Riders have been asking: “what on earth is Rate Your Ride doing with all that data?” Well, we are glad you asked!

Let’s start out by saying that making changes to improve the transit service is no easy task. The MTA’s transit network is big, complex, and has a lot of moving parts.

Many riders don’t realize that we provide over 370,000 rides on an average weekday and over 112 million rides in a year (that is 19 times the entire population of Maryland). During our peak periods, we are operating over 1,350 vehicles throughout the MTA’s service area. Needless to say, that is a lot of people, vehicles, and trips all moving around our system, each and every day. When there is a problem with one of our transit lines, vehicles, or staff, it can take a lot to identify root causes and a lot of time and money to create a solution.

If you read our preliminary report, you know we used Rate Your Ride and other data sources to identify several key issues to be addressed. For example, overall, bus lines 11 and 35 had the most unfavorable performance when we looked at both customer-provided and internal data.

The MTA then dedicated substantial resources to studying these lines, collecting information from drivers and customers, and then crafting some solutions that we think will help them perform better for our customers.

On February 10, 2013, we enacted two major improvements on these lines:

1. We consolidated bus stops on these lines (see the detail here) to reduce the number of times the bus has to slow down, stop, wait, and then try to re-enter traffic.

2. We adjusted the schedules on these lines. (new 11 line schedule  |  new 35 line schedule)

What does that mean,”adjusted the schedules?” That means that we have assessed the actual running times for these lines and compared them to the scheduled running times. (The phrase running time refers to the amount of time it takes a bus to get from POINT A to POINT B.) This may sound like a simple task, but it takes a lot of time. Running times vary across different combinations of service days (e.g., weekdays vs. Sundays or Saturdays), time periods (e.g., rush hour vs. non-rush vs. late night), directions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound), and locations (e.g., last segment of line vs. middle segment). When scheduled running times do not match actual running times, that results in a late bus (or, on some occasions, an early bus).

Let’s take the 11 line, which runs from Towson to Canton, as an example. From that example let’s take just one segment of the line – from Charles St. and Redwood St. to Charles St. and 33^rd St.
View Larger Map

This trip is a distance of 2.8 miles and the running time is 14 minutes by transit, without a traffic backlog. But, as anyone using Charles St. during the evening rush hour knows, Charles St. can become quite clogged. So, the MTA adds about 7 minutes to this scheduled running time during the evening rush hour, because, on average, the same exact trip taken at a different time of day actually does take longer.

Late evening running time = 14 minutes; evening rush hour running time = 21 minutes… Same stretch of road, same bus line, same direction, but different times of the day. (Check it out for yourself, click on “View Larger Map” above and use the Google trip planner to try out several different departure times and see how the running times change.)

If the MTA didn’t decrease the evening running time to 14 minutes in the late evening, then our buses would be running early (or the drivers would have to drive slower than traffic allowed). On the other hand, if the MTA didn’t increase the rush hour running time, then our buses would be running late. So, we have to find the optimal scheduled running time that provides “just enough” time to reflect what usually happens in reality.

Riders of the 11 and 35: we hope that you’ll find the buses on time more often (give or take a few minutes). We’ll be doing follow-up analyses to determine whether our changes produced the desired effect. Keep rating your rides and providing the data that helps us set priorities about what to improve next.

Riders of other lines: We haven’t forgotten about you! Change takes time and data. Keep rating your rides and let us know how we’re doing.

We’re finalizing the data from our most recent schedule period, which ended on Feb. 9th. Please, stay tuned!

MTA’s Rate Your Ride program has made great strides over the last year and is ready to keep growing and to do more for MTA’s customers, but we need some help! MTA is recruiting for a part-time intern to help keep the RYR momentum going. Here’s the full announcement: RYR Internship  . And just to tell you up front–it is PAID… as long as you count time working with a great team of professionals and getting valuable experience as pay.

Oh, and, not that it matters, but there is no actual paycheck…so, if you’re just looking for dollars, then don’t waste your time.

But, if you’re looking to work on an innovative program that is utilized by over 3,500 different people with the potential reach hundreds of thousands, then, this job is for you. Just follow the instructions on the announcement! Don’t wait!

