Audit Report on the Performance of New York City Express Buses Operated By the Metropolitan Transportation Authority

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This audit determined whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) adequately monitored the performance of its express buses with respect to on-time performance, wheelchair lift functionality, and customer satisfaction.

The MTA was created in 1965 as a public-benefit corporation chartered by the New York State Legislature. New York City Transit(NYCT), one of the several agencies that comprise the MTA, operates and maintains the City’s subways and some of the bus service lines (local and express). The MTA Bus Company (MTA Bus), another agency that is part of the MTA, was created to assume the operations of seven privately operated bus companies that ran both local and express bus lines under agreements with the City’s Department of Transportation.MTA Bus and NYCT are each responsible for the operation and maintenance of their own local and express bus fleets.

Based on data obtained from the MTA, MTA Bus and NYCT operated a fleet of 509 and 508 express buses, respectively, as of January 5, 2014, with annual ridership of 9,023,396 and 11,544,719, respectively, for Calendar Year 2013.

Audit Findings and Conclusion

The MTA does not have on-time performance targets for the percentages of buses that it expects should be on time. However, it does have criteria by which it measures timeliness for a scheduled pick-up.  Our field observations found that 31 percent of sampled express buses were not on time, based on the MTA’s criteria for timeliness. Additionally, the MTA does not publicly report progress towards meeting its targets for reliable express bus service. The MTA has developed two bus performance indicators-percent of bus trips completed and mean distance between failures-to measure how well it is attaining its goal of service reliability. When reporting bus performance, however, it combines the results for express buses with those of the much larger population of local buses. Consequently, the riding public has no means of assessing express bus service performance.

In May 2014, the MTA completed its implementation of a computer program called Bus Trek, which uses GPS-generated data to track the location of its local and express buses in real-time. With Bus Trek, the MTA now contends that it has the ability to track the on-time performance for express buses on a regular or consistent basis. The agency, however, has still not developed on-time performance targets for express bus service.

The audit also found that the MTA has not developed a standard methodology for conducting routine checks of wheelchair lifts on express buses, increasing the risk that deficient inspections may occur and personnel will not identify and correct problems with lifts in a timely manner.

Subsequent to the initiation of this audit, the MTA overhauled its tracking of customer complaints to enable it to better evaluate customer satisfaction with its express bus service. In April 2014, the MTA rolled out the Customer Relationship Management(CRM) system, which is designed to enable the MTA to track customer complaints more effectively. The MTA expects that the CRM system will allow the agency to better identify persistent service issues raised by customers and take steps to address them in a timelier manner.

Audit Recommendations

Based on the audit, we make the following recommendations:

• The MTA should continue to utilize Bus Trek to modify and improve express bus schedules so that they are more reliable.
• The MTA should develop on-time performance and other performance targets for its express buses and publicly report progress toward meeting those targets.
• The MTA should update its cycling directive to include procedures for the wheelchair lift inspection of the express buses currently used in its fleets.
• The MTA should ensure that the updated cycling directive is communicated to all necessary officials and followed.
• The MTA should continue to utilize CRM in tracking express bus service complaints so that it can more effectively determine trends and patterns that need to be addressed.

Agency Response

MTA officials agreed with four of the audit’s five recommendations. Officials did not indicate whether they agreed with our recommendation that the MTA develop performance targets for its express buses and publicly report progress toward meeting those targets.