Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Subject
SUBJECT: CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MOTION 38.1 RESPONSE
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the status update for Motion 38.1 about the customer experience program.
Issue
ISSUE
On June 21, 2018, the Board of Directors (Board) approved Motion 38 by Directors Garcetti, Kuehl, Bonin and Garcia (Attachment A), requesting staff to:
A. Rename the System Safety, Security, and Operations Committee to the Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee;
B. Endorse Travel Speed, Service Frequency, and System Reliability as the highest priority service parameters to guide the work of the NextGen Bus Study;
C. Develop customer experience key performance indicators (KPIs) within Operations, Communications, Information & Technology Services, TAP, System Security and Law Enforcement, and other functional areas of MTA to regularly report on the status of the system, transit service, and the transit service environment;
D. Develop an Annual Customer Service and Experience Plan, including but not limited to improvements planned and desired for:
1. KPIs developed under section C
2. The status of the Customer Service & Experience projects
3. Key accomplishments, objectives and challenges in Customer Service and Customer Experience for the following budget year
4. Key accomplishments, objectives and challenges in transit service marketing for the following budget year
5. The CEO’s Ridership Initiatives, including the Customer Experience Service Strategist
Background
BACKGROUND
The Customer Experience Committee was established from July 2017 through June 2018 to ensure that Metro services, projects and programs continue to be developed with a focus on the customer. An internal customer experience working group, with representatives from Operations, Security, OEI, IT, Communications, TAP and the Office of the CEO was formed to develop, track and monitor progress on Metro projects and initiatives focused on positively impacting customer service, experience and ridership.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Committee Renaming
Per the Board’s directive, in July 2018 Metro staff renamed the System Safety, Security, and Operations Committee to the Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee.
Service Parameters for NextGen
In October 2018, Metro staff provided an update on the NextGen Bus Study (NextGen Update: Transit Competitiveness and Market Potential; File ID: 2018-055; Attachment B) that provided information on transit competitiveness and market potential for bus trips. In that update, Metro staff explained that the transit journey consists of both on-board time and walk/wait time at the bus stop. For short trips, the walk/wait time, as part of the total trip is a larger factor to the customer. This can be mitigated with higher service frequencies for the local trips. In addition, reliability is critical for reducing wait time, both in terms of schedule adherence and more reliable real time information on next bus arrival times which helps reduce the perceived wait time (generally twice as long as actual) back to reality. For longer trips, on-board trip times are more critical to the customer and therefore warrant more attention on travel speed. For this reason, NextGen applies speed, frequency, and reliability in a more nuanced way to address customer travel needs.
The recommendations coming out of NextGen are expected to focus on the following travel markets to better meet the customer needs in LA County:
1) Metro should continue to serve the commute market, usually longer distance trips during weekday peak hours to major employment centers. This market requires faster on board travel times with more direct service.
2) Metro should restructure to better serve the shorter distance, non-commute market which accounts for nearly 50% of total LA County trips. This market requires a high frequency network of routes to reduce wait and transfer times throughout the late morning, midday into the evening, and on weekends when most workers, residents and visitors need access to local jobs, service, shopping, and regional attractions.
3) Areas and times of day that does not have the demand for frequent fixed route service, but require basic mobility for many residents can be better served with flexible or on demand services.
The areas for improvement within these three travel markets will be selected based on a data driven analysis and extensive public outreach. Staff will return in April 2019 with recommendations on service concepts for consideration by the board.
Annual Customer Service and Experience Plan
Initiative 2.3 of Metro’s Vision 2028 Strategic Plan commits Metro to dedicating staff resources to oversee customer experience and developing a comprehensive approach for improving customer satisfaction. Vision 2028 goes on to describe the following specific initiatives:
• Develop a unifying vision and strategy for enhancing the customer’s experience,
• Improve customer journey and touch points, and
• Use data analytics to benchmark and measure system performance in meeting customer satisfaction targets.
The response to parts (C) and (D) of Board motion 38.1 will be directly aligned with Initiative 2.3 so that its execution will help to accomplish Vision 2028 Goal 2, “Deliver outstanding trip experiences for all users of the transportation system.”
The Customer Service and Experience Plan (Plan) will cover the components described below that were requested in Board motion 38.1. It should be noted that this Plan is part of a continuous improvement process, and as such, it is a work in progress. This Board report marks the beginning of what staff anticipates to be a comprehensive and impactful customer experience strategy as promised in the Vision 2028 plan.
Key Performance Indicators
Metro staff will follow the principles of continuous process improvement to establish a comprehensive customer service and experience practice throughout the organization. As part of the Plan, staff have developed an initial list of customer experience key performance indicators (KPIs; Attachment C) that will improve customer touch points for Metro’s services. Starting with this preliminary list, staff will consult a number of additional sources, including results from our most recent Customer Satisfaction Survey and examples from some of the highest performing transit agencies and operators in the world (MTR Corporation, Singapore Land Transport Authority, Japan Railway Company, and Transport for London) to further expand and develop these metrics. High-level categories include convenience, ease-of-use, comfort, security, and customer care. Each category will expand into additional subcategories, providing further detail on metrics that will address customer pain points.
Status of Customer Service & Experience Projects
Per Motion 38.1, the Plan will include the status, accomplishments, objectives and challenges of Customer Service and Experience projects, beginning with the CEO Ridership Initiatives that were introduced to the Board in May 2018. The first progress report for the CEO Ridership Initiatives is provided in Attachment D to this report. Additional projects that address customer experience will be added as they are launched and removed when complete.
Transit Service Marketing and Communications
Similar to the status of the customer experience projects, the Plan will also address efforts to improve communications with customers on any number of topics that will make customer trips easier, including new services, closures, schedules, etc.Metro staff will strive to identify new ways to engage customers to improve the transit system and services for everyone.
Customer Experience Culture
The Plan will also address staff resources and training needed to accomplish the customer experience goals as described in both the Board Motion 38.1 and Vision 2028. As a first step, Metro staff are developing the roles and responsibilities for a Customer Experience Strategist position to lead and manage the customer experience program agency-wide. This will include the oversight of the Plan elements. This position is expected to report to the CEO’s office to ensure the appropriate level of integration across all Metro departments.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Approval of this item will have a positive impact on the safety of our customers and employees.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
All costs relative to Metro Customer Experience Plans, project and programs will be approved during the regular budget process and Department project managers will be responsible for budgeting any future Customer Experience projects and programs.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Approval of this recommendation supports the following Metro Strategic Plan Goal: 2) Deliver outstanding trip experience for all users of the transportation system.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will provide an update to the Board in FY19 Q4 to provide more detail on the Customer Service and Experience Plan. The Plan will provide the framework for the performance metrics, staffing, budget, and status updates for the customer experience initiatives outlined in motion 38.1 and Metro Vision 2028.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Motion 38.1 - NextGen Bus Study Service Parameters
Attachment B - NextGen Update: Transit Competitiveness and Market Potential; File ID: 2018-0555
Attachment C - Customer Experience Key Performance Indicators
Attachment D - CEO Ridership Initiatives Progress Report, July 1, 2018-January 31, 2019
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Nadine Lee, Interim Chief of Staff, (213) 922-7950
Conan Cheung, Senior Executive Officer, Operations Service Development, Scheduling & Analysis, (213) 418-3034
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: James T. Gallagher, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3108
