Rate Your Ride. Final Report. Presented by

Transcription

1 Rate Your Ride Final Report Presented by

2 Overview This report covers the Rate Your Ride initiative carried out by the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance between September 2010 and June All photos P.A. Greene Rate Your Ride is an initiative of the Central Maryland sectors around a common agenda: improving and Transportation Alliance. The Transportation Alliance expanding transportation options for the citizens and developed and carried out the Rate Your Ride initiative businesses of Central Maryland. as a mechanism to improve the service being delivered The overarching goal of the Transportation Alliance by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). is the creation of a thriving metropolitan area which Over the course of ten months we identified the most boasts an array of convenient transportation options, problematic modes and routes, analyzed specific issues, including a coordinated system of highways and and worked with the Maryland Transit Administration interconnected mass transit options providing access (MTA) to craft solutions on three bus routes, the 19, 35 and opportunity for employment, housing, education, and 77. The fact that more improvements were not services and goods, and recreation. implemented resulted from significant impediments that the MTA faces in trying to be responsive to the However, due to the long time horizon of many consumer and which are detailed later in this report. transportation projects, every opportunity to improve the existing transportation system must be explored. The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance is a fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance was formed A significant component of this effort is to improve the in 2007 as a diverse coalition of corporate and civic efficiency and reliability of the public transit system in leaders uniting business, philanthropic and institutional place today, thereby increasing ridership and demand 1

3 for expansion of transit options across all modalities. were becoming increasingly focused on the impact of Methodology school attendance on school performance in the City While there is widespread agreement that the Central Schools and the role that public transportation plays Rate Your Ride used a brief survey to solicit feedback about asked the respondent to name one issue as the primary Maryland region must be served by an excellent public in getting students to school on time. an individual s experience with public transportation. reason for a given rating under Question 1. Question 3 transportation system, there is skepticism as to the Unlike the methodology used with most surveys where asked the respondent to provide the mode, and, if ability of the largest operator in the region, (MTA) to deliver Consequently, with funding from the Open Society the entity seeking the information initiates the contact applicable, the route number, for a single ride. If a the quality and reliability of service that customers Institute Baltimore, the Clayton Fund, and the Ford with the consumer, with Rate Your Ride it was the rider person transferred and wanted to rate both parts of demand and deserve. The MTA is generally perceived as Foundation, our outreach and marketing efforts included the consumer that initiated the survey by using a cell the trip, they would need to complete the survey twice. operationally inefficient and unresponsive to the issues a strong emphasis on the issue of school attendance. phone or pager to text the word RIDE to the number reported by its ridership. This perception is an obstacle 30802, or by logging on to on Via text messaging the participant s reply to Question 1 to improving public transportation service in the Central The Baltimore Community Foundation and Citizens the internet. triggered a new text message consisting of Question Maryland region and elevating transit to a transportation Planning and Housing Association also provided 2, and so forth. Via the internet, the entire survey could mode of choice rather than one of last resort. assistance to the Transportation Alliance on several The Transportation Alliance s marketing and commu- be viewed at once on a web page. The respondent components of the program. nications built awareness of the survey and motivated could also elect to be added to a distribution list for The specific goals of the Rate Your Ride initiative were: riders to participate. announcements. To improve the reliability, efficiency and quality of The Transportation Alliance launched Rate Your Ride at service provided by the MTA; To pilot the use of technology to provide Heritage High School in Baltimore on September 29, 2010, and continued it through June The information A series of radio ads featuring on-air personality Pork Chop aired on WERQ 92.3 FM. Large employers and institutions A screen shot of the survey as it appeared on rider-generated real-time feedback about the provided by riders who participated in Rate Your Ride including Johns Hopkins Medical Institute and Mercy quality of service on public transit; helped the Transportation Alliance work with the Hospital featured Rate Your Ride in their employee To build and reinforce a partnership among riders, MTA to get service improvements on