Maintaining Service Quality First Transit
First Transit monitors service quality as a key part of customer service plans. Although performance indicators are set on a contract-by-contract basis, core indicators common to most contracts are used to assess overall company performance and set performance targets.
- Trips on Time - the percentage of buses that arrive on schedule - target of 95%.
- Operator Availability - the proportion of our operators unavailable for work - target below 8%.
- Preventative Maintenance - the number of preventative maintenance operations completed on time - target 100%.
Using these performance indicators we can monitor the overall punctuality and reliability of our services, a vital issue for both our customers and the travelling public.
We continue to meet our target for 'trips on time' and for the first time in two years met our 'operator availability' target. This has been achieved though improved management of operator attendance. We fell slightly short of our preventative maintenance target which was set at a more challenging level this year. We will work closely with our customers to improve on performance in the coming year.
To further improve customer service and satisfaction levels, we continue to evolve our employee training programmes and initiatives to improve driver retention rates. Employee training is conducted through First Transit University for managers and supervisors. The training focuses on customer service and customer relations. It also encourages interaction between managers and sharing of best practice in order to develop consistent customer service levels across the company.
We also employ over 25 full-time support staff who are trained in virtually every aspect of transit operations and management. They can provide assistance to all our customers with issues such as performance audits, maintenance audits, safety and security audits, user and non-user surveys and paratransit reviews.