holidays. Transit customers can also submit comments through e-mail. The transit agency’s Write to the Top initiative allows customers to contact executive administrators by providing direct contact information such as phone num- bers and e-mail addresses. Last, Dayton RTA has a customer service promise that provides a standard of punctuality and safe, courteous service. The next section discusses this promise and the associated guarantees. Customer Service Promise Since 2007, Dayton RTA has provided a customer service promise or charter for all three modes the transit agency operates. The charter is based on five main components: • Right to safe service; • Right to courteous, clean, accessible, and dependable service; • Right to be heard; • Right to on-time service; and • Right to be notified of significant service delays. The promise includes four customer service guarantees: punctuality, cleanliness, customer experience, and accessibility. The transit agency stated that, although there is not a connections guarantee posted on the website, customer service staff will do their best to accommodate a customer who calls about a missed connection. This may include picking up customers to ensure that they reach their destination or stop. With the exception of the on-time service guarantee, the transit agency does not provide any specific protocol for submitting a claim regarding other customer service guarantees besides contacting customer service or e-mailing executive staff through the Write to the Top initiative. The transit agency website does not specify any remuneration for any guarantee other than the on-time service guarantee.

44 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices According to Dayton RTA, customers do not heavily use the Write to the Top customer feedback method. Transit agency officials, such as the CEO, who do receive correspondence usually respond to an e-mail or phone call within 24 h. Most feedback comes from phone calls, e-mails, or social media posts on Twitter and Facebook. On-Time Service Guarantee The most extensive and detailed service guarantee Dayton RTA offers is the on-time service guarantee. The policy states that riders of the system expect timely service and the transit agency promises to meet those expectations. According to the policy, if any transit service is early or late by more than 30 min, the ride is free. The free ride is distributed in the form of a complimentary fare voucher that can be redeemed for a future ride. Appendix F contains the full on-time service guarantee policy. The next section details the claims process. Figure 16. Dayton RTA core values. Source: Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (n.d.-d).

Case examples 45 On-Time Service Guarantee Claims To receive a complimentary voucher for delayed service, customers must submit a claim within 10 days of the occurrence. Customers can fill out claim forms in person at transit centers or visit the online web page. The online customer service web page provides a section that describes the on-time service guarantee, including a link that displays the customer service claim form. An example of the claim form is found in Appendix G. After a claim is submitted, Dayton RTA policy states that the claim will be validated within 10 days, but the transit agency strives to resolve complaints within 24 h. According to Dayton RTA, customers hardly use the online form to submit complaints about late buses. Phone calls and e-mails are more common. The customer service on-time guarantee and overall customer service promise are used as a baseline for assuring quality customer service. Complaints are usually evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Newer technology systems have provided a more efficient verification and evaluation process for customer service staff. Starting in 2016, Dayton RTA updated internal AVL systems so that customer service representatives can view the same information available to dispatchers. This enables customer services representatives to quickly assess whether the customer’s bus is running behind. Internally, customer service can decide to issue vouchers even if the bus is less than 30 min late. According to Dayton RTA, there are few instances of fraudulent claims. Customer service representatives or dispatchers can easily look up bus route information from a specific day and time frame. Overall, the transit agency has one to two customer service staff members working on claims and other customer service requests. Each on-time performance claim takes approximately 15 min to close. Restrictions on On-Time Service Guarantee Dayton RTA’s on-time service guarantee does not apply in cases of power outages, acts of nature, or circumstances beyond the transit agency’s control. For paratransit services, the window of service requirements based on ADA regulations apply to scheduling and pickup. Implementation of the Customer Service Promise According to Dayton RTA, the service guarantee was implemented after a change in leadership in 2006. According to a 2008 article, budget constraints and economic decline throughout the region affected Dayton RTA’s ability to maintain expected service levels. The transit agency rebranded itself with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. With new leadership came a renewed focus on the transit agency’s mission and core values. The addition of customer service promises, such as the on-time service guarantee, was part of an effort to improve public perception and trust in the transit agency. Many internal changes were made as well, including a hands-on employee management style that emphasized employee empowerment and open communication between the CEO and staff (Transit Talent 2008). According to Dayton RTA, the transit agency did not model its employee service guarantee after another transit agency. Leadership took measures to hold several community outreach meetings to assess what public concerns and needs were not being met. This information aided the development of the core values and customer service guarantee. The decision on making 30 min a determining threshold came from evaluating internal system headways. Benefits and Costs of the Customer Service Promise According to Dayton RTA, the customer service promise has improved the transit agency’s reputation among customers and the general public. The transit agency records feedback from

46 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices as many means as possible, such as e-mail, phone calls, and social media comments. When feedback is recorded, staff determines whether a response is needed. If a response is needed or requested, Dayton RTA creates a case record for the issue, which it strives to resolve within 24 h. In this regard, the transit agency thinks customer service has improved by becoming timelier in responses to customers. Dayton RTA’s overall goal is to receive more compliments than complaints and reduce duplicate complaints as a result of immediately resolving problems the first time they are reported. In 2015, the transit agency received 1,773 complaints, followed by 1,369 complaints in 2016. As of 2017, the transit agency measures customer service by how quickly the feedback loop is open (initial customer resolution), not by the number of comments or complaints received. Dayton RTA is currently reviewing customer service industry best practices on tracking customer feedback. Challenges and Lessons Learned Dayton RTA experienced relatively few challenges when implementing its customer service promise. The transit agency has experienced relatively low administrative burden and financial burdens from the implementation. One moderate challenge was initiating employee buy-in with the program. Specifically, transit agency staff were not uniformly applying the customer service vision to the on-time service guarantee. For example, if a customer called in to submit a complaint about a bus being 28 min late (rather than the 30-min threshold), some staff members would not apply a uniform customer service response in issuing a free voucher. The transit agency had to address this by providing better guidelines about the flexibility allowed for customer service staff. Essentially, the customer service approach required the flexibility to adapt customer service responses on a case-by-case basis rather than following the letter of the policy. Key lessons learned by Dayton RTA include: • Encourage employee buy-in/empowerment: Dayton RTA intended for customer service representatives to feel empowered to resolve issues relating to on-time service complaints or other customer services issues. Instead, there was slight pushback from employees. The transit agency could have worked with employees to better prepare them to take ownership and make decisions based on the customer service promise. Dayton RTA has since created more flexible guidelines and messaging for employees that encourage a customer-first interpretation of the customer service promise. • Expand ways to listen to customers: The main ways customers file a complaint or issue is through phone, e-mail, or social media. The on-time service guarantee form is infrequently used to file a complaint. The transit agency is now considering doing away with the form and allowing a more open and casual way for customers to file an on-time service complaint through key frontline staff. Summary Dayton RTA focuses its mission and core values in part to provide a reliable and high-quality service experience to customers. The customer service promise is an integral part of the transit agency’s mission to serve customers. The customer service promise provides a framework for service expectations and a communication channel that allows direct access to administration officials. This framework has allowed the transit agency to improve customer relations while internally improving the way the transit agency handles customer service claims and feedback. Following are the key findings and notable practices from this case example.