(And, please pass it on. Of course, if you’re applying, you may only want to pass it on to other people who will make you look good.)

Scenario 1, rude staff:

Another cold December morning and you just saw your Commuter Bus pass by as you approach the bus stop. After waiting forever (at least it seemed to be that way) you are confronted with an unfriendly bus driver who did not respond to your friendly greeting.

Scenario 2, unhelpful staff:

In the afternoon, you are trying to get to a new restaurant you heard about and you decided to take the Light Rail. On the train you are asked to show your train ticket to MTA staff. You decide to ask the staff member for directions because you are not completely sure if you are going the right direction, but you receive no answer and feel ignored.

Did this happen to you? Or have you been in a similar situation before?

Use the Rate Your Ride survey and let us know what is bothering you or what was pleasant about your ride.

It is easy! Just call, text “ride” to 410-205-4559, or use the survey on our website www.rateyourride.org

We care about your feedback and use it to make changes!

RYR update:

We added three new options to the survey. Since we received a lot of feedback from MARC riders, we decided to add an option to enter the specific MARC train number, so we can better identify which lines are affected. In addition, we added a back (*) and an exit (#) option to make the survey more user-friendly.

Try it out today!

Last week we experienced problems with the Rate Your Ride website. The main source of the problem was due to a corrupted file on our server. We took immediate action to prevent this from happening again. We are sorry about any confusion this may have caused.

By the end of this month, we will issue the RYR Winter 2012 Final Report and Action Plan. The purpose of the Final Report and Action Plan  is to use key findings from the Preliminary Report (published in October) to implement changes, analyze the associated costs to see if these changes are feasible and within the MTA’s budget. In addition, the report is intended to help us meet our goal of using RYR customer data to improve MTA’s transit services and hopefully will lead to an increase in customer ratings and satisfaction.

We are very thankful for you, our MTA customers, who use the Rate Your Ride program and of course our RYR Twitter followers and subscribers!

Wishes MTA’s Rate Your Ride team

Fall is here and winter is approaching. It is really hard to get out of bed in the morning because it is so dark and cold outside. You drag yourself to the bus stop and wait for your bus to arrive in the cold and… it is late!

Has this ever happen to you? Or have you experienced a similar situation before? If so, the MTA would like your feedback since it is our mission to provide reliable transportation services to our customers. In addition, it is the MTA’s goal to get our customers to their destinations on time. Therefore, we value your feedback because we are only able to make changes and find solutions to frequently occurring issues if we are aware of them.

There are three easy and fast options for you to voice your opinion, just text “ride” or call 410-205-4559, or visit our website and take the online survey.

Have a safe and comfortable ride! And don’t forget to Rate Your Ride every time!

(We also love to hear positive feedback).

On September 27th, 2012 the MTA bus drivers were recognized for their hard as well as stressful jobs by a group of high school students who are part of the Wide Angle Youth Media (WAYM) Design and Attendance team. WAYM is a non-profit organization that provides Baltimore youth with media education to tell their own stories and to become engaged in their communities.

The WAYM students recently visited one of MTA’s bus facilities to interview operators to learn more about their jobs. The interviews opened the students’ eyes and made them realize that being a bus driver in Baltimore city is a lot harder than they imagined. Therefore, the students were inspired to recognize the drivers for their work, especially for helping them on a daily basis to get to and from school.

One of the students with Wide Angle Youth Media, Bryan said: “I think that bus drivers have a harder life than we think. We wanted to show some appreciation of the hard work they put in every day just driving a route over and over again and dealing with the everyday problems of the people on the bus.”

During the event, WAYM students read thank you letters and presented bus operators with cake as well as thank you magnets for their lockers.

The MTA’s Administrator Mr. Ralign Wells was really excited about the event and the dialogue between the community and the MTA. “I especially want to thank Wide Angle Youth Media and Executive Director Susan Malone for wanting to recognize some of my favorite people; bus operators, ” said MTA Administrator Ralign Wells, who started as a bus driver himself. MTA bus drivers transport 240,000 people to school, work or appointments daily. In addition, drivers manage to keep a schedule, check fares, give directions, announce stops, remember stop requests, while maneuvering 40-to 60- foot buses through Baltimore city traffic, in all types of weather conditions.