three bus routes: newsletters. Guerrilla marketers handed out flyers at rail advocates, and the MTA as stakeholders together in in February 2011 peak-hour runs on the #77 bus were stations. Monthly prize drawings for ipods or ipads pro- improving public transportation. adjusted to address reports of late service and skipped vided participants an incentive to complete the surveys. stops; in July 2011 schedule adjustments to the #19 and Rate Your Ride used a short survey to elicit information #35 bus routes went into effect to address similar issues. Once initiated the survey asked the rider a series of from riders that could then be investigated, analyzed, and multiple-choice and open-ended questions seeking acted upon. The survey was accessible via text messaging The information provided by riders specific information about the quality of the transit and a Rate Your Ride website, platforms that allowed for communication back to the participants an important part of engaging them in improving the service. As the Transportation Alliance began to develop Rate who participated in Rate Your Ride helped the Transportation Alliance work with the MTA to get service improvements on three bus routes. experience. The survey could vary between 5 to 10 questions as certain answers triggered follow-up questions. For example, when the survey asked which mode of transportation, a response of bus triggered a follow-up question asking which bus route. The multiple-choice Your Ride we were approached by organizations that questions allowed no more than one answer. Question 2 2 3

4 From the September 2010 launch through early June 2011, over 6,700 surveys were submitted. Based on In certain instances the Rate Your Ride initiative helped bring attention and resources to routes where riders Findings Customer Satisfaction with MTA Service cell phone numbers and s we estimate that reported problems. In the initial months of Rate The data collected through Rate Your Ride highlighted six 1 to 4 scale, riders gave bus trips an average rating of 2.7, approximately 4,000 individuals participated, with Your Ride, the #77 bus stood out for reports of rider basic premises that were further analyzed. indicating that people encountered more problems riding 80 percent participating only once and 20 percent dissatisfaction. The MTA said the Rate Your Ride data buses than other modes. The best-rated mode, Metro returning over time to repeat the survey. corroborated what they had been hearing through How was your ride? subway, received an average of 2.1, or ok. The responses were broken out by mode as illustrated in the chart below. Bus riders accounted for 82 percent other channels. In February 2011 service adjustments designed to reduce overcrowding on #77 buses during key times of day went into effect Reliability is top of mind When Rate Your Ride participants reported problems of the responses. Metro Subway riders made up the next largest group with 9 percent of the responses. The Transportation Alliance, using the data # of Responses with their transit experience, the issue most commonly cited by far was lateness. Conversely, those who 2% 7% 0% 9% Response by Mode bus light rail marc from Rate Your Ride participants, also worked with the MTA to identify six additional bus routes for further investigation: the #4, #16, #19, #27, #35 and #40. Further investigations included the examination of data transmitted by drivers and by the vehicles themselves, as Excellent OK Minor Problems Major Problems stated that they did not have an issue cited on time performance as the reason. However, the volume of responses indicating that lateness was the issue exceeded by 30 percent the volume of responses indicating that the service was on time. 82% metro paratransit well as observations by quality assurance professionals both uniformed and covert. The Citizens Planning and Housing Association recruited and trained riders to fill 1. Riders are experiencing problems with the service On a scale where 4 indicates the rider experienced major These results are consistent with a 2009 market research study commissioned by the Transportation out observation sheets on targeted routes. problems and 1 indicates the rider had an excellent ride, Alliance. When people in the Central Maryland region Responses were also sorted by the rider s destination. the most common response was 4, (major problems). were asked what would motivate them to ride public Specifically: Through the Rate Your Ride initiative, we at the transportation more often, being on schedule was 43% going to or from work Transportation Alliance learned many things about Average Rating by Mode the number one response by transit riders and in the 34% going to or from a Baltimore City Public School 8% going to or from another school 15% other destinations the state of public transportation service in the region, the ability of the MTA to be responsive to customer feedback, and the effectiveness of the tool we created Bus (2.7) MARC (2.3) Light Rail (2.4) Paratransit (2.4) Metro Subway (2.1) top three responses from non-riders. Bus riders accounted for 82 percent of responses overall, for engaging rider feedback. Those lessons are but for 92 percent of reports of late service. Metro Subway The MTA demonstrated considerable interest in the feedback that its customers provided via Rate Your Ride. discussed in turn in the following three sections. 4. Major Problems 3. Minor Problems 2. OK 1. Excellent riders, on the other hand, were disproportionately likely to report on-time service. Under a 2011 internal system for evaluating the performance of bus routes, the MTA derived 25 percent of a bus route s score from the ratings given by Rate Your Ride participants The best-rated mode was Metro Subway (average 2.1), and the worst-rated mode was bus (average 2.7) The average ratings did not differ significantly between public school students and work commuters. On the same 5 Other factors cited by riders who had positive experiences were a friendly driver and a comfortable ride. Riders who had issues with the service other than lateness cited rude

