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Case Studies

Mystery Riding for Transit Companies

Improving ride quality, reliability and paratransit services

PROJECT SUMMARY

This transit authority had a major wave of customer complaints but they couldn’t sort out which ones were real, systematic problems. They needed to figure out the root cause of their biggest customer issues.

That’s where A Customer’s Point of View came into the picture…

THE SITUATION

People love to complain about their horrible transit experiences. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if you’re dealing with a loud customer in an isolated incident or a system-wide issue that affects your whole organization.

This transit agency was struggling with exactly that uncertainty. They had several different types of complaints, so they hired A Customer’s Point of View to help them sort out which issues were significantly impacting the customer experience.

What we found at first wasn’t encouraging…but the end results certainly were!

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Updated broken announcement systems within days
  • Identified and corrected problematic driver behavior
  • Reduced ADA violations

Our riders went out into the field to take bus and light rail trips, armed with a list of specific items complaints to look out for, like:

  • Bus drivers passing by riders without stopping
  • No announcements of current or upcoming stops
  • Rude or unhelpful operators
  • Inappropriate conversations by paratransit operators
  • Late time performance Drivers using cell phones/Bluetooth

Missed Stops & Problem Drivers

“ACPVIEW’s expertise, responsiveness, and suggestions have made our program very
effective and we are capturing the information that we needed. The quality of the evaluations and the reporting is
excellent. We highly recommend using their services.”

Let’s Talk Transportation

WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED

  • Driver pass-bys were not an issue and almost all the operators ranked highly.
  • But a few operators few committed serious violations, like inappropriate conversations and/or using cellphones while driving.
  • Our detailed reports allowed them to be referred for disciplinary action.
  • On-board announcements were a big problem, due to both malfunctioning systems and inattentive drivers.
  • Our reports included the bus route and time, so the transit authority found the affected vehicles and made needed repairs and software updates quickly.
  • They solved their largest customer service issue within just days of receiving our reports…a huge success!
  • We created a custom ranking system to evaluate performance. During the first round of visits, the offices averaged an 84 on our scale.
  • After retraining and educational procedures were rolled out, the scores improved to 94, an increase of 12%.
  • This program– like all of our programs– was designed to meet our client’s specific needs.
  • But this type of audit could be helpful to any type of office or call center that prioritizes providing high-quality service to its visitors.