Good work here. I think the basic points are the ones that need to be in
the standards. I make some suggesting based on the assumption that the
descriptive phases that you include are part of the standard that is to be
proposed.
>
>1. MUNI MUST SCHEDULE A GOOD LEVEL OF SERVICE TO ALL NEIGHBORHOODS.
Suggest -> MUNI MUST SCHEDULE A BASIC LEVEL OF SERVICE TO THE WHOLE CITY
Because -> To me every 20 minutes isn't good, its basic! The term
'neighborhoods' is a red flag in SF politics. I see no reason to bring it
up when we can be inclusive by using a phrase like the 'whole city' (This
hugely begs the regional transit issue that this policy does not address
but I accept the decision to leave that out as diluting our basic goal in
this policy.)
>
>Muni shall schedule service to all neighborhoods at a minimum of once =
>every twenty minutes from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m.
>and service on key corridors 24 hours a day. Particularly during =
>heavy commute hours, but throughout the day as
>well, this service must be scheduled at a level to meet demand. =
Suggest -> Muni shall schedule service to all neighborhoods at a minimum of
once every twenty minutes from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. and service on key
corridors 24 hours a day. Further, at all times on all lines service must
be scheduled at a level to meet demand.
Because -> I just think this wording gets more directly to the point.
>(Objectives 1.1 and 1.2 of SRTP) If riders are forced
>to wait beyond the normal frequency due to overcrowding when =
>substantially all scheduled vehicles are running, then
>schedules on that route must be revised to meet demand.
>
>Standard: Muni must revise its public schedule based on accurately =
>forecasted demand every three months.
Suggest -> Muni must do a demand based schedule revision every six months
Because -> "accurately forecasted demand" is a hope not something that can
be applied as a standard. Second, I think MUNI doing a real demand based
revision every 3 months is unimaginable. Even every six months would be
hard to do right. I think the standards should be something that we can
really expect to enforce.
>
>Status: Muni updates its public schedules twice a year, and is not =
>today scheduling to meet peak demand. Riders
>must frequently wait more than the normal interval due to =
>overcrowding (not to mention delays).
>
>2. MUNI MUST RUN ON TIME.
>
>Muni must publish a dependable schedule and meet it.
>
>Measure: Muni vehicles must not depart early and must leave no more =
>than three minutes late from every scheduled
>time point to be considered "on time." (This is similar to SRTP =
>Objective 3.5.)
>
>Standard: 70% of trips must be run on time (London standard).
>
>Status: In 1995 and 1996, 53% of bus trips ran on time by Muni's =
>measurement. (Muni did not report light rail or
>cable car performance.) By comparison, the buses in London, England =
>ran on time almost 70% of the time the
>previous year, in substantially worse traffic than that of San =
>Francisco. Muni must set its goals at least this high.
>
>3. MUNI MUST PROVIDE THE SERVICE ADVERTISED.
>
>Muni must advertise a level of service that can be provided and =
>provide sufficient vehicles and operators to meet
>schedule requirements every day.
Suggest -> Muni must publish its level of service and meet that schedule
every day.
Because -> Operators and vehicles are Muni's problem. The standard tells
them what they must do, it is up to them to figure out that they need to
get drivers to do it.
(Arguably you could combine #2 and #3, but probably the point is important
enough to say two different times.)
>
>Measure: Missed hours of service (Objective 3.2 and 3.4 in SRTP).
>
>Standard: Muni must miss no more than 1% of its scheduled service =
>(1995 standard).
>
>Status: In FY 1996-97, Muni reported 3.7% of scheduled service as =
>missed. Of this, 3.2% of missed hours were due
>to "lack of operators" - when the rate of absenteeism (scheduled and =
>unscheduled) was 24%.
>
>4. MUNI MUST KEEP THE SYSTEM CLEAN AND IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.
>
>This means keeping vehicles and facilities well maintained and free =
>of trash and graffiti. Riders should not be affected
>by breakdowns or be forced to ride dirty vehicles.
>
>Measure: Trips operated with no "road calls," i.e. failures requiring =
>service.
>
>Standard: 99.5% of trips must be completed without a mechanical =
>breakdown.
>
>Status: No data are available from SRTP, but this can be easily =
>calculated.
