I trust you'll all remember how fundamentally useless the survey
itself was (for example "Please note your top two concerns" included
_four_ different choices out of seven -- "timekeeping", "no delays",
"shorter wait" "overcrowding" -- which amount to exactly the same
thing) and questions with trivially forseeable results ("riding Muni
<6mo, 6mo-12mo, >1yr?" "satisfied/neutral/dissatisfied with Muni?")
but to cap it off the "analysis" is even worse.
Riders were asked when they rode: peak/off-peak/weekends.
In BAH/Muni's "analysis", we find that 49% ride peak, 27% off-peak and
24% weekends. Yep, that adds up to 100%. _Nobody_ who takes Muni to
get to work rides it on weekends, and so forth.
Likewise, most frequent line (the survey asked for "most frequent
lineS") is given as 13/20/24/23/20 for J/K/L/M/N.
(Yep, nobody in SF rides more than one Metro line.)
It's not like they had a competent or a well-designed or a useful
survey to begin with, but then they transparently and incompetently
massage the results in a way which is at complete odds with all
polling and mathematical reality!
Anyway:
How frequently do you ride Muni Metro?
Few times a year: 20%
Few times each month: 22%
4-6 times a week: 25%
Weekdays only: 20%
Every day: 13%
"Two top concerns according to respondents
(note that the top TWO concerns should add up to 200%, not 100%)
Reliability: 28%
Delays (ie "reliability") 25%
Overcrowding (ie "reliability") 20%
Wait (ie "reliability") 18%
Safety/Security 4%
Annoucements during trip 3%
Access to system information 2%
And the BIG surprise:
"Overall, how satisfied are you with Muni Metro?"
5% satisfied [presumably Brown's appointments to commissions and the Board]
13% neutral [who _are_ these people?]
82% unsatisfied
Here's the text of Muni Flack P.J Johnson's release (typed in by hand,
since the clowns never put anything -- like SCHEDULES for example --
on-line):
======================================================================
"January 26, 1999 For immediate release.
Contract P. J. Johnson 415 617 9231
Muni Metro Survey Results
Reliability is the leading rider concern, according to results of a
customer survey of Muni Metro riders conducted in December, 1998.
On-time performance led the list of customer concerns, with a
cumulative total of 61%[sic] of the vote. Overcrowding also ranked
high on rider's lists, with 18% of the vote. System safety and access
to information ranked much lower at 4% and 5% respectively.
Respondents came from Muni Metro's core ridership: 49% are peak hour
riders, 58% ride the system at least four times each week, and 88%
have been using the system for over a year.
The survey initiated a public outreach effort designed to involve
riders in the effort to improve Muni Metro. 35,000 surveys were
distributed over two weeks, and 6,500 surveys were returned in
stations, by U.S. mail, and on the internet, a response rate of 19%
Concerns matched those identified by Muni and the Muni Metro Delivery
Team [Our Motto: "Wasting $700 million" and congratulating ourselves
for it"]. Over the next few months, the Delivery Team will support
Muni's implementation of several efforts to improve system
reliability:
* Installation of communication tools to improve communication between
Central Control and the Muni Metro system;
* Potential [ROCKET SCIENCE!] to reorder trains at the Embarcadero
turnaround.
* Added support on each line to regulate the flow of trains.
Brochures describing the results will be distributed at downtown
stations during the PM commute, and will be available on Muni Metro
cars throughout the system. Throughout the coming year, Muni Metro
will maintain the dialogue initiated with the survey. In addition to
regular bulletins announcing system changes, the Muni Metro Delivery
Team will conduct two more surveys in order to receive feedback [ie to
prove the system is "improving" to only 80% dissatisfaction by the
time of Brown's November election run] on improvements.
======================================================================
Disgusted but not surprised at the naked incompetence and inanity,
Still amazed that people who clearly can't walk and chew gum at
the same time have very well-paying and responsbility-free jobs,
-- Richard.