Case examples 47 Key Findings The key findings from this case example include: • Reliability and customer confidence: Before 2007, customer confidence and reliability in the Dayton RTA system was at a low point. A change in leadership helped to reorient transit agency values toward a customer-focused approach. The customer service promise arose from these initiatives to help rebuild customer trust and perception. Customer service guarantees such as the on-time service guarantee gave customers a course of action if the transit agency was not adhering to its punctuality guarantee. Other initiatives, such as the Write to the Top program, gave customers a direct communication line to voice problems and concerns. • Customer service measures: Dayton RTA measures customer service levels by assessing how long the feedback loop, from the initial point of communication until the issue is resolved, takes. The transit agency strives to keep the feedback loop to a 24-h average in how long it takes to resolve an issue. • Internal buy-in challenges: One of the challenges with the customer service promise included buy-in from customer service staff members. Adhering to the letter of the policy or the overall mission of the customer service promise proved challenging and at times inconsistent with the overall vision. Transit agency management provided more flexible guidelines to ensure a customer-first response to all customer service inquiries, allowing agency staff to respond on a case-by-case basis instead of adhering strictly to the service guarantee policy. Notable Practices The notable practices from this case example include: • On-time service guarantee: Dayton RTA assures punctual service to its customers. The on-time service guarantee ensures that customers who wait 30 min or more for a bus will receive a voucher toward a free ride. This customer service guarantee is significant, especially because the transit service is not on a fixed guideway. The guarantee is part of an overall tran- sit agency initiative to improve customer confidence by providing quality customer service. • Write to the Top initiative: Allowing customers to write directly to or call the CEO and other transit agency officials is not a common practice in medium- and large-scale transit opera- tions. According to Dayton RTA, the Write to the Top initiative has allowed for a more trans- parent and accessible medium for customers to ask questions or submit complaints. Although this option is available, it is not one of the highly used options for customer feedback. • Efficient customer service process: New computer-aided dispatch (CAD)/AVL systems now allow customer service staff to access the same information that is available to the dispatch center. This allows for efficient information gathering to verify, for example, whether a bus is running late. This aids in the claims process for the on-time service guarantee or other guarantees under the customer service promise. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is a department of the City and County of San Francisco and oversees the municipal railway (Muni), parking and traffic, bicycling, walk- ing, and taxis. The transit arm of SFMTA, Muni, operates buses, light rail, cable cars, and historic

48 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices streetcars, serving over 700,000 riders a day (SFMTA n.d.). SFMTA was chosen as a case example because it has both a service guarantee and customer-focused transparency practices. This case example presents SFMTA’s customer service guarantee and transparent reporting practices, and includes a discussion of: • SFMTA’s customer-focused practices, • The service guarantee, • Transparent reporting, • Challenges and lessons learned, and • Key findings and notable practices. SFMTA’s Customer-Focused Practices SFMTA’s approach to customer-focused practices begins with the transit agency’s mission statement: “We work together to plan, build, operate, regulate, and maintain the transportation network, with our partners, to connect communities” (SFMTA 2012). The mission statement is displayed on the transit agency’s website and in its 2013–2018 Strategic Plan. As part of the 2013–2018 Strategic Plan, SFMTA developed goals and objectives through a process led by the SFMTA Executive Team, with input from SFMTA staff and external stake- holders, to determine the most important areas to focus the transit agency’s future efforts. From the initial surveys with the general public and a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis, five key themes emerged (SFMTA 2012): • Customer service for all modes, • Internal and external communications, • Transportation network improvements for all modes, • Financial sustainability, and • Organizational development. Two goals in the 2013–2018 Strategic Plan specifically address customer service (SFMTA 2012): • Goal 2: Make transit, walking, biking, ridesharing, and carsharing the preferred means of travel. Objectives under this goal include improving customer service and communications, improv- ing transit performance, increasing use of all nonprivate auto modes, and improving parking utilization and managing parking demand. • Goal 4: Create a workplace that delivers outstanding customer service. Objectives under this goal include improving internal communication, creating a collaborative and innovative work- place, improving employee accountability, and improving relationships and partnerships with stakeholders. Service Guarantee Overview SFMTA’s service guarantees are referred to as “service standards” within the transit agency and were inscribed in the San Francisco City Charter by voter initiative in 1999. The initia- tive created SFMTA (combining the San Francisco Municipal Railway with the Department of Parking and Traffic) and established a series of service standards to which the agency was required to adhere. The service standards apply to all transit modes and include the following (City of San Francisco 2009): • Ensuring adequate on-time performance: at least 85% of vehicles must run on time. • Ensuring adequate service delivery: 98.5% of scheduled service hours must be delivered and at least 98.5% of scheduled vehicles must begin service at the scheduled time.

Case examples 49 • Setting measurable standards for system reliability, system performance, staffing performance, and customer service. SFMTA publicizes the service guarantee to transit riders, the general public, and public officials through a direct link on the transit agency home page. SFMTA defines on-time as a transit vehicle being between 1 min early and 4 min late com- pared with the schedule. The service standards set by SFMTA do not promise that the SFMTA will take an action in the event that the guarantee is not met. SFMTA service guarantees are guarantees of service quality in aggregate and not specific to individual trips or observations. The service guarantee at SFMTA has increased transparency and engagement with the public, which has improved relationships with key stakeholders. The guarantee has also improved SFMTA employees’ commitment to customer service and helped SFMTA improve service quality. The burden of assembling frequent performance information for reporting has been moderately challenging since the guarantee was implemented. The service guarantee covers only a small portion of performance metrics listed in the agency’s strategic plan, which provided the board of directors with the opportunity to adopt other mile- stones or targets for specific metrics at their discretion and adjust these milestones over time. Transparent Reporting Overview SFMTA first implemented a customer-focused transparency program in 2003 after requests from the public and board of directors. Additionally, transparency is part of the transit agency’s strategic plan in an effort to increase customer confidence. Reporting Details SFMTA reports the following customer-focused metrics for all modes on a monthly basis: • On-time performance, • Headway adherence and reliability, • Missed trips/service not operated, • Distance traveled between mechanical failures, • Crime rate, • Customer commendations and complaints, • Customer satisfaction, and • Collisions per 100,000 miles. SFMTA reports and publishes performance to transit riders, the general public, and pub- lic officials through an interactive web page with key performance dashboards (SFMTA April 2017) and through a static document available for download from the web page. Each month, the downloadable reports focus on one of the four goals in SFMTA’s strategic plan, and all metrics for that goal are reported (in addition to key indicators for the other three goals). The transit agency provides qualitative context for some performance metrics to help the audience understand the performance data. The transit agency is developing a new strategic plan and will be moving away from this rotating reporting format to a friendlier, more digestible reporting structure that includes elements that are essential to the public. Online performance dashboards covering 13 key areas of SFMTA’s strategic plan enable the public to track SFMTA’s progress in meeting goals outlined in the strategic plan. The dashboards are accessible from the transit agency website and provide information on key indicators for each goal. Within each performance measure, users can choose the mode and specific line or route to view in the interactive report.

50 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices For example, SFMTA reports performance on complaints in monthly progress reports, such as the percentage of actionable operator conduct complaints in 2016 addressed within 28 busi- ness days (see Figure 17). Other indicators reported include addressing parking meter malfunc- tions, color curb requests, traffic and parking control requests, and traffic signal requests within a specific time frame. Figure 18 illustrates the overall customer satisfaction with transit services in San Francisco reported in the monthly progress report released in March 2017. Most customers reported that they are satisfied with services provided by SFMTA. Other indicators include customer ratings on satisfaction with communications to passengers, transit vehicle cleanliness, transit facility cleanliness, and overall satisfaction by specific mode. Figure 19 shows the overall stakeholder satisfaction with SFMTA management of transporta- tion as of March 2017. Benefits of Transparent Reporting Transparency has improved trust between SFMTA and its stakeholders. Customer-focused transparency practices have also benefited SFMTA by improving: • Customer satisfaction, • SFMTA’s image with the media and elected officials, Figure 17. Actionable SFMTA operator conduct complaints addressed within 28 business days. Source: SFMTA (March 2017). Figure 18. Overall satisfaction with SFMTA transit services. Source: SFMTA (March 2017).