We thank Wide Angle Youth Media for celebrating our bus drivers and for organizing such a wonderful event!

The Rate Your Ride Winter 2012 Preliminary Report is finally here! 

The report briefly discusses the RYR methodology and summarizes data that we received, thanks to you (our MTA customers) between January 9^th and June 16^th, 2012.

In six months, the RYR program received 2705 ratings from 942 different people.  The highest number of ratings received in one day was 88 ratings on March 2^nd, 2012.  Light Rail received 273 ratings from MTA’s customers (more ratings than any other transit line).  However, most (76%) of the ratings came from customers riding one of the MTA’s bus lines.  The majority of RYR raters use the MTA’s services to travel to and from work (62%).  MTA customers rated MARC as the mode with the highest average satisfaction score, and Paratransit had the lowest score, primarily due to complaints about late vehicles and rude or unhelpful staff.  The two most reported issues causing customer dissatisfaction were late and crowded vehicles.

Key findings included a concerning number of complaints about rude and unhelpful staff, including complaints about feeling ignored (31), the staff’s negative tone of voice (30), aggressive staff (28), or insulting staff (16).  On the other hand, we received a total of 1049 positive ratings with the highest number of ratings (566) stating that the vehicle was on time and (177) ratings stating that riders had a quiet and comfortable ride.  Another finding that stood out was that the majority of complaints about unclean or uncomfortable vehicles were received from Light Rail customers (24) during peak time hours (7am-9am, 4pm-6pm).  Also, when analyzing the MTA’s ridership data there is a noticeable lack of RYR raters using Metro and MARC.

Taking a look at the Baltimore City Public school data, the most frequently rated lines were bus #15 (25) and #44 (24).  Late vehicle was also the most reported issue for 100 Baltimore City Public School students.  The majority (11 ratings) of the reported late vehicles came from bus line #44. In addition, the bulk of complaints about crowded vehicles came from bus line #10 and #15.  In contrast, students’ top reasons for satisfaction (58 ratings) were vehicle was on time and quiet and comfortable ride (34 ratings).

The purpose of Rate Your Ride is to collect customer feedback and to use the data to make service improvements.  Therefore, we analyze the RYR data and select bus lines or other MTA modes that received the worst ratings.  However, instead of solely using RYR as a single indicator for bus line performance, a system called BESTRIDE (Bus Examination of Service: Tracking and Ranking including Diversified Evaluators) is used to collect data from various sources and to combine all of them into one place.  The collected data includes customer feedback (service complaints from both RYR and traditional means), ridership data, and other internal performance data.  Using BESTRIDE the two most troubled bus lines were selected, which were bus lines 35 and 11.  Increased street monitoring, investigation of the major problems of the two lines, and schedule changes to the lines will be put in place to improve the quality of service on these two lines and to make long-term improvements.

 Recap of Key Findings

• Most ratings came from riders who had chosen the bus as their mode of transportation (76%)
• Bus lines with the most ratings: #35 (185), #10 (179), and #11(155)
• Best rated bus lines: #54 (M=4.3), and #56 (M=4.2) (using a 6.0 rating scale, 1= very unsatisfied, 6=very satisfied)
• Worst rated bus lines: #21 (M=1.1) and #9 (M=2.1)
• Overall, Paratransit was the mode with the lowest average satisfaction score (M=1.5) due largely to late vehicle (11) and rude or unhelpful staff (8)
• A large amount (50) of raters reported that bus line #10 was too crowed.
• A concerning number of rude or unhelpful staff were reported. Customers mainly complained about feeling ignored (31), the driver’s tone of voice (30), or that the driver was aggressive (28) and insulting (16)
• Compared to the MTA’s ridership data there is a noticeable lack of RYR raters using Metro and MARC
• Customers are most satisfied (M=5.4) with their ride when they encounter helpful or friendly staff
• Low satisfaction scores were reported by customers who experienced a vehicle passing their stop. The majority of these ratings reported that the stop was skipped while getting on (47). When asked with the follow-up question, most reported that the given reason why this occurred was due to being ignored at the bus stop (total of 29, 6 received from bus line #35)
• Unclean or uncomfortable rides were reported by 86 raters.  The greatest share of reports of this issue (24) came from riders on Light Rail during peak time hours (8am, 4pm-6pm)
• Safety concerns were reported by 43 different raters from various modes and routes; their concerns included that the vehicle needed maintenance (16) and that the driver was speeding (12)