5 Top Issues Cited by Riders Who Report Major or Minor Problems Late # of Responses drivers and bus pass-bys where the bus did not stop to pick up passengers. Other Skipped Stop Rude Driver Uncomfortable 4. Lack of cleanliness on the light rail Safety Concern Lack of Cleanliness Top Issues Cited by Riders Who Report OK or Excellent Rides On Time # of Responses Friendly Driver Comfortable Ride Other Saves Money Charm Card Though not often cited as the primary factor on any modality, lack of cleanliness came up disproportionately from riders of light rail. While riders of light rail accounted for only 7% of responses overall, 38% of the riders who complained of a lack of cleanliness were riding light rail. 5. Best rated and worst rated bus routes We focused most of our analysis and evaluation on bus service as it was the transit modality that received the most responses and the worst ratings. The analysis started with comparing average ratings on bus routes receiving more than 50 responses. The average rankings were then weighted based on the volume of responses as an indicator of the mood of riders on a particular route. For example, we gave more weight to an average score based on over one hundred responses than we did to one based on just a few responses. Using a weighted average we determined that the bestrated bus routes were: 120, 310, 40, 4, 420, and 98. The worst-rated bus routes were: 15, 3, 19, 27, 77, and 35. It is worth noting that the 40 is a quick bus, the 120 is an express bus, and the 310 and 420 are commuter buses, all routes with a limited number of stops relative to the distance covered. The bus routes with the worst ratings are long routes with many stops. Appendix A lists the top 30 bus routes by volume of responses and the average rating that riders assigned to each. Using a weighted average we determined that the best-rated bus routes were: 120, 310, 40, 4, 420, and 98. The worst-rated bus routes were: 15, 3, 19, 27, 77, and Reports of certain issues predominated on certain bus routes We further analyzed the reasons cited for riders reporting a positive experience (see Table 1 below) and for riders reporting a negative experience (see Table 2 below). Please note that the other issue was not included because it cannot be analyzed in this manner. In Tables 1 and 2 the middle column indicates for each issue which three bus routes had the most reports. The right column indicates for which three bus routes the given issue was cited most frequently as a percentage of all responses for a single bus route. Table 1: Bus Routes and Positive Issues Issue Routes with the most reports Routes with the highest percent of of a particular issue responses naming a particular issue* On Time 13, 22, 36 11, 36, 40 Friendly Driver 13, 15, 51 20, 51, 54 Comfortable Ride 19, 22, 44 22, 44, 91 * Among bus routes with at least 50 responses Table 2: Bus Routes and Negative Issues Issue Routes with the most reports Routes with the highest percent of of a particular issue responses naming a particular issue* Late 3, 15, 35 16, 27, 77 Rude Driver 15, 19, 22 21, 22, 51 Skipped Stop 15, 19, 36 5, 10, 36 * Among bus routes with at least 50 responses Not surprisingly, the bus route with the highest volume of responses overall, the #15, also appeared among the top three by volume for four of the issues in the tables. It is noteworthy that a few of the bus routes appeared in both the top three by volume and the top three by percentage for certain issues: The #36 stood out for on-time performance, the top factor in rider satisfaction. Riders on the #51 took note of the friendly drivers... however they were also more likely than most to report rude drivers. The #44 quickbus stood out for providing a comfortable ride. The #22 stood out for comfortable rides, but also for rude drivers. Appendix B lists the top 30 bus routes by volume of response and the amount that riders reported certain issues. 6 7

