While framed around “family-friendly” transit, this Request for Information (RFI) actually focuses on reforming how transit performance is measured.
- Current Metrics: Success is based primarily on trip counts and miles traveled.
- Proposed Shift: The FTA also wants to collect data that reflects the customer experience while using transit.
- Definition of “Family-Friendly”: High-quality, welcoming service for the general public, moving beyond just solo adults and daily commuters.
There are 5 areas for comments: Safety & Security, Cleanliness, Universal Accessibility, Real Time Service Data, and System Reliability.
Goal
Our goal is to drive messages about the importance of high-quality transit and suggest areas that FTA should focus on to deliver it, including real safety solutions, service and accessibility improvements, and the need for additional resources.
Comment Deadline: August 3
Click on the link to FTA’s Request for Information on Family Friendly Transit and then click on the green button in the upper right that says “Submit a Public Comment.” You can either add your comment as text in the comment box, or upload it as a Word or PDF document.
Draft Comments
On behalf of [name of organization], I am writing to provide comments on ways to ensure that transit service meets the needs of parents, college students, senior citizens and all who choose to use it. [Add mission statement of organization and/or areas where you work, if desired.]
Transit is essential to communities, local economies, and the lives of millions of people across the country. One third of the people in the US don’t drive regularly (see https://www.nrdc.org/resources/who-doesnt-have-car). Public transit is essential to family life, to get work, school, grocery shop, medical appointments, church, visit relatives, and recreational activities.
High-quality public transit has a huge impact across society. [You can include stories of transit’s positive impact here.] We appreciate FTA’s interest in understanding the rider experience and offer the following comments on the areas FTA identified.
[You may choose to include all of these topics, or only those most relevant to your experience.]
Safety and Security
Public transit is already one of the safest ways to get around. Still, there is room for improvement. One of the most effective ways to make transit riders feel—and actually be—safer is to provide more frequent and reliable service. When buses and trains arrive consistently and on time, riders spend less time waiting at stops and stations, reducing opportunities for harassment, crime, or other unsafe situations. Other solutions include transit ambassadors or similar programs, de-escalation and bystander intervention training, and operator call buttons/emergency call boxes. All of these solutions require increased and dedicated capital and operations funding.
Transit ambassador programs provide a visible presence that increases riders’ sense of safety. Roles generally include helping riders navigate the system, responding to homelessness-related concerns, referring people in need of assistance to supportive services, and de-escalating crises. Transit agencies could report whether they have such a program, the number of personnel involved, and the number of contacts with riders. Transit agencies can also report whether they provide de-escalation and bystander intervention training to their frontline staff, including actual numbers of participating staff each year. Transit agencies can also report the number of call buttons and emergency call boxes they have installed throughout their systems and vehicles.
[Add any examples of safety challenges and/or solutions in your area that you would like to highlight.]
Cleanliness
Cleanliness is also a safety issue, as transit riders feel a greater sense of safety when transit facilities – buses, trains, stations, and bus stops – are clean and well-lit. Dimly lit areas and areas filled with graffiti and trash undermine that perception. Transit agencies are working in various ways to ensure that their systems are clean and inviting to all, such as conducting audits to identify locations where lighting should be upgraded and deep cleaning “surges” to address negative customer perceptions. While objective data on cleanliness is hard to come by, tools such as customer surveys and lighting audits can provide useful information and allow for tracking of trends.
[Add any examples of cleanliness challenges and/or solutions in your area that you would like to highlight.]
Universal Accessibility
For transit to be easily utilized by all, we must consider all aspects of the transit trip. There must be safe walkways and bikeways to get to a transit stop. The bus/train stop should provide a shelter and a bench for riders who may need to sit while waiting, such as older riders, children, and individuals with physical disabilities. Transit vehicles and facilities must be accessible to people with limited mobility and other disabilities. Wayfinding and customer announcements must reflect the needs of those with vision and hearing impairments as well as intellectual disabilities. And for many, accessibility is connected to a fare they can afford. While some of these are quantifiable (such as the existence of shelters and benches), others will require customer input (such as the effectiveness of wayfinding for vision-impaired people).
[Add any examples of accessibility challenges and/or solutions in your area that you would like to highlight.]
Real-Time Service Data Availability
Knowing when a bus is coming is vital information for transit riders. It helps people decide when to arrive at the bus stop, which reduces time spent waiting in bad weather or in the dark. It provides greater certainty about travel times, enabling better planning. Unfortunately, no technology is perfect, and real-time arrival systems are no different. “Ghost buses” – where the system indicates that a bus is on its way but no bus arrives – still occur, leaving transit riders frustrated. More investment in technological improvements and training for the frontline staff who must enable it on vehicles would help tremendously. Transit agencies should also work with technology vendors to ensure that they can track the frequency of anomalies such as ghost buses and report to the public.
[Add any examples of real-time information challenges and/or solutions in your area that you would like to highlight.]
Reliability
Reliability is one of the highest priorities for transit riders. When buses and trains can’t be counted on to arrive on time, consumers will choose other options if they can, or face continual penalties if they can’t, such as being fired from work if buses are late too often. Reliable service depends upon transit agencies keeping their vehicles and infrastructure in good condition, as well as on factors outside transit agencies’ control, such as traffic congestion. Transit agencies use a variety of different definitions for on-time performance, not all of which reflect customer experience – a customer who misses their bus because it departed two minutes early will still be considered late for work, school or a doctor’s appointment.
[Add any examples of reliability challenges and/or solutions in your area that you would like to highlight.]
Conclusion
While transit already successfully serves millions of families a year, improving the riders experiences on transit is a worthy goal. But tracking performance in this area is not enough. We must also invest significant new funding into service operations. Safe, clean, and reliable transit depends upon having well-trained drivers, ambassadors, station agents, janitors, and call-center staff. We support modernizing transit by providing new federal funding for operations while increasing capital investment in vehicles and facilities. More frequent and reliable transit is essential to meeting the needs of America’s families.