2013 Customer Satisfaction Survey
Local Bus
New York City Transit 1
Local Bus Survey Context • Unprecedented damage to the subway system from Superstorm Sandy
– Local buses first service back in operation after storm, carried millions of subway riders
– Widespread praise for MTA recovery efforts from Superstorm Sandy
• MTA fares and tolls increased in March 2013
• Improved local bus reliability/MDBF and pullout performance
– New buses boosted performance and older fleet types improved reliability
• Service enhancements and service restorations
– More SBS routes placed into service
• MTA Bus Time rolled out in the Bronx
• Improved bus security from crackdown on fare evasion and installation of
surveillance cameras
• Bottom Line: Local bus ridership is increasing, especially on weekend
New York City Transit 2
KEY FINDINGS
1. Local bus customer satisfaction increased to a record high 74% in 2013
– Customer satisfaction up 12 percentage points since 2010 (62% satisfied). Low 62% satisfied in 2010 reflected customer apprehensions about pending service cuts that year.
Service quality and quantity improvements tend to mitigate the impact of fare increases
New York City Transit 3
KEY FINDINGS (CONTINUED)
2. Satisfaction with rush hour service reliability increased to 76% in 2013 vs. 68% in 2012
– Reflects 32% increase in MDBF and improvements in trips completed and pullout performance
• New buses and improved performance in older fleet types
New York City Transit 4
LOCAL BUS SERVICE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Performance Indicator
12-Month Average
June, 2013 June, 2012 % Change
System MDBF ( Local) 4,596 3,496 +31.5%
System Trips Completed (Local and Express) 99.20% 98.41% +0.8%
System AM Pull Out (Local and Express) 99.63% 98.95% +0.7%
System PM Pull Out (Local and Express) 99.85% 99.39% +0.5%
Source: NYCT Department of Buses
KEY FINDINGS (CONTINUED)
New York City Transit 5
3. Satisfaction with overall safety and security in rush hours increased to 84% in 2013 vs. 76% in 2012
- Rush hour personal security rating increased from 74% to 83% in 2013
4. Bronx residents’ satisfaction with “knowing how far away the next bus is” increased to 63% in 2013 vs. 42% in 2012.
- Follows rollout of MTA BusTime in the Bronx
5. Similarly, “how long you have to wait for a bus to arrive” reached all-time high of 59% city-wide (67% in Bronx)
Nevertheless, the lowest-rated local bus service attributes in the survey are wait time and knowing how far away the next bus is.
The rollout of MTA BusTime to all boroughs should help improve these scores.
Overall Customer Satisfaction
52% 51%
17% 18% 15% 20%
55%53%54% 56%
16%20%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Overall Local Bus Service Local Bus Route Use Most
74%
Top Area = Very Satisfied Bottom Area = Satisfied
69% 70% 73% 70%
New York City Transit 6
71%
2013 Fare Increase Affected Value Ratings, But Not Overall Satisfaction with Local Bus Service
New York City Transit 7
74%
69%
70%
62%
71%
72%
69% 62%
2013 2012 2011 2010
Local Bus Service Value for the Money
Fare Increases
Satisfaction with Availability of Local Bus Service
49% 48% 42% 45%
17%17% 14% 15% 12% 13%
50% 45%51%51% 49%
14%14%15%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Overall Availability of Service
Frequency of Service
How Long You Have to Wait for Bus to
Arrive
65% 64% 68% 62% 63% 65% 59% 56% 58%
New York City Transit 8
Satisfaction with Reliability of Local Bus Service
New York City Transit 9
55% 58% 53% 53% 54% 53% 59%
22%27% 25% 29%
18% 19% 25% 19%23%
59%61%55%55% 60%
15%19%22%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Overall Reliability of
Service
Maintaining Buses so they Do not Break
Down and Cause Delays
Predictability of Travel Time
How Fast the Local Bus Gets You Where You
Want to Go
77% 75%
77% 88% 85%
87%
71% 69%
73% 78% 75%
81%
Satisfaction with Safety and Security on Local Bus
52% 52% 54% 50% 51%
33%36% 36% 37% 33%
32%
53%54% 53% 55%
33% 32% 32%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
87%
Overall Safety and Security on the Bus
Safety from Accidents While
Riding on The Bus
Personal Security on the Bus
84% 86% 91% 88% 90% 87% 82% 83%
New York City Transit 10
Satisfaction with Information and Communications about Service
Overall Information and Communications
