By: Charlotte Hillyard-Baker
Courtesy photo by Wikimedia Commons
The Toronto Transit Commission published a survey Wednesday showing 79 percent of customers rating the service of TTC as good or excellent.
The results from this survey show an increase of seven percent since the fourth quarter of 2012. Brad Ross, Director Corporate Communications for the TTC, say they are positive results.
“They show a trend that is going in the right direction. We want to see it continue to trend that way; we expect to continue to trend that way,” Ross told Humber News. “Ultimately we would like to be in the 90’s. We would like to see overall satisfaction after five years of modernization process.”
Ross said there are still a number of things that would need to happen before the numbers go into the 90s.
“We have talked about a five year modernization plan, we have got a corporate plan, and we have got a customer charter. We have an organization now that is customer focused, customer centric, everything we do focuses on the customer.”
The TTC has been busy improving the smaller things that make taking public transit easier for customers.
“It does take time for a big organization like this to change,” Ross said. “Things like our new maps, our stop poles, customer information initiatives are well under way in terms of improvements and changes to them are fairly significant and major.”
“There are new street cars rolling out next year. A lot of things are happening in the organization, a lot of things are happening to improve service and make the experience on the TTC more comfortable,” Ross said.
On the other hand, Andy Byford, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission, said the most important part of making a change is making sure everyone is on the same track.
“I think the important thing is within the company it shouldn’t be seen as ‘it’s the executives or the CEO’s job to deal with customer satisfaction.’ No, it’s everyone’s job, and I am trying to get everyone to think like that. We really need to have the customer at the center of our thinking,” Byford told Humber News.
“The most important thing is to first off use data, not just a gut feeling, but to understand what it is that customers are happy about and what they are not happy about so that you know which of the areas to tackle.”
Brad Ross said Toronto is going to be adding Wi-Fi to their subway stations, too, adding that St. George and Bloor/Yonge will have service by December.
“We have a contract in place with a service provider, BAI Canada, and they have a very aggressive plan to have Wi-Fi and eventually self-service in all our subway stations,” Ross said.