Research on Customer Requirements for Transit Service Design and Delivery

Abstract

In the past, transit had a monopoly over service to large segments of society: one-car families or those who could not afford to drive. Now transit competes with the automobile for most consumers’ travel. To increase trip making and attract new customers in a competitive market, transit agencies must refocus from an internally driven orientation aligned with providing public service to an externally driven orientation aligned with the mission of delivering products and service that meet consumer expectations and requirements. Descriptive results of research to identify customer requirements for design and delivery of high-quality transit service are reported. Nearly 500 customers and potential customers of King County Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, completed questionnaires designed to identify important elements and their performance requirements for each. The questionnaire was developed with intensive customer input to ensure that wording reflected customer and not staff perceptions. Requirements for service design included the following: 15-min headways for work and personal travel; no transferring to work; and total travel time to work no more than 50 percent longer than by car. Customer requirements for service delivery among elements that customers considered important included the following: the bus never leaves the stop early; seats are clean and dry; arrival time to work is no more than 5 min late; and windows are in good repair. Nonriders who were potential customers rated service delivery elements of transferring comparablity with automobile travel time as more important than did riders. Riders were more likely than nonriders to require 15-min headways for work travel.