using technology to advance customer service improvements

NorthEast Passenger Transportation Conference and Expo 2015

Using Technology to Advance Customer Service Improvements

Thursday March 26th 2015

Overview• Serving Bridgeport and the surrounding region with public FR and DR bus

service• 20 local, express and interregional routes• Commuter and transit connections to Rail (Bridgeport, Derby, Stratford,

Fairfield), Ferry (Bridgeport) and other public bus services (Norwalk, Milford)• Special door-to-door service for seniors and riders with disabilities• 57 Fixed route buses• 200 employees

Tech Implementation Needs

• Public Outreach & Communications• Customer Service• Planning & Service Development• Security and Resilience

Public Outreach & Communications• Social Media–Facebook–Twitter

• Email Newsletter• Feedback Forms• Polling/Surveys• Bi-lingual

(English/Spanish)

• Real-time Bus Info–Bus Tracker–Trip Planner

•Website–Alerts (Text & Email)

Impact• Increase in rider

feedback & involvement in public planning process• Increase in community

partnerships & cross-promotion• Uptick in mass media

sharing

• Increased engagement in all digital formats• High use & growth of

real-time info• Increased website use• Community awareness

& improved perception of brand

Internet Engagement

SHARING

Data cited is for 2014 calendar year, unless otherwise noted.

Sharing Example

Mass MediaSHARING to

37,260followers

Social Media Management Tools

Customer Service (On-Board Experience)

• Online Forms for Comments or Complaints (Automatically Databased)

• AVL Tracking• On-board Surveillance• Investigate like an accident

Impact• Easy for customers to give feedback• More detailed investigation and response• Specific topics for operator training• Improved information for performance review and

correction• Identifying requests for new services disguised as

complaints

Customer Service ToolsOnline Report It Form – All entries are automatically databased

Email Autoresponder

Planning & ServiceDevelopment

• Automatic Passenger Counter (APC) data for boardings and alightings

• Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) data for travel times, cycle length and connecting times

Impact

• Service improvements through correction to travel times

• Ongoing service refinements through APC data• Data for long range planning• Identification of shelter locations through APC

data• Shift from “data-free analysis”

Bus Usage Heat Map

Planimetric Data Overlay

Route Change Comparison

Cycle Length Review

Security

• Facility Surveillance System/Real Time Remote Monitoring

• Veoci – Web-Based Virtual Emergency Operation Center

• Myguardtrax.com

Virtual EOC

GuardTrax

Nextiva

Impact

• Improved management of facilities• Improved and productive relationships with

other community organizations• Improved response to community needs

(hurricanes, blizzards, fires)

Metrics

• Ridership• Preventable Accidents• Trips Per Service Hour• Productivity• Complaints

Ridership

Preventable Accidents

Per 100,000 miles

Productivity

Boardings Per Service Hour (October)

Complaints

Gross Complaints per 100,000 boardings

Northeast Passenger Transportation Conference and Expo 2015

Using Technology to Advance Customer Service Improvements

Thursday March 26th 2015