Muni Rider Satisfaction the Highest in 10-years!

Muni Rider Satisfaction the Highest in 10-years!
By Bonnie Jean von Krogh

People walking on a station platform. Some are boarding. Some are deboarding.

Here at the SFMTA, we are focused on creating the fastest, safest and most reliable public transportation network for all San Franciscans. This is why we consider it a top priority to hear from our riders and non-riders alike about how we’re doing, what your public transportation priorities are, and ways we can improve. These findings help to inform budget, long-range planning and policy decisions. They also help build a better Muni for everyone traveling in San Francisco.

In recent months we conducted our Rider Survey as well as a broader Community Survey. Real-time data from our partners at Transit App in their North America Transit Rider Happiness Benchmarking Survey provides additional details about community feedback. 

The good news? Rider satisfaction with Muni services is up across the board:

Per SFMTA’s Rider survey, 66% of Muni riders rate services as good or excellent — a 9% increase from 2021.
The City Survey shows Muni’s rating at its highest level since 2013
Transit App’s survey shows Muni in the Top 5 North American cities when it comes to ranking riders most likely to recommend their public transit system to a friend
Transit App also shows that Muni riders give our drivers the highest overall approval rating across North America. Go, operators!
Finally, the Community Survey showcases that our riders have a much higher approval rating for the SFMTA than non-riders.

So if you haven’t ridden Muni in a while, maybe it’s time to give it a try.  

A man with a beard, sweater and jeans is smiling at the front of a bus to an operator who is wearing sunglasses seated in their seat.

Highlights from the Community Survey

71% of riders approve of the SFMTA compared to 48% of non-riders.
66% of riders rate Muni service as excellent/good compared to 48% of non-riders.  
By 9 points, regular riders also consider Muni safer than non-riders

A bus on the left side of the screen is seen on a corridor with over a dozen cars on the right side of the image

Our Rider Survey shows us that customers have noticed the work Muni has been doing to address service delivery since the onset of the pandemic. Our ongoing investments in reliability improvements such as transit lanes, bus bulbs and smart traffic signals have also paid off. Over the last three years, we implemented over 21 miles of new transit lanes, bringing our transit lane network to more than 70 miles! With this expansion, Muni is quicker and more reliable than it has been in decades. 

That said, there’s more to be done, and respondents continue to emphasize “Improving the speed, frequency and reliability of Muni buses and trains,” with two-thirds of respondents prioritizing, “having the most frequent and reliable buses and trains, even if stops are more than 2 or 3 blocks away, rather than having closer stops.” 

Next Steps

We asked what our community would most like to see changed, and while answers varied, the top priorities according to the Community Survey are: 

Crime/safety (including fare evasion and passenger safety)
More reliable/efficient/on time service/less bunching of busses
Better communication and public outreach
Improved cleanliness of transit stops
Additional funding to create faster, safer and more reliable public transportation

A person is seen boarding the bus along the curb. There are trees in the foreground on the left of the image.

Safety is a Key Priority

Over 50% of respondents cited “Increasing safety from crime on Muni buses” as an extremely urgent priority.
Respondents answering the Community survey in Chinese had the strongest concern about safety. 58% of Chinese speakers consider Muni unsafe from crime, almost a full 20% higher than respondents to the survey in English.
The safety of our customers and staff is a top priority for the SFMTA. We have increased the number of staff riding Muni as a visual deterrent to crime.
We will continue our efforts to make sure all Muni riders are safe and can be confident riding our buses and trains and will update you with our progress.

Several passengers are seen boarding a train in a subway. An overheard sign is above with lights.

Increasing Reliability through Repairing and Upgrading our System

A top priority of respondents is “Repairing and maintaining Muni equipment and facilities to ensure vehicles’ safety, frequency and reliability,” and our commitment to timely repair and maintenance work is in line with that. 
Improving Real-Time Communications 
Riders would like more reliable real-time communications to help with trip planning. 
Improvements to the customer experience can be seen through the ongoing implementation of our new Next Generation Customer Information System.

Far shot a bus approaching a bus shelter. There are people sitting and standing.