Next Steps 

The most important part of the Rate your Ride program is to make sure the data actually gets used. Prior to this report the data helped to improve service on several bus lines.  The MTA made some initial improvements to decrease “pass ups” (a.k.a. skipped stops).  Additionally, the MTA adjusted the service on the #19 and #35 in July 2011, as well as the schedule for the bus line #77 to match the real travel times of the line.  These adjustments should result in improved reliability.

The next report, Winter 2012 Final Report & Action Plan, will be completed within the next two months. It will include a specific action plan considering the two problematic bus lines #35 and #11 as well as other plans to address key findings from this analysis.  In addition, we will give an estimate of the costs and specific changes that will take place.

To read the entire report click here:

 http://rateyourride.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/RYR-Report-Preliminary-Report-Winter-2012.pdf

Have you noticed the increased number of RYR ratings over the last couple of weeks? On August 29th, we received the highest number of ratings since the beginning of the program–a total of 488 ratings! Currently, we record over 5000 ratings from 2,000 different people. Since August 28th, we have gained 287 new RYR subscribers! Now we have a total of 1,988 subscribers.

(Subscribe, today! Just text “join ride” to 410-205-4559)

The increase in participation is mainly due to enhanced promotional efforts, see below:

New RYR Flyer for College Students

• New decals and car cards with the updated Rate Your Ride phone number (410-205-4559) were installed on MTA buses and Light Rail cars last month.
• RYR announcements are being made at Metro and Light Rail stations.
• On August 29th, we sent out a RYR message to all eAlert subscribers, using all of MTA’s modes (Bus, Light Rail, Metro, Commuter Bus, and MARC). MARC subscribers were the busiest sending us their feedback with a total of 340 ratings!
• We went to nine different  college/university campuses around Baltimore  (UMBC, Towson University, University of Baltimore, Peabody Institute, Morgan State University, Catonsville Community College, Baltimore City Community College, Coppin State College, and John Hopkins University) to promote Rate Your Ride to faculty, staff and students by distributing flyers and brochures to them in person.
• On August 31st, we promoted RYR at the event “A Taste of Ub Midtown” at the University of Baltimore and handed out our new flyers and brochures to students.

MTA Intern at John Hopkins University

The Rate Your Ride team would like to Thank You for sending us your feedback and would like for you to continue to Rate Your Ride every time you use MTA’s transit services!

The Wide Angle Attendance and Design Team is a group of students working to create solutions that help students get to school on time everyday by improving public transportation in Baltimore.  

In May, the team launched a campaign with Rate Your Ride encouraging students to text, call, or go online to submit feedback about their commute to and from school.  Over 100 ratings were collected from students in the month of May alone.

Using data dashboards on rateyourride.org, the Wide Angle Attendance and Design Team decided to create infographics that would help make the complex data easier to understand.  The team hopes that the infographics will help show other Baltimore City students that their data is being collected, and does make a difference when the MTA decides which routes to change.

The Wide Angle Attendance and Design Team students are: Shaquille Brooks, Cody Dorsey, Brandon Galloway, Austin Jett, Evodie Ngoy, and Bryan Swann.

Created by Wide Angle Youth Media http://wideanglemedia.org/

Brianna Hicks with her prize

After the last drawing of the Baltimore City Public school student, the iPod Nano went unclaimed; therefore, we decided to randomly draw another student winner.

The lucky winner is Brianna Hicks! She won an iPod Nano, a certificate, as well as the unique opportunity to use the MTA’s bus simulator. 

Brianna is a 10th grade student at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical high school. She has aspirations to become an Obstetrician. She frequently commutes to school on the #19 bus. Brianna has rated her ride multiple times, where she has made complaints about the bus running late and being too crowded.

Elmer Coppage instructing Brianna on how to use the simulator