6 Findings Challenges to MTA Service Improvement It is important to point out that Rate Your Ride was a tool for identifying problems, not identifying solutions. We created Rate Your Ride to provide an easy-to-use mechanism for riders to report real-time issues they were experiencing while using public transit, thereby increasing the feedback from riders and providing information that MTA could use were occurring. For two of the routes, the #19 and the #35, there were clear patterns that indicated that crowding and delays were occurring along certain parts of the routes during the morning peak and afternoon. The MTA developed and proposed service adjustments that would increase the frequency of buses on the #19 and #35 during those times. The service adjustments went into effect in July From the first weeks of Most changes to schedules (whether additional service or less service) result in changes to how work is assigned to operators. The MTA s contract with Local 1300 of the Amalgamated Transit designates three work assignment changes per year. (More frequent minor assignment changes are allowed under certain conditions; however, it is costly and labor-intensive to administer more frequent schedule changes.) to quickly remedy service problems. Rate Your Ride profile: Phillip Sherrod Mr. Sherrod is a student at the Community College Rate Your Ride input in September and October 2010, through the implementation of a solution for the #19 Organizing the process for public notification, public We were pleased to find that riders could and did use of Baltimore County at Essex. He also works part and #35, the process lasted approximately ten months. hearings and comments, printing and publishing new the text messaging and web site platforms to provide feedback about their ride. We were also pleased by the willingness and commitment on the part of time at the Baltimore Urban Debate League on Howard Street. He takes the #44 bus and transfers to the #35 bus to get to classes, and also rides the #35 to get from class to work. The service has been MTA s standard process to address customers who file a complaint via calling or ing the MTA is to take timetables into this annual schedule adds predictability. Any more frequent route or timetable adjustments might confuse customers. But the eight to ten month MTA officials to work with us on an ongoing basis to review the Rate Your Ride data and develop responses. However, the improvements that we were able to see pretty good generally and he appreciates the ability to get to school and work. He says that he has experienced late buses, sometimes getting him to class late. He has also been passed by while stand- the information provided by the rider and research the complaint within 30 days. MTA then determines if there is an acute service quality issue that can be addressed period between reporting problems and resolving them, combined with a lack of communication about the process, leaves customers feeling like their input was implemented took a much longer period of time to implement, and addressed a much smaller set of routes and issues than we had anticipated. ing at the bus stop. He remembers one time in particular he stood between the bus stop sign and the corner because the bus usually rolls past the bus stop sign and comes to a stop closer to the corner. immediately or a systemic problem that might be corrected by changing a bus route or schedule. The latter can take up to 180 days to address. ignored. We identified the following impediments limiting the MTA s ability to respond: He met eyes with the driver and raised his hand. 1. A lack of feedback to customers who provide comments We learned that the process between receiving customer feedback to implementing service improvements is more complicated than we originally envisioned. In fact, The driver looked at him, but passed by without stopping. At other times when a bus passed by he could see that it looked crowded. He understands that drivers need to stop letting people board There are also constraints on implementing some seemingly likely solutions that could not be considered due to constraints stemming from Maryland law and The MTA does not acknowledge the receipt of a complaint from a customer. Consequently, customers we learned that on average it takes eight to ten months when buses become too crowded. regulations, a union contract, or other factors such and many hours of investigation and analysis to get as internal policy and procedural issues. Budget from the point when riders provide feedback to the through May. During that time we compared Rate Your constraints require the MTA to develop solutions that point when the solution can be implemented. Ride data with data from other sources, including time reallocate existing resources without needing new and location data transmitted by the buses, observations drivers or equipment. As we worked with MTA senior For example, analyzing the data from Rate Your Ride led from MTA service quality professionals, and observations staff to seek effective responses to the customer us to push for changes to bus routes on which riders from covert observers. We focused on six routes to feedback coming in through Rate Your Ride, we kept were reporting the most problems. We met with senior identify the times of day and locations when key track of what we viewed were impediments to timely MTA officials roughly twice a month from November problems such as off-time arrivals and skipped stops customer-responsive service improvements. 8 9