Respondents Understand the Need for Additional Public Transportation Funding 

Finally, a key takeaway from the Community Survey is that respondents want a better and more reliable public transportation system and recognize the need for additional funding to accomplish our shared vision and goals. 
Respondents support investing in Muni service as well as expanding safe bike and pedestrian pathways to ensure everyone in the city can access jobs and get where they need to go easily, regardless of their income or neighborhood.

We agree that an affordable, reliable and safe public transit system is a critical part of a thriving and equitable community. We are committed to working toward this goal and thank our frontline staff for working so hard to improve service.

Published May 05, 2023 at 12:41AM
https://ift.tt/G3RaFov

Comments

Mumbai terror attack 12 years on: Remembering the heroes of 26/11 https://ift.tt/2J9bWA8

Floral tributes were paid on Thursday to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. "Their sacrifice will never be erased from the memory of time and history. Today, we pay tribute to our saviours #2611Attack #2611Martyrs," Mumbai Police tweeted.

More trouble for Chinese cos as India changes trade rules in public procurement https://ift.tt/2EeBklg

Amid the border tension with China, the government has changed trade rules imposing restrictions on public procurement from China and other countries with the common border. According to the changed rules, the government has imposed restrictions on firms, companies from countries which share common land border after it amended the General Financial Rules 2017. An official statement on Modi government latest move said that this has been done on the grounds of defence of India, or matters directly or indirectly related thereto including national security. The Department of Expenditure has, under the said Rules, issued a detailed order on public procurement to strengthen the defence of India and national security, it said. Here what the order says: As per the order, it said, any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (...

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics By Bradley Dunn Bicycling moves people around San Francisco using less space per person than when people go by driving. The SFMTA encourages bicycling and makes yearly ridership and trend data public. While Bike-to-Work day has moved to September this year due to the ongoing pandemic, we are excited to share San Francisco’s 2019 citywide bicycling data that we usually release in May. The SFMTA uses a variety of bicycle infrastructure and data metrics as indicators of a healthy and growing bicycle network. In 2019, the Agency prioritized the development of a robust data management system, improving high-quality bikeway infrastructure to make bicycling less stressful and more appealing, and expanding access to bikeshare services across the city. As in past years, 2019 data is pulled from the SFMTA’s automated bike counters, annual manual count data, operator-provided bikeshare data, and the US Census. Here are some key fin...

New top story from Time: Bomb Targeting Mosque in Kabul Kills a ‘Number of Civilians’

https://ift.tt/3Fg5SxS KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb exploded in the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital on Sunday leaving a “number of civilians dead,” a Taliban spokesman said. The bomb targeted the sprawling Eidgah Mosque in Kabul, where a memorial service was being held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who later tweeted the attack had claimed civilian lives. Taliban fighters were not been harmed in the attack, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi told the Associated Press. Those killed in the attack were civilians outside the mosque gate. He did not provide a figure for the number killed and said an investigation was ongoing. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Emergency NGO, an Italian-funded hospital in Kabul, tweeted it had received four people wounded in the blast. The area around the mosque was cordoned off by the Taliban, who maintained a heavy security presence. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, since the Tal...

New top story from Time: Facebook’s Ties to India’s Ruling Party Complicate Its Fight Against Hate Speech

https://ift.tt/3b0vAI8 In July 2019, Alaphia Zoyab was on a video call with Facebook employees in India , discussing some 180 posts by users in the country that Avaaz, the watchdog group where she worked, said violated Facebook’s hate speech rules. But half way through the hour-long meeting, Shivnath Thukral, the most senior Facebook official on the call, got up and walked out of the room, Zoyab says, saying he had other important things to do. Among the posts was one by Shiladitya Dev, a lawmaker in the state of Assam for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He had shared a news report about a girl being allegedly drugged and raped by a Muslim man, and added his own comment: “This is how Bangladeshi Muslims target our [native people] in 2019.” But rather than removing it, Facebook allowed the post to remain online for more than a year after the meeting, until TIME contacted Facebook to ask about it on Aug. 21. “We looked into ...

