A Methodology for Performance Measurement and Peer Comparison in the Public Transportation Industry (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 6-21
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From page 6... ...
In this context, a performance report is not the desired end product; rather, performance measurement is a tool used to provide insights, raise questions, and identify C H A P T E R 2 Performance Measurement, Peer Comparison, and Benchmarking
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other organizations that one may be able to learn from and improve. Benchmarking in the Private Sector The process of private-sector benchmarking in the United States has matured to the point where the practice and benefits of benchmarking are well understood.
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The two rail networks also shared common performance indicators. The first of the networks now facilitated by Imperial College London, CoMET (Community of Metros)
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The indicators lead to more indepth analyses that in turn identify processes that produce higher levels of performance. The three Imperial College–facilitated networks use relatively traditional transit performance measures as their "key performance indicators." In contrast, BEST uses annual telephone citizen surveys (riders and non-riders)
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It can be measured as the sum of a number of weighted quality criteria; the relative weights can be determined through qualitative analysis. 10 Service quality expected Service quality perceived Service quality delivered Service quality targeted Measurement of the satisfaction Measurement of the performance Customer view Service provider view Service beneficiaries: customers and the community Service partners: operator, road authorities, police… Figure 1.
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at one of the Benchmarking European Sustainable Transport conferences focused on the process of looking outside one's own industry to gain new insights into one's business practices. As discussed later in this chapter, a common fear that arises when conducting benchmarking exercises, even among relatively close peers, is that some fundamental difference between peers (for example -- in a transit context -- relative agency or city size, operating environment, route network structure, agency objectives)
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However, the audit also included a peer-comparison element that compared UTA's performance against peer agencies by mode (i.e., bus, light rail, and paratransit) in terms of boardings, revenue miles, operating costs, peak fleet requirements, and service area size and population.
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All of the reported measures are NTD measures. However, the summary also provides useful information about individual systems that go beyond NTD measures, including information on: • Local tax rates and the status of local efforts to increase local public transportation taxes and/or expand transit districts; • Type of governance (e.g., Public Transportation Benefit Area, City, County)
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The peer comparisons looked at four major categories of NTD measures: service efficiency, service effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and passenger revenue effectiveness, plus a comparison of top-operator wage rates using data from other sources. Between 5 and 19 measures were compared among the peer groups, depending on the service being analyzed.
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The project focused on the fixed-route motorbus mode and was limited to NTD variables, with the intent of expanding the range of modes and variables in the future if the initial project proved successful. Peer groups were initially formed based on geographic region, and then subdivided on the basis of service area population, service area population density, total operating expense, vehicles operated in maximum service, and annual total vehicle miles.
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From page 16... ...
. The set of performance measures that can be used in a peer comparison is much more limited than in a trend analysis, as the data for each measure must be available for all of the peer agencies involved in the comparison, and each transit agency must use the same definition for any given measure.
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From page 17... ...
In other cases, performance measures may be reported to the NTD, but not at the desired level of detail -- for example, an agency that is interested in comparing the cost-effectiveness of commuter bus routes will only find system-level data in the NTD, which aggregates all of a particular transit agency's bus services. Another reason for directly contacting a peer is to gain insights into what the agency's top-performing peers are doing to achieve their superior performance in a particular area.
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However, certain types of NTD data (e.g., safety and security data) are not released to the public at present, while non-NTD data that may assist a benchmarking process, such as customer satisfaction survey results, are only available through the cooperation of other transit agencies, who may not wish the information to be broadly disseminated.
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From a manager's perspective, it is always valuable to have a sense of where performance lies relative to other similar agencies. Useful information can be revealed even if a given methodology might have some flaws and not be "perfect" or "ideal." In addition, even if not necessarily used by outside agencies to determine funding levels or otherwise measure accountability, peer comparisons can be used as a way to foster competition and motivate transit agencies to improve their performance.
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In some areas where peer comparisons are very favorable, the agencies often promote the information to the media as a way to gain additional support for transit services in the community. Alternatively, dealing with the media can sometimes be a challenge for some transit agencies.
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From page 21... ...
In summary, performance measurement, peer comparison, and benchmarking are tools that a transit agency can apply and benefit from right now. Potential applications are described in Chapter 3.
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