7 have the impression their complaint disappears into a black hole. Because the process for investigating and responding to complaints can take more than six months, the customers who register complaints assume that the MTA has done nothing. 4. Solutions that involve changing a bus route or timetable can take six months to implement The 180 days it takes to implement a permanent schedule change is a function of all of the following: There are only three times per year when most types of schedule changes can occur as stipulated in the If the changes are large enough, then public hearings are required under Maryland Code (Stipulated in Sec of the Transportation article of the Code of Maryland). The public hearing process has time requirements related to public notification. Riders want acknowledgement that their information was received and want to know what they can reasonably expect as next steps. 2. Limited capacity to track and investigate complaints MTA staff monitor feedback from customers, employers, professional observers and data transmitted by drivers and automated systems and determine when a complaint or set of complaints calls for an investigation. It is up to the judgment of MTA staff to decide which issues to Rate Your Ride profile: Andrea Alston Ms. Alston lives in Pikesville and works for a market research firm at Arundel Mills Mall. To commute she takes a bus to the Metro subway, transfers to the light rail in downtown Baltimore, then transfers to a bus at BWI airport. The trip takes about two-and-a-half hours each way. 3. Customers are not informed about how to provide actionable information labor contract. Depending on the nature of the change, the MTA may need to assess the availability of operators and buses to provide the service. MTA must analyze the cascading effects of the change. Each scheduled trip (over 5000 every day) is a component of a much larger system. In some cases, removing a trip, adding a trip, or just adjusting the schedule by a few minutes may result in large-scale impacts on the system, including creating issues with 5. Cost of adding buses, drivers The MTA makes an effort to address problems through solutions that can be achieved without seeking a budget increase. This requires moving a finite set of resources around based on where the greatest demand exists. If a service improvement results in needing to add buses and operators to the available pool, then the costs of adding service, including the vehicle and the operator, are more than $250,000 per run. investigate, but customers can increase the likelihood by providing actionable information and by encouraging fellow riders to submit feedback, thereby increasing the volume of responses. An investigation involves reviewing data about what is happening as a bus or train proceeds through its route, When customers submit complaints via phone or , or when they complete the short survey via Rate Your Ride, the information they provide is often not specific enough for the MTA to act upon. Given the number of vehicles, operators, and passengers, there are many moving parts in the MTA system and identifying the source of a success or failure reported by a rider is often not possible. For relief operators, affecting the ability to transfer to other routes, creating problems with route timing, etc. Any resulting changes and affected routes may need to have new paper schedules printed for distribution to locations where schedules are on display. Also, any relevant points of information to the public, including brochures, InfoBoxes (the schedule cards 6. Limitations on adding positions MTA s ability to hire operators to implement system and/or route improvements, even assuming the cost could be covered through savings achieved elsewhere, is limited by the total number of positions established in the annual State budget. from automated vehicle locator data, driver reports, on-board video footage, customer feedback from Rate Your Ride, s received by customer service, and other sources. Once staff determine the likely cause of the issue, the investigation progresses into evaluating example, in some instances more than 20 buses can be in service on a single route at a given time. The block number is a simple number that, when combined with the date, can identify precisely which at the bus stop), and website, need to be prepared, in some cases reprinted and then replaced at the correct time. Whenever a schedule change is ready to be implemented, a pick, a process through which Hiring and training a bus operator takes approximately five months. It could be planned to coincide with the next schedule change as part of a service adjustment if not for the constraints of the State budget. potential solutions for impacts to the system and vehicle, operator, and route were involved in an incident. operators according to seniority can select from the cost. A limited number of personnel are trained and But too few riders know about the block number. new list of available work, must be implemented authorized to perform the investigations, leading to Worse, the block number is digitally displayed in the prior to the schedule go-live date. significant backlogs. lower windshield of a bus and can only be seen by someone standing in front of the bus

