Transit Customer Service from F to A grades

English: by me UTA bus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Bus 2909 of TriMet, the public transit agency in Portland, Oregon, is a 2009-built New Flyer D40LFR. It is pictured on Harrison Street at 4th Avenue in downtown Portland, outbound on route 54 to Beaverton Transit Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Denver - CBD: RTD Light Rail (Photo credit: wallyg)

     The following are three customer service examples from three different transit agencies in the western US. After reading the three incidents and the response from the transit agency, which one of these agencies would you like to be a customer of? The three offer the best examples of a total failure, adequate action, and giving outstanding customer service.

   

      

Denver RTD

Grade: F 

      Denver RTD gets the worst grade for customer service. My experience started when I flew into DIA for a meeting and took a RTD bus and light rail to my motel. I boarded one of their MCI commuter cruisers with an all day, all zone pass which I purchased on-line. The driver has to punch the day pass for it to be valid, well the driver did and punched the wrong day. Unfortunately the drivers do not carry day passes so when we got to the light rail station I had to purchase another day pass. 

      First of all I was not mad at the driver and when I talked to Denver RTD customer service I did not mention which bus or time that it happened. A couple of weeks, that's right weeks after I talk to them about the day pass they send me a nasty email saying basically too bad, not our problem. The email was extremely unprofessional and showed a lack of customer care by RTD. 

Portland TriMet

Grade: C

     I have been riding TriMet for about a year now since moving here to Portland. For the most part most of my trips are pretty uneventful except for the random person that has to talk on their cell phone way too loud telling the other person about their sex life and so on.  However, I have had two experiences with TriMet operators in which I took up an issue with their customer service department. I should point out that I have also sent in three commendations for drivers also so I am not only complaining, but also commend those that are excellent in their jobs. 

     In both incidents I got a email from a customer service rep that said sorry you had an issue and said the driver would be talked to. I will say that both letters were written individually and not form letters which I gives points to TriMet. TriMet does the basics in good customer service, nothing more so it gets a passing grade. 

Salt Lake City Utah Transit Authority

Grade: A 

     In my time riding UTA, I only one time sent in a complaint. That day I went to take one bus to a Park N Ride lot to catch a second bus. It was daylight out so that cannot be used as an excuse. The driver of the first bus passed me right on by didn't even bother to slow down. Immediately behind him was another bus deadheading to the Park N Ride lot. This driver hit is breaks but then kept on going. I then waited for the next bus to come along. Because the next was supposed to do a loop before heading to the Park N Ride lot I would miss my next bus. However, the driver of the next bus went ahead and dropped me at the Park N Ride Lot so I wouldn't miss my next bus. 

     The customer service person at UTA offered me two free day passes (since at the time I was not riding on a daily basis so I didn't need the discount on a monthly pass). Of course I didn't complain to get the free day passes and never sent in another complaint. However, UTA did the best job of taking care of the customer and ensuring they will be happy with UTA service. 

     You can clearly see why UTA gets the best grade here. Some would argue that they should not waste the money trying to please a dissatisfied customer however, that response would be narrow minded. Transit systems need to work on their customer service skills just like any other company that provides a service and deals with passengers every day of the week. 

     

       

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Streetcar Basics

The interior of a Portland Streetcar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: A car of the Portland Streetcar system at the eastbound Portland State University stop, on Market Street at the South Park Blocks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few years ago the thought of streetcars returning to our streets was a fantasy. Today several cites have either installed new streetcar lines, constructing lines, or in the advance planning stages. I support streetcars as I feel that they are a great step between basic bus service and full light rail service (notice I did not include BRT - Badly Repackaged Transit). 

The question is, what should be the priorities of new streetcar lines. The most famous new streetcar line is off course the Portland Streetcar. To be honest, I rode it on Monday but overall I rarely do. Now that I spend more time downtown at Portland State I most likely will be riding more especially to head to Powell's Books. 

People opposed to the streetcar line say is nothing but a subsidy to developers. It is easy to call it that, after all it goes through a part of town that was about to rapidly development. On the other hand the same people who make those kind of comments turn a blind eye to all the subsidies suburban sprawl developments get every day of the week. We could quarrel all day about the that, but instead lets see what the streetcar does do. 

