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From page 42... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Case examples 43 rail routes or systems) Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices streetcars, serving over 700,000 riders a day (SFMTA n.d.) Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 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 business days (see Figure 17) Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... 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) Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 55... ... Case examples 55 Figure 21. How the MBTA measures reliability of subway services. Read the entire page →
From page 56... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 57... ... 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 performance and compliance reporting by providing a 360° view of MBTA activity. Read the entire page →
From page 58... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 59... ... Case examples 59 Figure 23. Green Line reliability partial post from data blog. Read the entire page →
From page 60... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 61... ... 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) Read the entire page →
From page 62... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 63... ... Case examples 63 team members) were charged with overseeing the implementation of GO Transit's customer service strategy. Read the entire page →
From page 64... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 65... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 66... ... 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) Read the entire page →
From page 67... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 68... ... 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 eligible 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. Read the entire page →
From page 69... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 70... ... Figure 26. GO Transit passenger charter web page with single-value summaries of KPI performance. Read the entire page →
From page 71... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 72... ... 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) Read the entire page →
From page 73... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 74... ... 74 Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and transparency practices In addition, GO Transit reviews performance and targets annually to determine if performance is exceeding targets. If so, GO Transit may decide to revise the targets up. Read the entire page →
From page 75... ... 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. Read the entire page →
From page 76... ... 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. Read the entire page →

From page 42...

... 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.