8 Findings Lessons from piloting new technology 1. The short, electronic survey is an effective way of getting feedback from riders We knew that a growing number of people use text messaging to communicate one-on-one with friends and family, or to receive alerts, offers or promotions. We also knew that people use text messaging to provide feedback, such as voting on American Idol. We wanted to see if people would use the technology (including accessing the survey via the internet) to provide feedback about public transportation. Over 4,600 completed surveys were submitted through the Rate Your Ride campaign from September 29, 2010, to June 1, 2011, demonstrating that riders will use SMS texting and internet technologies to provide feedback about their experience as a customer of public transportation. The weekly average was over 135 surveys completed, indicating a broader reach than the 25 to 30 customer s the MTA says it receives per week, bus less than the 200 to 275 phone complaints the MTA receives per week. SMS texting, accessible via a cell phone or pager, was used by 81 percent of those who responded, probably due to the convenience and the prevalence of cell phone use. The other 19 percent of responses were submitted via Texting was particularly effective with students at Baltimore City Public Schools who used the texting option for 95 percent of their responses 2. Text messaging is effective for reaching youth Texting was particularly effective with students at Baltimore City Public Schools who used the texting option for 95 percent of their responses. By comparison, people going to or from work used texting 51 percent of the time, and the internet 49 percent of the time. Method Used by Participants Going to/from a Baltimore City Public School 5% 95% Text RIDE to Method Used by Participants Going to/from Work 3. Incomplete surveys: drop-offs occur mostly in the first two questions Prior to launching Rate Your Ride we struggled to find the right balance between the amount of useful information we hoped to collect and the tolerance of participants for a lengthy survey. We used focus groups to test the survey questions and arrived at the 5-question format shown in the overview section at the beginning of this report. We were also concerned that the back-and-forth nature of the text-messaging format might be problematic. Although the internet survey contained identical questions, the text-messaging format took more time to complete due to the send and receive nature of texting between each question. As the surveys came in we found that the completion rate for the web-based survey was an astounding 99.85%, compared to 70% for the text-messaging survey, a disparity that was consistent with our expectations. However, the point in the survey at which most participants quit came as a surprise. Among the incomplete surveys, the highest drop-off rate occurred during the first two questions, leading us to conclude that participants who were comfortable enough with the back-and-forth text message format to get past Question 2 were not as sensitive to the length of the survey as we had feared. stops. For participants who cited one of those three issues in their answer to Question 2, the length of the survey increased from six to as many as ten questions. We found that the additional questions did not lead to any reduction in the completion rate. In fact, it slightly improved. Note in the two charts (below) that the addition of questions in the middle of the survey in February did not affect the point in the survey at which most people quit. Incomplete Surveys: Last Question Answered September thru June (all year) # of Surveys Last Question Answered Incomplete Surveys: Last Question Answered March thru June (since questions added) # of Surveys Last Question Answered the Rate Your Ride web site. Note that over 6,700 total surveys were submitted with a 70% completion rate. 49% 51% Text RIDE to With that knowledge, we added follow-up questions to help us collect additional information about reports on three issues: friendly drivers, rude drivers, and skipped 12 13

9 Recommendations Based on our experiences with piloting Rate Your Ride as a vehicle for MTA to significantly improve how it responds to its customers by resolving service issues, the Transportation Alliance makes the following recommendations: 1. Continue Rate Your Ride The Transportation Alliance created and operated Rate Your Ride as a pilot project. While the organization will not be operating it on an ongoing basis, the level of participation and the types of information gleaned demonstrate that it can be an effective tool for evaluating service and for engaging riders. A venue for this type of real-time customer feedback should continue, whether under the Rate Your Ride name or through a different name using the survey format and the text-messaging and internet platforms. 2. Display the block number prominently The block number is a unique identifier that matches an operator with a vehicle assigned to them to carry out particular runs on the timetable for one or more routes. If a rider can provide a block number when communicating about the service, the MTA has much more information to act upon. The block number is typically displayed digitally in the windshield, often making it difficult or impossible for riders to see it. Displaying the block number where it is visible to the riders would make it easier for riders to provide more actionable information. 3. Make the data available via the web The Transportation Alliance provided periodic summaries of data collected to date, but a more robust internet data system would display charts and tables that update in real time as data is received. This would improve feedback to the participants. Senior MTA officials expressed interest in this concept during the Rate Your Ride pilot, but it was beyond the capacity of the Transportation Alliance to implement. Any initiative to continue Rate Your Ride should also be an opportunity to make this improvement. 