Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
MARCH 18, 2021
Subject
SUBJECT: BETTER BUS PROGRAM
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE report on Metro's new Better Bus program, a Customer Experience initiative to improve service for our bus customers.
Issue
ISSUE
Metro is launching a new initiative, the Better Bus Program, to transform the bus riding experience in Los Angeles County to provide dignified experiences for the 75 percent of Metro riders who take the bus each day. This report describes the rationale for creating the program, the key focus areas, the current work plan, and next steps for advancing the program.
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Better Bus, a new agency-wide effort coordinated by the Customer Experience unit in the Office of the CEO, seeks to highlight and address bus rider needs by making improvements to bus services and stops. The purpose of Better Bus is to align Metro's collective efforts around elevating investments that improve bus speed, ease, safety and comfort. Metro aims to transform the bus riding journeys in Los Angeles County by providing dignified experiences for the three-fourths of Metro riders that take the bus.
Currently, the half-a-million daily riders on our bus system disproportionately represent Equity Focus Communities (communities Metro defines as high-need based on income, race, and car ownership), with significant numbers of essential workers and people in economic distress. Even prior to the COVID pandemic-driven service cuts, bus riders sometimes experienced pain points such as unreliable and slow buses, long wait times, insufficient delay or service advisory information, uninviting bus stops, concerns about homelessness, concerns about personal security, and cleanliness at bus stops and onboard. These aspects of service need to be improved to provide a dignified customer experience and advance social and racial equity for Me...
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