>
>Measure: Muni tracks the frequency at which vehicles are cleaned in =
>SRTP Objective 1.6. A better measure of actual
>cleanliness (not implemented today) would be frequent independent =
>spot checks.
>
>Standard: Vehicles must leave the yard clean and free of graffiti.
>
>Status: Muni claims that it cleans vehicles daily and washes them =
>twice a week. Our committee members expressed
>skepticism that this goal is really met, since we ride dirty buses =
>and streetcars often.
>
>5. MUNI MUST KEEP ACCIDENTS TO A MINIMUM.
>
>Muni must proactively work to reduce all accidents involving Muni =
>vehicles.
Suggest -> Muni must work proactively to reduce all accidents involving Muni
vehicles.
Because -> Split infinitive (smile)
>
>Measure: Accidents per day (derived from accidents per million =
>miles), SRTP Objective 3.6.
>
>Standard: Muni must reduce the number of accidents every year, =
>towards a near-term goal of no more than 5 per day
>on average.
>
>Status: Muni's accident rate declined slightly in 1995-96 (the latest =
>year for which data are available) to 120 per
>million miles, which translates to 240 accidents per month, or over 7 =
>per day.
>
>6. MUNI MUST PREVENT CRIME.
>
>For riders to feel safe on the system, Muni must show zero tolerance =
>for crime and harassment of passengers and
>operators.
>
>Measure: Assaults on operators and passengers, SRTP Figure 4.18.
>
>Standard: Muni must make steady progress in reducing the crime rate, =
>towards a near-term goal of less than 5 crimes
>per month from the current 17.
>
>Status: Muni did not publish complete crime statistics in FY 1996-97. =
>17 per month is the most recent cumulative
>figure, from 1995.
>
>7. MUNI MUST PROVIDE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ACCURATE INFORMATION.
>
>Muni must provide accurate information on service availability, =
>particularly in cases when service is changed due to
>construction or emergencies. Muni must also be responsive to customer =
>input and resolve problems quickly.
>
>Measure: Hours of operation for information line and time to reach an =
>operator.
>
>Standard: The information line should be open at least from 6 a.m. to =
>midnight (Muni's normal hours) and an
>operator should answer the phone in less than 3 minutes.
>
>Status: The help line is only open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but hold times =
>have been short lately.
>
>Measure: Customer complaints (the closest thing to satisfaction =
>measures). SRTP Figure 4.5.
>
>Standard: Muni must make consistent progress in reducing the number =
>of complaints to national benchmarks.
>
>Status: In FY 1996-97, Muni received around 10,000 complaints for the =
>year, or over 800 complaints per month.
>This increased substantially from the previous fiscal year.
>
>8. MUNI MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
>
Suggest -> MUNI MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE
Because -> I think the word "held" implies an adversary relationship that
many take for granted but which should not be encouraged in a *publicly
owned* entity like MUNI.
>This is the goal on which all of the others depend. Muni must track =
>all statistics discussed here, publishing them on
>a much more regular basis. Selected data (reliability, customer =
>service) should be audited by an independent firm on a
>regular basis to ensure accuracy. Most importantly, Muni staff and =
>management must be evaluated and retained or let
>go on the basis of Muni's performance - something not done today.
>
Suggest -> This is the goal on which all of the others depend. Muni must
track all statistics discussed here, making them conveniently available on
a regular basis. The owners of Muni, the people of San Francisco,
individually and through their elected representatives need access to this
information in order to hold Muni management to these standards. It is
further expected that Muni management will evaluate, train, promote and if
necessary dismiss Muni staff on the basis of these performance standards.
Because -> I strongly believe that the only sure source of improvement in
the Muni system is through the commitment, due to constituent pressure, of
the political class. While it is worth making clear that Muni should be
managed according to these standards the key thing is tying the standards
to the political process.
>Measure: Frequency with which Muni publishes performance stats.
>
>Standard: Muni needs to publish all performance data monthly, on the =
>World Wide Web and in print, and announce
>them to the Public Transportation Commission. Data compiled daily =
>(e.g. missed runs) should be published daily.
>
>Status: All data used in this discussion are over a year old, since =
>they are only published once a year.
>
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