Case examples 51 • Employees’ commitment to customer service, and • Service quality. Challenges and Lessons Learned Challenges associated with SFMTA’s customer-focused transparency practices include: • Administrative burden of managing the program (e.g., managing data, updating reports). Monthly reporting frequencies are difficult to meet, and the overall volume of performance measures the transit agency is committed to report can result in potential data quality issues. Some of the envisioned performance measures in the strategic plan do not have enough high- quality data to warrant public reporting. • Developing a shared sense of ownership of the performance measures listed in the strategic plan has been challenging in a large agency such as SFMTA because of the potential for increased scrutiny of a particular department’s work owing to the amount of data reporting. It is important to have all departments fully engaged in the strategic plan development process. • Difficulty implementing transparent reporting for transit services provided by transportation contractors/providers. • The strategic plan identified a large number of performance metrics; not all metrics were relevant to the public, and the volume of metrics made the information difficult to under- stand and identify key factors. It is important to identify measures that are essential for public reporting and those relevant for internal reporting. It is important to identify and adopt performance measures that will drive decision making for the transit agency. • Although they are useful for the public to track SFMTA’s progress on meeting goals, the online performance metrics dashboards also bring a liability element to the agency because of the amount of data available and in the public eye. Summary SFMTA’s service standards were inscribed in the San Francisco City Charter by voter initiative in 1999, and the customer-focused transparency program was implemented in 2003. The service standards at SFMTA do not promise that an action will be taken by the transit agency when the guarantee is not met. SFMTA reports and publishes performance monthly for transit riders, Figure 19. Stakeholder satisfaction with SFMTA management of transportation. Source: SFMTA (March 2017).

52 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices the general public, and public officials through an interactive web page with KPI dashboards and through a static document available for download from the web page. SFMTA’s service standards do not appear to have increased fare revenues or ridership. Customer-focused transparency practices likely benefit SFMTA by improving the transit agen- cy’s image with the general public, the media, and elected officials. The service standards and transparency practices also likely helped the transit agency improve service quality and have improved SFMTA employees’ commitment to customer service. Key Findings The key findings from this case example include: • Transparency improves trust. The guarantee has increased transparency and engagement with the public, which has improved relationships with key stakeholders at SFMTA. • Performance reporting is difficult: The burden of assembling frequent and robust perfor- mance information for reporting is difficult, resulting in potential data quality issues. Notable Practices Notable practices from this case example include: • Interactive, online dashboards. Interactive, online performance dashboards for 13 key areas listed in the strategic plan, covering each goal and objective, enable the public to track SFMTA’s progress on achieving goals and objective identified in the strategic plan. • Depth of performance data collection. SFMTA collects data from various operational data sources and has the internal capacity to use these data for more nuanced units for analysis, in addition to what is provided in the monthly reports. This enables the transit agency to identify particular lines, stops, or time periods for which performance has changed and review the specific service attributes to make changes. • Transparency. Transparency is an institutional tradition at SFMTA and has improved SFMTA’s image to various audiences. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is a public transit agency that provides subway, bus, rail, ferry, and demand-responsive services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA, known locally as simply “the T,” was established in 1964 and serves a population of 4.8 million people with an average weekday ridership of 1.3 million (MBTA n.d.-b). The synthesis team chose to review the MBTA as a case example because of its robust transparent reporting practices. The MBTA implemented an interactive online performance dashboard to provide the public with information about MBTA services. Performance metrics have various audiences—riders, internal managers, policy makers, and others. The online dashboard provides these audiences with four categories of metrics: reliability, ridership, financials, and customer satisfaction. This case example presents the MBTA’s transparency practices and includes a discussion of: • MBTA’s transparent reporting, • Challenges and lessons learned, and • Key findings and notable practices.

Case examples 53 Transparent Reporting In 2016, the MBTA launched an interactive online performance dashboard as part of the transit agency’s transparent reporting practice. The online dashboard allows the public to see how the transit agency is performing. The dashboard presents performance data on reliability, ridership, financials, and customer satisfaction. For instance, the reliability data allow the public to view the historic and previous-day performance of every bus route and rail line during peak and off-peak periods. The ridership data allow the public to view the average weekday rider- ship for any given month for the MBTA’s various modes of transit. The financial data allow the public to review the operating budget for the fiscal year to date and compare the actual expenditures and revenue to budget. Finally, the customer satisfaction data allow the public to review results of the MBTA Customer Opinion Panel monthly survey and view results from previous months. MBTA created the dashboard to provide transparency and accountability to its stakeholders. The online dashboard is linked through MBTA’s website. The design of the dashboard is simple and reminiscent of fitness tracking software, such as Fitbit and other health applications, providing an easy viewing of the transit agency’s performance. Figure 20 shows the dashboard’s landing page. Figure 20. Dashboard landing page. Source: MBTA (2017b).

54 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices Reporting Details The MBTA’s dashboard focuses on four metrics: reliability, ridership, financials, and customer satisfaction. The availability of new data for each performance metric varies because the source data for each of the metrics is refreshed at different frequencies. How often data are collected and what kind of processing is required both affect the frequency at which the MBTA can refresh data. For instance, reliability data are refreshed daily with the previous day’s performance. Ridership and financial data are refreshed at the beginning of each month with at least 1-month lag (e.g., February becomes available April 1). Customer satisfaction data are refreshed at the beginning of each month for the previous month (e.g., March becomes available April 1). To help the public and other MBTA stakeholders better understand the data being provided through the dashboard, the MBTA provides a definition of each metric, explains how each metric is measured, uses infographics to illustrate the data, and manages a data blog that provides further context. Users can also download the data and perform their own individual analysis. The data download is supplemented by a data dictionary that defines all the variables contained within the data download. Finally, the MBTA provides trend data and actual and target performance metrics. Table 18 provides the trend data available for each of the four metrics. Different MBTA services have different operating characteristics and available data. One exam- ple of the different operating characteristics between transit services is the way that the MBTA measures the reliability of subway and commuter rail services. MBTA measures its subway services (Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines) by the percentage of customers who wait less than the scheduled time between trains. If subway trains run every 5 min but some customers wait 6 min because a train is delayed, the MBTA considers service to be unreliable for those customers. Figure 21 demonstrates how the MBTA describes measuring reliability of subway services. On the other hand, commuter rail service runs less frequently than subway trains and is expected to adhere to the times on a printed schedule. Because commuter rail runs less fre- quently, customers typically plan around specific times, so the MBTA measures commuter rail reliability as the percentage of trains that arrive at their final destination no more than 4 min 59 s after they are scheduled to arrive. Figure 22 demonstrates how the MBTA describes measur- ing reliability of commuter rail services. Metrics data provided on the dashboard are driven by which data are both available and accu- rate enough to post. One performance metric that the MBTA has been unable to provide data on but receives requests for, is crowding (how crowded the system is). The MBTA does not have good enough data on crowding to report on it now, but the agency is currently building tools to Performance Metric Trend Data Reliability Show 7-day and 30-day trending views for each reliability mode, route type, and route Ridership Show 2-year month-over-month comparison and trends for each mode Financials Show year-over-year trends for revenues, expenses, and deficit Customer Satisfaction Show month-over-month trends for overall satisfaction Sources: Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Press Office (2016); MBTA (2017b). Table 18. Trend data available for performance metrics.

Case examples 55 Figure 21. How the MBTA measures reliability of subway services. Source: MBTA (2017b). analyze where and when on the street network bus crowding is taking place, different temporal patterns of crowding by route, and the causes of crowding. This analysis will help the MBTA determine the appropriate tools to use to address the problems. Implementation of Transparent Reporting The MBTA implemented transparent reporting for a number of reasons, including: • To respond to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board’s (FMCB’s) request for bet- ter transparent reporting, • To increase customer confidence, and • To improve public perception.

56 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices The impetus for better transparent reporting came as a result of transit service disruptions during winter 2015. In February and March 2015, the greater Massachusetts area received over 100 inches of snow, making the season the all-time snowiest season for the city. In the wake of the snowstorms, the MBTA experienced several service interruptions and challenges. In response to these challenges, newly elected Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker created the FMCB to review and report on the MBTA. The panel sought to improve transparency and accountability and make MBTA’s performance information easily and publicly accessible. To meet this need, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Office of Performance Management and Innovation (MassDOT OPMI) developed and implemented the online per- formance metric dashboard. OPMI is responsible for expanding performance management and innovative strategies across all MassDOT divisions and departments, and for measuring and reporting on progress. OPMI is legislatively mandated to report performance metrics annually and had been reporting since 2013 through MassDOT’s Annual Performance Report. Because OPMI was already reporting on the MBTA’s performance, the online dashboard served as a platform for making those data public, accessible, and updated more often than once a year. The first steps to creating the online dashboard were centered on design. The MBTA asked questions such as what the dashboard should look like, and if an additional data set becomes available in the future, how it can be added to the dashboard. The second step to creating the dashboard was to consider which data were both available and accurate enough to post and what data requests the MBTA regularly received from both external and internal stakeholders. Figure 22. How the MBTA measures reliability of commuter rail services. Source: MBTA (2017b).

