Op-Ed: Transit Still Lacking in the Customer Service Department

Jim Stone examines one of the eternal (until someone fixes it) problem of public transit: how to keep "choice riders" on public transit. A voluntary rider of public transit himself, Stone has a confession to make: "As much as I prefer using public transportation, it’s getting more difficult for me to like it. The reason boils down to two words: customer service."

After recounting a particularly unfortunate example of poor customer service, Stone sets about prescribing four actions for transit agencies such as his own in San Diego to undertake:

• Make customer service the priority, not fare recovery.
• Keep customers (i.e., riders) informed of delays.
• Keep trolleys and buses as clean as possible.
• Improve payment systems.

Stone, like many of us, is rooting for transit to improve in popularity. Stone doesn't see that happening unless transit agencies "create the best possible experience for passengers riding the trolley or a bus…"