New top story from Time: The Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage Is Our Selma

https://ift.tt/37oF2Ez After the public lynching of George Floyd last summer, his cry of “I can’t breathe” galvanized a movement for Black lives that won majority support among Americans . Floyd wasn’t the only one gasping for breath. While Americans watched a police officer choke the life out of Floyd, we also witnessed Black Americans contracting a deadly respiratory disease at three times the rate of our white neighbors , according to an August report from the National Urban League. The growing public consensus that we as a nation must address systemic racism has led to serious soul-searching in families, churches, universities, corporations and political life. But just as the Selma campaign became a symbol during the civil rights movement of the need for legislation to expand voting rights, the $15 an hour minimum wage proposal in Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan represents the possibility that our government can take decisive action to make racial justice real tod...

New top story from Time: ‘We Not Human At All.’ Why the Fight to Unionize an Alabama Amazon Warehouse Could Spur a Labor Union Resurgence

https://ift.tt/3sGpMvz Darryl Richardson is bone-tired. For a year, he has labored in a sprawling Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, collecting the home office supplies, fleece sweatpants, antibacterial wipes and other pandemic purchases that millions of customers have been adding to their virtual shopping carts since the warehouse opened in March 2020. As a “picker” for the retail giant, it is Richardson’s job to gather the items and put them in a tote where they can be sent for packing and shipping. It’s monotonous, labor-intensive work and Richardson says it has taken a physical toll on his 51-year-old body. “I go in there and give it all I can give them,” he says. “My hands be achy, my legs be sore, I be too tired when I get off to do anything. Sometimes I don’t even eat. That’s how tired I be.” But when he’s not working his 10 hour shifts or picking up mandatory overtime hours as a picker, Richardson is taking on a task that is perhaps even more exhausting: chall...

New top story from Time: Cleveland Baseball Team Reportedly Dropping Indians Name After 105 Years

https://ift.tt/2LpSBeG (CLEVELAND) — The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after 105 years. Citing three people familiar with the decision, The New York Times reported Sunday night that the team is moving away from a name considered racist for decades. The Indians have been internally discussing a potential name change for months. A team spokesman told The Associated Press the franchise has no immediate comment on the report. The Times said the team could make a formal announcement later this week. It’s not known when the name change will take affect or if the team has settled on a new moniker. Cleveland’s move away from Indians follows a similar decision earlier this year by the NFL’s Washington Football Team, which was previously known as the Redskins. For years, Native American groups and others have protested against Cleveland’s use of Indians as its name as well as other imagery used by the American League charter franchise founded in 1901. Last year, the ...

Meet the People who Keep You Safe on Muni

Meet the People who Keep You Safe on Muni By Mariana Maguire Next time you ride Muni or see a Muni vehicle, keep an eye out for the faces of some of the people of the SFMTA working to keep customers and fellow staff safe on Muni, day to day. They include members of our Muni Transit Assistance Program , Proof of Purchase team, our Muni operators, as well as our head of Safety, Security and Investigations. Staff in our Muni Transit Assistance Program ride Muni \ to help address conflicts.Our Proof of Purchase team, Station Agents and Transit Inspectors support customer safety by providing an extra presence on Muni vehicles, at stops and in stations and assistance if issues arise. And our Muni operators provide the first line of safety for customers. While their primary responsibility is to operate their vehicles safely, they can also help address conflicts onboard when necessary and when it is safe for them to do so. In the case that it’s not possible or safe for an operator to...

New top story from Time: Netflix Defends Dave Chappelle’s Anti-Trans Remarks and Suspends a Trans Employee

https://ift.tt/3ByxX1p Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos defended the company’s decision to air a controversial Dave Chappelle comedy special featuring trans jokes as “artistic freedom.” “We don’t allow titles [on] Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe ‘The Closer’ crosses that line,” he wrote in a memo last week obtained by Variety Monday. “Particularly in stand-up comedy, artistic freedom is obviously a very different standard of speech than we allow internally as the goals are different: entertaining people versus maintaining a respectful, productive workplace.” The company on Monday also suspended three employees who crashed an executive meeting last week, including Terra Field, a transgender worker who spoke out against the Chappelle special, according to a person familiar with the matter. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “What we object to is the harm that content like this does to the trans community (especial...

My precise view

Search This Blog