Case examples 57 Before winter 2015, the MBTA launched a project that created a data clearinghouse called the MBTA 360°. The MBTA designed the clearinghouse to serve as a one-stop location for perfor- mance and compliance reporting by providing a 360° view of MBTA activity. The clearinghouse data allowed the MBTA to begin making linkages between bus performance and, for instance, operator availability, vehicle availability, or maintenance problems. Because the MBTA was already collecting performance metric data, the process for which was automated and integrated, bringing the data online to the dashboard was easier. The dashboard provided the platform for public viewing of performance metric data that the MBTA was already collecting. During development of the dashboard, several of the definitions of reliability were changed as part of the MBTA’s revisions to its Service Delivery Policy. The definitions were changed to create measures that more accurately reflected passenger experience. The MBTA has released two versions of the online dashboard. The MBTA released the first version in March 2016, knowing that modifications were going to be made. The MBTA released the second version of the dashboard in August 2016 after having received additional feedback from riders and stakeholders. The second release included updates that allowed users to see trends over the last 7 and 30 days; the average weekday ridership by month for commuter rail, ferry, and The Ride (MBTA’s door-to-door, shared-ride paratransit service); and the ability to download data for individual analysis. The MBTA continues to develop and refine performance measures based on the best data that are available. In addition to receiving feedback from external stakeholders, the MBTA received feedback from various internal departments (operating and service planning departments) that provided metric data. Having various internal departments review the quality of the data revealed differ- ent issues with the data. Internal data checking allowed the MBTA to confirm questions such as whether data were missing, whether a particular route was being left out, or whether all the data were being categorized correctly in analysis. Checking with internal stakeholders was an ongoing process throughout the dashboard’s development. Once ready to launch the online dashboard, the MBTA conducted a media strategy with its press team to discuss how messages about the dashboard would be delivered to the public and other stakeholders. The MBTA relied heavily on its social media presence. The MBTA has over 250,000 Twitter followers. By promoting the dashboard through its Twitter account and other social media outlets, the MBTA hoped that the dashboard would be further promoted and shared by people who were interested in the MBTA. Additionally, visual advertisements were run at stations with digital ads, which at the time was about 12 to 24 stations. Stories featuring the dash- board ran locally in the Boston Globe and several other industry magazines and journals. Finally, the MBTA discussed the dashboard’s launch at various professional conferences, including the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C. Benefits and Costs of Transparent Reporting The MBTA has experienced both benefits and costs related to implementing transparent reporting. The MBTA identified an improvement of its image with the general public as one perceived benefit of implementing the dashboard. The MBTA also clarified that because the transit agency is undertaking a number of initiatives aimed at improving customer satisfaction and reliability, it is difficult to separate benefits that may have come as a result of the online dashboard from the other ongoing initiatives. For example, the MBTA is striving to improve reliability for every single one of the transit lines, and the MBTA is also meeting with municipal partners on how to get more on-street accommodations and signal priority for MBTA vehicles. These efforts are all part of the MBTA’s goals to improve overall service. The online dashboard provides a platform for the public to view the MBTA’s progress in improving overall service.

58 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices In general, the MBTA believes its transparent reporting practices have helped improve service quality. The degree to which transparent reporting has helped the MBTA to improve service quality is difficult to pinpoint because of other concurrent and ongoing initiatives the MBTA is undertaking. Internally, the implementation of the online dashboard has not affected (neither positively nor negatively) MBTA employees’ commitment to customer service. The transit agency does believe there has been an increased awareness in performance among MBTA employees. The MBTA has used the dashboard as a way to look at what has happened in the past and how to improve in the future. One potential impact of transparent reporting is on the volume of data requests; the goal is to provide information while limiting staff time required to fulfill data requests. The MBTA is not sure of the dashboard’s impact on the number of data requests because the MBTA does not have a centralized data request procedure. With the data download feature, individuals can pull their own data from the dashboard. At the same time, the dashboard provides a window into the MBTA data, potentially creating additional requests. The MBTA continues to evaluate how to release more data to limit the number of data requests as much as possible. In addition to public requests, the MBTA has received inquiries from other transit agencies about the steps involved in building the dashboard. Challenges and Lessons Learned The MBTA identified the following as lessons learned that other transit agencies implementing transparent reporting might consider: • Make the system scalable. The MBTA intentionally designed and built the dashboard to be scalable (i.e., able to grow and accommodate more data sets), knowing that as additional data sets become available, they will be added to the dashboard. By making the system scalable, once additional data sets become available, they can be added to the dashboard and the format and design will remain the same as the original. • Automate the data. As much as possible, pull the data from automated data sources into a back-end system the dashboard can pull from. Luckily, the MBTA was already developing a data warehouse that enabled automation of the dashboard for most measures. This limits the resources necessary to maintain the dashboard. In addition, a data download can allow for automated data requests. • Provide context to the data. The MBTA recognizes that data are not perfectly clean and that there are many caveats to understanding what data are actually saying. To minimize the chance of the dashboard data being misinterpreted or misused, the MBTA released a data blog on the dashboard. The data blog discusses the dashboard data in a transparent way. For instance, through the data blog, the MBTA explains the assumptions that it makes with the data, where the data come from, and the reasons a certain data source may not be as reliable as another data source. The data blog also allows the MBTA a platform to explain mistakes in data. For example, MBTA recently pulled reliability data related to the Green Line from the dashboard. This was done because the agency realized that something happened in one of its servers that slowed down its real-time data. The lag in data was enough of a problem that it dropped the MBTA’s performance on the Green Line by 10 points. The data blog allowed the MBTA the chance to explain the mistake and why the Green Line data had temporarily been removed. The data blog provides the MBTA the opportunity to have an online conversation with end users who want to drill down into the details of the data and provide context for the data. Figure 23 is an example of one of the posts from the data blog.

Case examples 59 Figure 23. Green Line reliability partial post from data blog. Source: MBTA (2017a).

60 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices Summary The MBTA’s mission is to provide access and move people while strengthening and improving the economic health of the region by delivering reliable, equitable, and cost-effective service to its customers. The MBTA’s core values are that the community will embrace: • Safety of the public and staff as top priority; • Focus on customer experience; • Transparency in the way business is conducted; • Honesty in all matters; • Respect for the public, all employees, and private partners; • Flexibility to adapt and evolve; • Commitment to data-driven analysis; and • Ensured accountability. The transparent reporting practice is an integral part of the MBTA’s mission and core values to serve customers. The interactive online dashboard provides metrics on four categories—ridership, reliability, financials, and customer satisfaction—providing a comprehensive viewing of the MBTA’s performance progress. The transparent reporting, along with other concurrent MBTA initiatives, has benefited the MBTA by improving the transit authority’s image with the general public and helping the MBTA to improve service quality. Following are the key findings and notable practices from this case example. Key Findings The key findings from this case example include: • System failures lead to system transparency: The 2015 winter storms crippled the MBTA system and resulted in a series of visible failures. A change in state leadership ushered in the creation of the FMCB, which strives to improve transparency and accountability and make the MBTA’s performance information easily and publicly accessible. To meet the transparent reporting practice needs, the MBTA launched an interactive online dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of performance progress on reliability, ridership, financials, and cus- tomer service. • Managing data requests is a challenge. One of the challenges with reporting performance metrics through the online dashboard has been managing data requests. To limit the num- ber of data requests it receives, the MBTA has included a data download that allows users to download data and perform their own custom data analysis. Notable Practices Notable practices from this case example include: • Scalable system. The MBTA’s dashboard is scalable and can be updated to include additional data sets as they become available in the future. As new data sets become available, they can easily be integrated into the current dashboard’s layout and design. • Data blog. The MBTA’s online dashboard includes a data blog. The Data Blog is a platform for the MBTA to have a conversation with users about the data. Through the Data Blog, the MBTA provides context to the data represented on the dashboard. • Data download and dictionary. To limit the number of data requests it receives, the MBTA included a data download feature on the dashboard. The data download feature allows users to download the data the dashboard pulls from and perform individual analysis. Because numerous variables are represented in the data download, the MBTA also created a data dictionary that defines the variables.