1. The streetcar provides service along a corridor that has never had service. While the two ends of the network (in the northwest side of town and south of PSU), the bus service was not in direct competition with 

Tri-Met buses. In fact the one line that follows the streetcar in the northwest will be rerouted in September in a budget cut move that actually eliminates duplicate service. 

2. The streetcar provides an alternative form of transportation that makes that part of the Portland much more livable. While I don't go to Powell Book's everyday, maybe once a month at the most, it is much more convenient to take the streetcar than trying to drive and find a parking spot. 

The question is, what should the priorities be for a streetcar line? The problem with making a blanket statement is that every city has different priorities so what is important for Portland, is different for Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Atlanta or any of the other cities that have projects in progress. 

While Portland is a great example here is some things that could improve the current Portland system and any future extensions: 

1. One problem was that the system was designed only to have single cars. From my understanding this was a compromise to ensure support along the line. However, one of the benefits of rail transit is when you add additional cars to a train to make it more efficient and carry more people. Any future lines should have the capability to run multiple car trains. 

2. There is no private right of way. The streetcar gets stuck in traffic. While in an ideal world the streetcar would have its entire right of way reserved, we know in the real world this is just not possible. However, I see no reason why on 10th/11th Streets the streetcar cannot have its own reserved right of way in stretches and other areas to. 

3. The streetcar should have signal priority plus priority at the four way stops like Couch and 11th were the streetcar gets stuck for extended periods of time. 

In September Portland will open its new East side streetcar line. Until the loop is completed with the opening of the Milwaukee MAX line in 20515 I am not overly enthusiastic about how well this line will do but we shall see. 

That brings up a good question, for a city looking to extend a streetcar line or put a new one in, what should the priorities be? As I said early every city has its own most important priorities but this is some general guidelines. 

1. The first priority of a streetcar line should be to provide an essential transportation function. If the city already has a light rail or rapid transit system, the streetcar should function as a feeder between the major rail line and important business and residential sectors. Salt Lake City is a perfect example of this. The streetcar will provide service from all three light rail lines to the Sugar House district which is currently a major retail center and will have high density housing going in. 

In a way the east side streetcar in Portland will provide this function also as it will connect from the Lloyd District light rail stations to the Pearl District offering customers an alternative to the current ways to get to the Pearl. 

Once the Milwaukee MAX line is completed, the Portland streetcar will provide an excellent feeder from that line to the northwest part of town that is not currently available because of the alignment of bus service (31.32,33 and 99) and the streetcar line. 

Another good route in  Utah would be from the Ogden Transit Center to Weber State University which is being studied at this time. This would create a feeder from the Front Runner Commuter trains to busy 612 bus line on Washington Blvd and onto the University replacing route 603. 

2. Another important priority would be to supplement a overburdened bus route along a busy corridor. In its transit plan Portland is looking to supplement bus service with streetcars in such corridors as Sandy Blvd. I mentioned this at one time where it will allow the 12 route to become limited stop along this section of route speeding up Trimets longest route (which is being split up in September and won't be so long anymore). 

Another good example would be the Barbur Blvd/Capitol Highway corridor. Currently there are in the study phase on this project for Badly Repackaged Transit or Light Rail, but as I see it know there is a slim chance of a good system being built. Chances are some half baked BRT plan will get built that will end up not having a major impact. 

You could run the streetcar down Barbur and Capitol Highway to the Hilsdale area. This would allow TriMet to cut routes such as the 45 at Capital/Sunset and make routes such as the 44 and 12 faster through the area speeding up bus rides for those through travelers. 

When it comes down to it, streetcars can function both as a feeder from major rail routes to major employment and dense residential areas. It can also be a relief valve for busy bus routes along major dense corridors. What it comes down to is that streetcar routes need to be done right the first time. No matter how successful the route would be there will be naysayers, however if a route is well designed and does the job it is easier to counterbalance the CAVE (citizens against virtually everything) types. 

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