about Local Bus Service
Knowing How Far Away the Next Bus
Is
68%
New York City Transit 11
48%40%
50% 49% 52% 50% 47%
18%
14%15%
14%
22% 21% 22% 22% 23%
52%38%
51%50%
33%
21%18%18%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Clarity of Announcements on
the Bus
Overall Information and
Communications about
Local Bus Service
66% 70%
52% 48%
54%
73% 70% 74% 72% 70% 70%
Satisfaction with the Comfort and Convenience of Using the Local Bus
New York City Transit 12
55% 54% 60% 55% 54%
29% 36% 36% 33%28%
29% 32%
54%57%58%51%
29%29%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Overall Comfort and Convenience of Using
the Bus
Convenience of Bus Routes for You
Ease of Making Travel Connections
87% 84% 86% 90% 87% 87% 88% 84% 86%
Comfort and Convenience of Using the Local Bus (continued)
New York City Transit 13
49% 48% 52% 50% 50% 56% 52%
34% 37% 41% 36%20% 19%
30%35% 35%
52%47%51%50% 44%
20%37%36%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Ease of Getting On and Off the
Bus
Ease of Paying the Fare
Availability of Seats on the
Bus
Comfort of Temperature on the Bus
86% 86% 84% 84% 85% 85%
72% 70% 69%
86% 85% 87%
Satisfaction with Cleanliness of Local Buses
New York City Transit 14
53% 55% 52% 53% 52%
22% 25% 25% 23% 25% 24%
53%53% 56% 53%
26% 26% 25%
2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011 2013 2012 2011
Overall Cleanliness On-board the Bus
Keeping Buses Free of Litter
Keeping Floors and Seats Clean
79% 79% 78% 79% 78% 77% 77% 78% 76%
Satisfaction with Bus Operator Courtesy and Helpfulness
• Satisfaction with the courtesy and helpfulness of bus operators decreased to 81% in 2013 vs. 83% in 2012, a non-statistical change
New York City Transit 15
32%
53%52% 52%
30% 33%
2013 2012 2011
81% 83% 83%
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
• The MTA conducted its annual customer satisfaction survey for New York City Transit (NYCT) subway and local bus operations between June 11 and 30, 2013.
• The Citywide telephone survey interviewed 1,729 New York City residents throughout the five boroughs using random samples of landline and cell phone numbers.
• In-depth interviews were conducted with 1,201 customers who had taken at least one ride in the past 30 days on a subway and/or local bus. The average length for the full survey was 28 minutes. The margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.
• The remaining 528 contacts did not ride the subway or local bus in the past 30 days and were asked demographic questions only for use in weighting total survey results to the latest census data for New York City residents 18 years of age and older.
New York City Transit 16
New York City Transit 17
2010 2011 2012 2013 N = 888 887 869 821
% % % % OVERALL LOCAL BUS SERVICE 62 70 69 74 OVERALL LOCAL BUS SERVICE ON ROUTE USED MOST 63 71 70 73 OVERALL AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE Total 62 68 64 65
Frequency of service Total 59 65 63 62 How long you have to wait for a bus to arrive 51 58 56 59
OVERALL RELIABILITY OF SERVICE Total 68 77 75 77 Maintaining buses so they do not break down and cause delays NA 87 85 88 The predictability of bus travel time 65 73 69 71 How fast the local bus gets you where you want to go 68 81 75 78
OVERALL SAFETY AND SECURITY ON THE BUS Total 81 86 84 87 Safety from accidents while riding the bus Total 86 90 88 91 Personal security on the bus Total 80 83 82 87
OVERALL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT LOCAL BUS SERVICE 68 70 66 68 Knowing how far away the next bus is NA 54 48 52 Clarity of announcements on the bus 67 74 70 73 Usefulness of announcements on the bus 68 70 70 72
OVERALL COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE OF USING THE BUS 83 86 84 87 Ease of getting on and off the bus 81 84 86 86 Ease of paying the fare 81 85 85 84 Convenience of bus routes for you 86 87 87 90 Ease of making travel connections 82 86 84 88 Availability of seats on the bus 63 69 70 72 Comfort of temperature on the bus 81 87 85 86
OVERALL COURTESY AND HELPFULNESS OF BUS OPERATORS 78 83 83 81 OVERALL CLEANLINESS ON-BOARD THE BUS 78 78 79 79
Keeping buses free of litter NA 77 78 79 Keeping floors and seats clean NA 76 78 77
OVERALL VALUE FOR THE MONEY OF THE LOCAL BUS 62 69 72 71
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