Case examples 61 GO Transit GO Transit is a division of Metrolinx and is the regional public transit service provider for Canada’s Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. GO Transit operates bus and train service across a service area of over 4,200 square miles (11,000 square kilometers) and a population of more than 7 million (GO Transit 2017b). Average weekday ridership is approximately 215,000 on trains and 56,000 on buses; annual ridership is around 68 million (GO Transit n.d.-d). GO Transit was selected as a case example because it has well-defined customer-focused practices, including a passenger charter, on-time guarantee, and customer-focused transparent reporting. In addition, GO Transit can provide the perspective of a public transit agency operat- ing in Canada. This case example presents GO Transit’s customer-focused practices and includes a discussion of • GO Transit’s customer-focused practices, including details about implementation and rationale; • The passenger charter and GO Train on-time guarantee; • Transparent reporting; • Benefits and costs of GO Transit’s customer-focused practices; • Challenges and lessons learned; and • Key findings and notable practices. GO Transit’s Customer-Focused Practices Since 2009, GO Transit has been consistently working to develop and maintain a customer- first culture and improve customer satisfaction. GO Transit currently has a five-promise passen- ger charter, which is at the center of its customer-focused practices. The charter is the foundation for GO Transit’s customer-focused transparency and was the impetus behind the GO Train on-time guarantee. GO Transit makes sure that customers visiting its home page understand its commitment to customer service. In addition to advertising its passenger charter in the scrolling ads on the home page, GO Transit has a tab entitled “Customer Service” on the page’s top horizontal menu (see Figure 24). The customer service tab contains a set of submenus presenting an array of customer-focused programs and initiatives, as follows: • The Passenger Charter, • Report Card, • GO Train Service Guarantee, • Customer Surveys, • “Let GO Know” Online Customer Panel, • Customer Experience Advisory Committee, • How We’re Listening (displays survey results and efforts to improve performance), • Tell Us How We’re Doing (online comment form), and • Did you get a fine? (details about dispute resolution and fine payment). GO Transit did not always have a passenger charter or a robust customer service orientation. GO Transit underwent a significant cultural overhaul that started in 2008, when an 11,000- signature passenger petition was presented to the GO Transit board and executives. The petition asked GO Transit to provide more focus and attention to the customer. The board of directors

62 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices and transit agency executives took this petition, and the underlying sentiment that it represented, seriously. Impetus of the Customer Service Strategy Due largely to the 2008 petition, serious work began in 2009 to transform the culture of GO Transit. GO Transit had a strong (and well-performing) safety culture, and this strong foundation around safety was augmented to have a strong focus on the customer and what it takes to put the customer first. As a part of this work, GO Transit hired a vice president of customer service and a director of customer care—these positions (and their supporting Figure 24. GO Transit home page showing customer-focused practices. Source: GO Transit (2017a).

Case examples 63 team members) were charged with overseeing the implementation of GO Transit’s customer service strategy. GO Transit’s new customer service strategy began as a 3-year program, to be updated and refreshed every 3 years. The strategy contained several elements, including revitalizing GO Tran- sit’s brand, developing a vision that puts the customer first, developing a new GO Transit brand essence of “easy,” developing a passenger charter and public-facing KPIs that track performance related to the promises in the charter, developing the GO Train on-time guarantee, and develop- ing engagement strategies both for passengers and employees. Implementing the Customer Service Strategy Actually implementing GO Transit’s new customer service strategy (including its passenger charter, GO Train on-time guarantee, and customer-focused transparency) was a significant undertaking. GO Transit leadership wanted to ensure that the customer service strategy was supported by all levels of GO Transit staff, who would ultimately be the people delivering on GO Transit’s promises to customers. Several key steps were taken to ensure a successful implementation of GO Transit’s customer service strategy, including: • Forming a customer advisory committee and focus groups, • Conducting employee training and focus groups, and • Implementing public rollout of the passenger charter. Customer Advisory Committee and Focus Groups GO Transit created a customer advisory committee, which is a group of volunteer passengers who provide insights and feedback to GO Transit. The customer advisory committee members all have signed nondisclosure agreements and often get to preview and provide input on GO Transit’s initiatives and programs. The customer advisory committee was present through the whole customer service strategy implementation process and provided valuable feedback and insights to GO Transit. In addition to the customer advisory committee, GO Transit conducted passenger focus groups when developing the passenger charter. These focus groups helped GO Transit identify the issues that are critical to passengers and develop plain, straightforward language that is well understood and received by passengers. Employee Training and Focus Groups GO Transit also involved its employees in the development of the passenger charter by creating employee focus groups. The employee focus groups produced the same results as the passenger focus groups. In addition to employee focus groups, GO Transit took the time to train every one of GO Transit’s approximately 1,800 employees at all levels of the organi- zation on the final passenger charter. This training was first piloted on bus operators, who provided constructive feedback to help fine-tune the training. The training also provided employees with an opportunity to apply the charter to their own unique responsibilities (i.e., to understand how each employee affects GO Transit’s keeping of the charter’s promises) and provide ideas about how to improve processes and policies or implement new procedures that would help employees better deliver on the passenger charter. About 700 ideas were received, and GO Transit worked to implement as many of them as possible. GO Transit provided updates to employees every 3 months to communicate what was being done with each of the submitted ideas.

64 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices Public Rollout of the Passenger Charter GO Transit did not roll out the passenger charter until after all employees were trained. GO Transit created a robust marketing plan and even had the minister of transportation of Ontario perform the official launch at Union Station, the main train station in Toronto. GO Transit’s passenger charter contains five promises: • To do our best to be on time. • To always take your safety seriously. • To keep you in the know. • To make your experience comfortable. • To help you quickly and courteously. During the first week of the passenger charter, GO Transit highlighted a promise per day and communicated about what GO Transit had done or was working on to deliver on that promise. As a general part of GO Transit’s customer service strategy, GO Transit also worked to change the way it communicates with customers to be more transparent and customer friendly. GO Transit has strategically reduced industry jargon and corporate word choice in its website, passenger charter, service alerts, and all customer-facing communication. Maintaining Passenger Knowledge of the Passenger Charter GO Transit’s passenger charter is published on its website and displayed inside every transit vehicle and station. In addition, all new initiatives and service improvements are communicated and promoted as a part of GO Transit’s efforts to deliver on the promises in the passenger charter. For example, when onboard automated bus stop announcements were implemented, GO Transit promoted this accomplishment as a part of its passenger charter promise “to keep you in the know.” In 2014, GO Transit celebrated the fifth anniversary of the passenger charter. GO Transit used this anniversary as a time to celebrate with passengers, reinforce the promises made in the passenger charter, build awareness of the passenger charter, and assess whether any changes to the passenger charter were needed based on customer feedback. GO Transit found that the pas- senger charter’s promises and approach remained valid and well received, and even today, after almost 10 years of being in place, the passenger charter has the same five promises that were in place when it was launched. GO Transit conducts customer satisfaction surveys twice a year, and these surveys ask a ques- tion about awareness of the passenger charter. Between 52% and 56% of customers are aware of the passenger charter, which is a respectable percentage given that GO Transit currently pro- motes the charter only as a part of other customer service initiatives and on its website. The following section provides more details concerning GO Transit’s passenger charter and its GO Train on-time guarantee. Passenger Charter and GO Train On-Time Guarantee For the purposes of this report, the synthesis team defined a service guarantee as any explicit transit agency commitment to a quality customer experience, regardless of whether the agency compensates or responds directly to individual customers in the event the commitment is not met. GO Transit’s passenger charter actually contains five separate guarantees—each called a promise under the passenger charter. GO Transit has established a KPI for each guarantee (or promise). The KPI definitions, performance targets, and current performance are displayed on the passenger charter web page. Table 19 provides an overview of each promise. (More details

