In releasing the first of what will be regular report cards, the CTA on Wednesday gave itself mediocre but improving grades on key measures important to riders.
Results will be updated each month and posted on the CTA Web site.
The performance metrics are intended to monitor the transit agency’s performance in six major areas: ridership numbers and providing on-time, clean, safe, efficient and courteous service.
Some indicators have been tracked for years but until now not publicly disclosed on a routine basis.
Also Wednesday, the agency’s board approved a $2.4 million contract to upgrade the public address system at rail stations. Some are 25 years old.
On performance, the CTA is failing to meet its goals in reducing train delays, bus-bunching and equipment breakdowns, although improvements are being made, according to the first indicators released at Wednesday’s CTA board meeting.
The CTA is working to limit bus-bunching, the source of the biggest complaints among bus riders, to 2 percent of operations. So far this year, the agency has missed its target by more than 10 percent, but that is still better than last fall’s performance.
The agency defines bus-bunching as two buses on the same route arriving at a bus stop within 60 seconds of each other.
On another measurement, rail delays of 10 minutes or longer, the monthly goal is 78 or fewer incidents. But 132 such delays occurred in January, declining to 83 by March, the performance report said.
“Some [indicators] will look good and some will not look good, but these are the honest facts,” said CTA President Ron Huberman. He promised that riders will see improvements each month.
Pay raises for CTA managers will hinge on whether performance targets are met, marking a policy shift, Huberman said.
The categories scoring the strongest performance included graffiti removal and the percentage of time that elevators and escalators work at rail stations.
Also, the amount of time customers spend waiting on the phone at the CTA service hot line exceeds the transit agency’s goal of no more than two minutes. In January, wait times averaged longer than 71/2 minutes but declined to about 2 minutes 40 seconds in March, the report said.
– – –
TRACK WORK
Track work on a busy North Side rail corridor will be completed by the end of the year, six months ahead of schedule, transit officials said Wednesday.
Service on two southbound tracks will resume in late December at the Fullerton and Belmont stations serving the Red, Brown and Purple Lines.
Trains currently share one southbound track at the stations.
Work was originally set to wrap up by June 30, 2009, but the CTA decided to spend $1.6 million to expedite the construction schedule, CTA President Ron Huberman said.
– Tribune