4. Create a Rate Your Ride Advisory Committee Involve an advisory committee in the oversight and review of the Rate Your Ride data. Membership should include at a minimum representation from the Baltimore City Public Schools, advocates for youth, and the business community. The committee would provide feedback and oversight to the MTA, helping them improve communication between the MTA and riders, encouraging rider participation in the survey and maintaining a high level of responsiveness to their customers issues. 5. Assign a tracking number to reports of specific issues Assign a tracking number that allows the customer to monitor the status of the response to their report, using the model of the 311 call center system. A customer who, via , phone or a Rate Your Ride survey, reports an issue with enough information to be actionable (e.g. route #, time of day, direction of travel, precise location, block #, coach #, badge #) has the opportunity to opt in to receive updates via or text message. 6. Notify those who commented on a given route when service adjustments are proposed When service adjustments are proposed for a given route, notify customers who commented on the route within the past year and who have opted in to receive updates. It is a crucial part of the communication and feedback that engages riders as participants in improving the public transportation system. 7. Reward excellence Use positive rider feedback obtained through Rate Your Ride to recognize drivers and routes. Share announcements about such recognition with the riders. This is an important component in establishing that the system is moving towards excellence. 8. Reduce to 120 days the lead time it takes to go from rider feedback to a service adjustment Currently the 30 days to investigate a complaint, plus 180 days to identify systemic problems and implement a solution is simply too long. Find ways to streamline the process to reduce it to a maximum of 120 days, roughly coinciding with the interval between schedule adjustments in February, June and September. 9. Make access to employment and schools the top factors in realigning bus routes The need to provide access to jobs is of paramount importance. And if that requires a realignment of bus routes then it should be done sooner rather than later. The MTA should convene a working group that involves economic development professionals throughout the region to ensure that they identify clusters of employment. Priority should be given to filling in the gaps between where rail stations are and where job centers are. Access to schools in Baltimore City is also critical. Under the choice schools system middle school and high school students in Baltimore City can attend any school in the system. Access to the best opportunities depends heavily on reliable, efficient transportation. City Schools and the MTA must work closely to assess how well the existing routes serve the choice schools system and adjust accordingly. In addition, both entities should partner to provide rising middle school students and rising high school students with information about transportation options at the point when they are choosing a school. The last comprehensive update to the bus routes was in through the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative. The MTA says the next update will coincide with the start of the Red Line, which will require a reevaluation of the bus lines that serve the same corridor. Given that the planned alignment for the Red Line is known, and that the Red Line will likely not be operational until 2020, we urge that as a region we need to address the access to jobs and access to schools issues sooner

10 Appendix A Appendix B Top 30 bus routes by the volume of response and their average ratings Top 30 bus routes by volume and how frequently certain issues are cited Bus Route Count Ave Reports of Positive Issues Reports of Negative Issues On Time Comfortable Ride Friendly Driver Late Rude Driver Skipped Stop Route # Total Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % % 12 4% 27 9% % 13 4% 24 8% % 19 8% 24 10% 54 21% 11 4% 11 4% % 26 12% 15 7% 58 27% 16 7% 18 8% % 27 13% 18 8% 54 25% 18 8% 15 7% % 12 6% 24 12% 67 34% 11 6% 15 8% % 9 5% 18 9% 52 27% 10 5% 19 10% % 18 10% 16 9% 66 38% 9 5% 4 2% % 21 13% 11 7% 54 33% 9 5% 8 5% % 19 12% 13 8% 42 26% 13 8% 12 7% % 15 9% 15 9% 52 33% 13 8% 10 6% % 14 9% 17 11% 36 23% 8 5% 16 10% % 16 11% 24 16% 43 29% 13 9% 13 9% % 15 11% 16 12% 28 21% 8 6% 15 11% % 11 9% 7 6% 20 16% 6 5% 6 5% % 5 4% 7 6% 59 50% 4 3% 8 7% % 8 7% 14 12% 39 33% 10 8% 9 8% % 5 4% 14 13% 40 36% 3 3% 5 4% % 8 7% 14 13% 29 26% 8 7% 4 4% % 12 13% 9 9% 24 25% 6 6% 1 1% % 4 5% 7 8% 33 39% 5 6% 4 5% % 8 10% 13 16% 19 23% 6 7% 1 1% % 4 5% 11 14% 17 22% 3 4% 4 5% % 6 8% 6 8% 19 26% 2 3% 6 8% % 2 3% 8 11% 35 50% 5 7% 5 7% % 2 3% 4 6% 38 54% 1 1% 7 10% % 4 7% 7 13% 20 37% 5 9% 2 4% % 3 6% 4 9% 6 13% 7 15% 2 4% % 1 2% 3 7% 15 37% 2 5% 2 5% % 3 8% 5 14% 7 19% 4 11% 2 5% % 2 6% 7 20% 6 17% 0 0% 0 0% 16 17

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