Case examples 65 are provided about how GO Transit measures and reports its various metrics in this case example’s section on transparent reporting.) The full text of each passenger charter promise is provided here. We Promise: To Do Our Best to Be On Time. GO Transit’s punctuality guarantee is as follows (GO Transit 2017c): We want to get you where you need to be, when you need to be there. It’s our goal to be on time, and we encourage you to see how we’re doing. If there’s a delay, we’ll do everything we can to provide you with information about it. GO Transit’s KPIs for the punctuality guarantee are the percentage of trains that arrive within 5 min of scheduled time and the percentage of buses that arrive within 15 min of the scheduled time. The punctuality guarantee (i.e., the promise to be on time) applies to both buses and trains, but GO Transit has an additional money-back guarantee that applies only to GO Trains. The GO Train on-time guarantee provides for a refund of what was paid for a train trip that was delayed by 15 min or more. The refund is provided as a credit toward future GO Transit fare payments. Details about the GO Train on-time guarantee are provided later in this case example. We Promise: To Always Take Your Safety Seriously. GO Transit’s safety guarantee is as follows (GO Transit 2017c): The safety of our riders, employees and all those who come in contact with our services is at the core of everything we do. This means well-lit parking lots and stations, vehicles checked regularly and fast response from trained staff should you need help. GO Transit’s KPI for the safety guarantee is complaints about safety per 1,000,000 boardings. GO Transit’s target is to have 30 or fewer complaints about safety per 1,000,000 boardings. We Promise: To Keep You in the Know. GO Transit’s promise to keep passengers in the know reads as follows (GO Transit 2017c): Whether it’s delay alerts, or information to help plan your journey better—keeping you informed is key. Our goal is to keep you updated as soon as possible whether it’s in person or online. GO Transit’s KPI for the guarantee to keep passengers in the know is complaints about service status communication per 1,000,000 boardings. GO Transit’s goal is to have 30 or fewer such complaints per 1,000,000 boardings. Promise KPI Target Current Performance1 To do our best to be on time Percent of arrivals within 5 minutes (for trains) or 15 minutes (for buses) of scheduled time. Trains: 94% Buses: 94% Trains: 95% Buses: 95% To always take your safety seriously Complaints about safety per 1,000,000 boardings. 30 or fewer 32 To keep you in the know Complaints about service status communication per 1,000,000 boardings. 30 or fewer 25 To make your experience comfortable Complaints about comfort in stations, trains, and buses per 1,000,000 boardings. 30 or fewer 41 To help you quickly and courteously Percentage of passenger inquiries or concerns that are resolved the first time passengers contact GO Transit. 85% 100% Source: GO Transit (2017d). 1 Current performance is based on March 2017 calendar year to date. Table 19. GO Transit’s five passenger charter promises and KPIs.

66 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices We Promise: To Make Your Experience Comfortable. GO Transit’s promise for a comfortable experience reads as follows (GO Transit 2017c): Our goal is to make your time with us as pleasant as possible. We will provide modern, well-equipped vehicles and facilities, because a comfortable, stress-free environment can make the difference in your day. GO Transit’s KPI for the comfortable experience guarantee is complaints about comfort in stations, trains, and buses per 1,000,000 boardings. GO Transit’s goal is to have 30 or fewer such complaints. We Promise: To Help You Quickly and Courteously. GO Transit’s promise for quick and courteous help reads as follows (GO Transit 2017c): We’ll take every chance we can get to make your trip better. That’s why every employee at GO wants to help you. If you have a problem, we’ll do our best to resolve it on the spot. In other words, whenever you need help, just ask. GO Transit’s KPI for the quick and courteous help guarantee is the percentage of inquiries or concerns that are resolved the first time passengers contact GO Transit. GO Transit’s target is that at least 85% of passenger inquiries or concerns are resolved during the first contact. GO Train On-Time Guarantee As a part of GO Transit’s promise for on-time service, GO Transit also has an on-time guarantee that applies only to GO Train service (bus service is excluded from the guarantee). Although part of the overall passenger charter initiative, the GO Train on-time guarantee was initiated in 2012, after the passenger charter was already in place. The guarantee stipulates that any passenger whose arrival by train is delayed by 15 min or more is entitled to a refund. Examples of delays eligible under the guarantee include (GO Transit n.d.-c): • Equipment, signal, or switch problems; • Railcar door issues; • Train traffic; • Blocked tracks caused by freight or other trains; and • Construction or maintenance. Although GO Transit does not actively publicize its GO Train guarantee to the general pub- lic, the guarantee is easily found on GO Transit’s home page. GO Transit also makes onboard announcements at a delayed train’s final stop explaining the reason for the delay and whether the train delay qualifies the rider for a credit under the GO Train guarantee. More details about the GO Train guarantee are provided here, and the full-text policy from GO Transit’s website is included as Appendix E. Restrictions on the GO Train Guarantee GO Transit’s guarantee applies only to delays that are caused by reasons within GO Tran- sit’s direct control. For example, delays caused by extreme weather (as defined by Environment Canada’s red weather category), emergency investigations, pedestrian accidents, track obstruc- tions, and onboard emergencies are excluded from the guarantee (GO Transit n.d.-b). Also excluded from the guarantee are trips on multiple corridors, missed connections, and trips can- celed before departure. A large portion of GO Train passengers use the PRESTO card (a contactless fare card) to pay for transit trips. To be eligible for a refund, passengers must tap their PRESTO cards at the station no sooner than 15 min before the train’s scheduled departure from the station. Pas- sengers who use paper fare cards must have bought the ticket within 1 h of the train’s scheduled departure.

Case examples 67 Last, PRESTO passengers must apply for a credit within 7 days of the delay; other ticket types must apply by the end of the following weekday. GO Transit passengers have not responded to these limitations and restrictions negatively, and GO Transit has found them beneficial for balancing passenger satisfaction with controlling the financial risk of the guarantee. In addition, the synthesis team found that GO Transit includes delays caused by train conges- tion as eligible under the guarantee—even when the train congestion is caused by trains that are not GO Trains (e.g., freight trains and other passenger operations). The rationale for this is twofold: first, GO Transit wanted to keep the guarantee relatively straightforward and not place so many restrictions or limitations that customers lost confidence in the guarantee; second, GO Transit owns the railroad tracks and dispatching operations, so train congestion delays are essentially within GO Transit’s control. On a discretionary basis, GO Transit will lift its restrictions and provide some form of resti- tution to passengers for extreme events. For example, on one occasion, a GO Transit train was stranded in a flood—passengers had to be evacuated by boat. GO Transit reimbursed passengers up to $100 for dry cleaning and related expenses and also refunded their transit fare. GO Train Guarantee Claims Process GO Transit is the only transit agency of those contacted for this synthesis that has an auto- mated method for processing claims and crediting passengers. The automated process works for passengers who use their PRESTO card to pay the fare for the delayed train; passengers who do not use PRESTO cards (e.g., group pass or paper ticket holders) must contact a GO Transit representative at a GO Train station. GO Transit used in-house resources to build the automated claims processing system. A passenger must follow a two-step process to file a claim online. First, a passenger uses an online tool to check whether his or her train trip is eligible under the GO Train guarantee. A passenger must enter the trip date, the boarding station, the departing station, and the scheduled train departure at the boarding station (see Figure 25). Based on this information, the system checks service data, including: • The amount of delay on the selected train trip at the station where the passenger got off. (The amount of delay must be 15 min or more.) • The reason for the delay (based on codes input by GO Transit operations staff). The reason code must be one that is eligible under the service guarantee (e.g., the delay cannot be caused by a police investigation). • The number of days that have passed since the delay. The claim must be made within 7 days of the delay. If the system determines that the trip was delayed and passengers are eligible for a credit, the passenger is then prompted to enter his or her PRESTO card number to file the claim. After the claim is filed, the system checks the time the customer tapped his or her PRESTO card at the boarding station. The customer must have tapped in to the station no more than 15 min before the selected train was scheduled to depart. If the passenger’s tap-on time meets the criteria, the passenger is eligible for a credit. The passenger enters an e-mail address to receive automatic status updates about the claim, and the refund is processed so that the passenger’s PRESTO card will be credited at his or her next tap on the GO Transit system. The system does not require any GO Transit intervention to process or validate the claims. However, GO Transit staff in call centers and at stations have the authority to override claims denied by the system, if the situation warrants.

68 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices Table 20 summarizes the results of GO Transit’s GO Train guarantee for fiscal year 2016. Although the claims processing system allows a customer to determine if a particular delayed trip is eligible under the service guarantee before filing a claim, some filed claims are still not eli- gible for a fare credit because of the eligibility requirement that the customer must have tapped his or her PRESTO card within 15 min of the train’s scheduled departure from the station. As can be seen in Table 20, 72,584 (or 26.4%) of filed claims were deemed invalid because the cus- tomer’s tap-on time was not within the 15-min window. Implementation of the GO Train Guarantee As previously discussed, the GO Train guarantee was initiated in 2012 as a part of, but after, GO Train’s passenger charter initiative of 2009. The GO Train guarantee was a planned part of the customer service strategy. Figure 25. Screenshot of the online tool for checking whether a trip is eligible under the GO Train guarantee. Source: GO Transit (n.d.-a). Measure Number or Value Number of claims received 275,334 Number of eligible claims that resulted in customer credit 202,750 Number of ineligible claims 72,584 Monetary value of credits (Can$) $1,401,500 Average value per credit (Can$) $6.91 Table 20. GO Train guarantee statistics for fiscal year 2016.

Case examples 69 GO Transit conducted several analyses before selecting the delay threshold of 15 min. GO Transit ran scenarios at 10-, 15-, and 20-min delay thresholds to assess the anticipated costs of credits. GO Transit also set the maximum tap-on window (the maximum number of minutes a customer can tap on to a station before a train’s scheduled departure) by exam- ining the number of trains scheduled to depart different stations within different time win- dows. In setting the actual thresholds and criteria for the GO Train guarantee, GO Transit wanted to balance the financial risk with the customer’s perspective. GO Transit also involved customers during the process of evaluating the appropriate thresholds and policies for the GO Train guarantee. Similar to how GO Transit rolled out its passenger charter, GO Transit involved employees in the development and implementation of the GO Train guarantee. In particular, GO Transit wanted to ensure employees understood the guarantee, how they each affected the guarantee, and what power employees had to ensure a satisfactory customer experience. For example, if the situation warrants, GO Transit call center and station employees have the authority to grant passenger claims that were initially denied by the automated claims processing system. Because the automated claims processing system checks delay reason codes in an operations database, GO Transit also had to implement a change to standard operating procedures. Before the GO Train guarantee, delay codes were entered after the fact, perhaps at the end of the shift or end of the day. GO Transit wanted passengers to be able to file their claim immediately after an eligible delay, so operations employees had to input the delay reason codes immediately. This required updating standard procedures and training employees on the changes. Customer-Focused Transparent Reporting As a part of its passenger charter, GO Transit reports KPIs to the public. Although GO Transit does not have a dedicated marketing and communications plan for promoting its KPI reporting, GO Transit does make its performance reporting easily accessible on its website. For example, current performance on each of the performance metrics is summarized as a single value on GO Transit’s passenger charter web page (see Figure 26). The KPIs themselves are all tied directly to passenger charter promises and were developed in a series of roundtable meetings with managers and focus groups with passengers. Although GO Transit initially had an extensive list of possible KPIs to report on the charter web page, the list was reduced to just a few critical metrics. The main goals in selecting the final list of KPIs were to keep things easy and put the focus on the customer. GO Transit decided to limit the reported metrics to KPIs that were closely and directly related to the customer experience. In addition to the KPI overview contained on the passenger charter web page, GO Transit has a Report Card page that has more details for each metric (see Figure 27). GO Transit’s home page has a menu option for Report Card when hovering over the Customer Service tab of the top horizontal menu. There are two more KPIs displayed on the report card than on the passenger charter web page: bus on-time performance (the charter page displays only train on-time performance) and the percentage of customers satisfied with GO Transit’s communication (the charter page displays only the complaints about communication). Users can obtain additional information about each KPI, including trends and historical data, by clicking on the Details button next to each KPI. The next sections contain more details about what GO Transit reports and how it collects and publishes the data.

Figure 26. GO Transit passenger charter web page with single-value summaries of KPI performance. Source: GO Transit (2017c).

Case examples 71 Reporting Details Table 21 displays the metrics reported on GO Transit’s report card, including the name of the metric, transit mode(s), operational definition, target, and level of detail provided. For all metrics, GO Transit updates the data on a monthly basis and determines whether year-to-date performance meets the performance target. Users are able to drill down and see monthly performance for each metric (except for satis- faction with communication, which is obtained from a semiannual survey). Figure 28 displays Figure 27. GO Transit Report Card web page. Source: GO Transit (2017d).

72 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices Metric Mode Operational Definition Target Level of Detail On-time performance (trains) Rail Percentage of operated trains that arrive within 5 minutes of the scheduled time 94% Monthly by line and individual trip On-time performance (buses) Bus Percentage of operated buses that arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled time 94% Monthly Complaints about safety Both Complaints about safety per 1,000,000 boardings 30 or fewer Monthly Satisfaction with communication Both Percentage of passengers satisfied with GO Transit communication 77% Every 6 months Complaints about communication Both Complaints about communication per 1,000,000 boardings 30 or fewer Monthly Complaints about comfort Both Complaints about comfort per 1,000,000 boardings 30 or fewer Monthly Resolution of customer inquiries/concerns Both Percentage of customer inquiries/concerns that are resolved at first contact 85% Monthly Source: GO Transit (2017d). Table 21. Details of GO Transit’s KPIs reported on its report card web page. Figure 28. Monthly train on-time performance chart. Source: GO Transit (2017d).

Case examples 73 GO Transit’s monthly on-time performance chart for its trains. Monthly data are provided for both the current and the previous year, providing ample context for users to interpret current monthly performance. In addition to providing monthly detail for on-time performance, GO Transit allows users to drill down into performance by train line and by train trip. Train line performance is displayed similarly to total train performance; tripwise performance is displayed as a single on-time performance value for each individual trip (see Figure 29). Data Collection and Reporting Process The data for GO Transit’s reporting come from existing internal systems, and GO Transit did not purchase any new software or systems to either collect or report KPIs. At the end of every month, data are collected from existing operational systems and imported to an internal report- ing system. On-time performance data for trains are pulled from the train operations system. Bus on-time performance data are pulled from the bus CAD/AVL system. For all complaint-type metrics (e.g., complaints about safety, comfort), data are pulled from GO Transit’s customer rela- tions management system. Data on resolution of customer concerns and inquiries are extracted from GO Transit’s customer contact system—staff handling customer contacts have to code each transaction as either resolved at first point of contact or not. Monthly ridership data are also collected and used in calculating the per-1,000,000-passenger-boardings rates for the complaint metrics. The necessary reports are created for the website, and the website is updated within 10 days after the close of the prior month. Overall, the effort to update the report card every month is not a significant burden on GO Transit staff and is a well-established process. Monitoring Performance Trends GO Transit’s customer service department updates the report card and passenger charter pages. If the customer service department notices a continued performance problem with a specific KPI (e.g., low on-time performance on a train line for an extended period), the depart- ment will communicate with operations staff to determine what is going to be done to improve performance. The corrective actions are then documented and published on GO Transit’s Prom- ise Improvements web page (http://www.gotransit.com/PassengerCharter/en/improvements. aspx#improvements). Figure 29. Example of how GO Transit reports on-time performance by train trip. Source: GO Transit (2017d).

74 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices In addition, GO Transit reviews performance and targets annually to determine if perfor- mance is exceeding targets. If so, GO Transit may decide to revise the targets up. For example, the GO Train on-time performance target has been increased over the years from 90% to its current level at 94%. Benefits and Costs of GO Transit’s Customer-Focused Practices GO Transit’s customer-focused practices (including its passenger charter, GO Train on-time guarantee, and transparent reporting) have brought many benefits to GO Transit, including: • Improved customer satisfaction, • Increased employee commitment to customer service, • Developing a culture of “customer first” across the entire organization, and • Improved service quality. Before the implementation of the passenger charter, GO Transit customer satisfaction was at 56%; as of the latest GO Transit customer satisfaction survey, customer satisfaction is up to about 82%. (Customer satisfaction is defined as customers who report being satisfied or greatly satisfied.) GO Transit’s customer-focused initiatives also earned the transit agency industry recogni- tion. CUTA asked GO Transit to develop a tool kit for developing a passenger charter, including how-to guides, templates, and training. (Appendix H provides a one-page best practices guide for launching a passenger charter.) GO Transit also led a CUTA workshop on launching a passenger charter in a constrained budget environment. GO Transit did not experience significant unintended negative outcomes or costs associated with its initiatives. Obviously, there were costs associated with the staff time and effort to train employees, hold focus groups (both internal and external), update standard operating proce- dures, and develop the automated claims processing system for the GO Train guarantee. GO Transit used mostly internal resources instead of outsourcing. Challenges and Lessons Learned GO Transit described the following as lessons learned that might be considered by any transit agency implementing a passenger charter or customer-focused practices. Develop a Strategy and Vision to Ensure Sustainability GO Transit’s customer-focused initiatives were grounded in a 3-year customer service strategy, which was updated every 3 years. Having a strategy is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the customer-focused program. GO Transit’s strategy helped it be successful in many ways: • The strategy provided a common touch point for employees and leadership—everyone knew what was coming next. • The strategy documented the long-term nature of the program, showing employees that a customer focus was not just the “flavor of the month.” In addition, GO Transit underscored the importance of considering the sustainability of all customer-focused initiatives and programs. It is important to invest in the people, processes, and systems to make the initiatives sustainable over time. There is an inherent risk of going public with a new customer-focused program—the transit agency may look poorly managed if the program falls flat or is discontinued.

Case examples 75 Obtain Executive and Leadership Buy-In For GO Transit, executive buy-in was critical to the success of the cultural transformation that made GO Transit a customer-first organization. However, executive buy-in is not enough— there also needs to be buy-in at all levels of leadership in the organization. GO Transit spent a lot of time and effort meeting with leaders throughout the organization to fully explain what was happening, communicate why the transit agency was embarking on this change, and get feedback from leadership. Transit agencies sometimes naturally adopt a risk-avoidant culture to ensure safety, and GO Transit leaders had to be strategic and focused to ensure that managers and employees understood that being customer focused did not mean prioritizing customer service over safety—being customer focused means doing both safety and customer service well. Prioritize and Focus on Deliverable Action Plan GO Transit developed a specific action plan with steps and deliverables to be accomplished. This action plan helped GO Transit to prioritize activities that mattered and achieve success in each. GO Transit prioritized the activities that would be able to be achieved in the near term (while not forgetting about longer-term initiatives). Engage with Staff Early Another critical element in the success of GO Transit’s initiatives was early engagement with GO Transit employees. GO Transit obtained feedback and buy-in early in the process of imple- menting the passenger charter and related initiatives because, ultimately, the employees are the ones who will be delivering on GO Transit’s customer commitments. For example, GO Transit pilot tested its employee training program with bus operators and learned a lot about how to improve the training. In addition, GO Transit implemented ways to positively reinforce and recognize employees for delivering on GO Transit’s commitments. GO Transit management looked for opportuni- ties to recognize employees by catching people doing things right. GO Transit management staff were visible throughout the entire rollout process and ensured open communication with all employees. GO Transit also posted success stories on its internal website to further enhance reinforcement of the customer-focused culture. Summary GO Transit’s passenger charter, GO Train on-time guarantee, and transparent reporting all serve as an example of a comprehensive set of customer-focused practices. GO Transit’s passenger charter (and transparent reporting) has been in place since 2009, and its GO Train guarantee has been in place since 2012, suggesting that GO Transit’s approach to implementation and program sustainability was highly successful. Perhaps more telling of GO Transit’s success is the significant increase in customer satisfaction from 56% in 2009 to 82% in 2016. GO Transit is pleased with the results of its customer-focused initiatives and has every intention of continuing its efforts and continually improving its standing with customers. Key Findings Based on the data collected from the survey and interviews with GO Transit, the synthesis team identified several key findings: • Customer-focused initiatives can improve employee and customer satisfaction. Although customer satisfaction is not directly attributable to a specific component of GO Transit’s customer-focused strategies, there is no arguing that GO Transit’s customers are more satisfied

76 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices now than they were before GO Transit began to change its culture. GO Transit attributes much of this improvement to increasing employee satisfaction. In the words of GO Transit, “More satisfied staff equates to better service, and better service equates to more satisfied customers.” • Employee engagement is a key to success. GO Transit engaged employees early and often. In the process, GO Transit learned valuable lessons that improved the rollout of its initiatives and empowered employees to succeed. • Customer engagement is a key to success. GO Transit also engaged its passengers early and often. By using a customer advisory committee and customer focus groups, GO Transit helped to ensure its efforts and messaging resonated with customers and would go far to improve customer confidence in and satisfaction with GO Transit. • Sustainability is achieved by investing resources in people, processes, and systems. GO Transit keeps its customer-focused strategies alive today because they are founded on a cultural shift that was given time to mature and develop. GO Transit also ensured that necessary procedural (and sometimes policy) changes were made to give employees the tools to be successful in putting the customer first. • The passenger charter determines transparent reporting. GO Transit did not simply report metrics for the sake of reporting metrics. Instead, GO Transit took a customer-first approach to how it reported its data. Specifically, all customer-focused transparent reporting is associated with one of the five promises contained in GO Transit’s passenger charter. Also, GO Transit does not overwhelm users with complicated analyses or technical jargon in its reporting but instead uses simple, straightforward language to communicate its measures and commitments to improve performance. Notable Practices GO Transit has several practices worth noting, including: • Automated guarantee claim processing: GO Transit’s automated system for validating passenger claims under the GO Train guarantee and refunding fares to passenger fare cards appears to be the first of its kind in North America. This automated system makes the entire claims process more efficient and less burdensome to manage. In addition, because passengers can track their claims as they are validated, the claims process is much more transparent to passengers. • Providing guidance to other transit agencies: GO Transit developed (on behalf of CUTA) a guide for implementing passenger charters. This guide provides a step-by-step process for transit agencies considering implementing a passenger charter. These materials are available at http://cutaactu.ca/en/resources/passenger-charter. • Research and Insights Team. Although not previously discussed in this case example, GO Transit implemented an internal Research and Insights Team made up of internal employees to provide a quick-response, efficient method for handling GO Transit’s research needs. This team developed a research roadmap to better understand GO Transit customer needs and obtain empirically based insights for policy and operational decision making. For example, the Research and Insights Team implemented the Let Go Know customer panel, which now has over 7,000 customers who provide quick responses through short online surveys about specific issues.