Audit Report on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Monitoring of Its Express Bus Services

Introduction

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) adequately monitors its express bus service performance.

The MTA is the largest public transportation agency in North America, serving a population of 15.3 million people in the 5,000-square-mile area fanning out from New York City (City) through Long Island, southeastern New York State and Connecticut. The MTA comprises six agencies (plus various departments and boards). Two of the six agencies provide local and express bus service within the City: MTA New York City Transit (NYC Transit) and MTA Bus Company (MTA Bus). Express buses transport commuters between Manhattan and the outer boroughs, typically from a series of pick-up locations in one borough and drop-off locations in the other, connected by an express segment, generally over highways where they do not stop. At the end of 2019, the MTA Bus and NYC Transit bus systems in total operated 73 express bus routes throughout the five boroughs.

NYC Transit and MTA Bus manage service delivery through the MTA Department of Buses’ Road Operations unit, which oversees and tracks bus service relative to the MTA’s goals and responds to real-time needs as issues arise. Road Operations’ staff in its BusTrek room monitor all express bus routes, Citywide, and can instruct bus operators to adjust routes to help bring service back on schedule. Road Operations can also recommend schedule and route modifications to improve service when a bus route is not meeting its performance goals over time.

Our office’s prior audit, Audit Report on the Performance of New York City Express Buses Operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Audit #MH13-118A, issued April 22, 2015), found that although the MTA had established criteria for measuring buses’ timeliness, it had not set targets for the percentages of buses that it expected to operate on time. That audit found that 31 percent of sampled express buses were not on time based on the MTA’s criteria. That audit further found that the MTA did not publicly report the extent to which express buses met their targets for reliable service. Instead, the agency combined the performance results for express buses with those of the much larger population of local buses.

Based on MTA data, MTA Bus and NYC Transit collectively operated a fleet of 1,523 express buses, with an annual ridership of 18.5 million, during Calendar Year 2019.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Overall, the audit found that MTA has established a framework for monitoring express bus performance through field observations, the use of GPS technology, and data analysis, and can identify the routes with the lowest levels of on-time performance and service delivery. However, we have significant concerns about that framework and the MTA’s efforts to improve express bus performance during our review period.

Specifically, in connection with its performance monitoring structure, the MTA has identified nine performance indicators, including (but not limited to) on-time performance and travel time, by which it measures express bus performance. However, the way the MTA has implemented these performance indicators appears to reduce their utility:

• For six of the nine performance indicators, the MTA has not set goals for measuring its express buses’ actual performance. Without such goals, it is unclear how the MTA can use those performance indicators to assess its performance.
• For two of the three indicators for which goals have been set, the indicators appear to be of limited value for assessing express bus performance.
• For on-time performance, the MTA has set a very modest goal of just under 60 percent. From that target, it appears that the agency expects that a significant percentage of its buses will not operate on time in accordance with its own schedules.

Additionally, although the MTA can identify those express bus routes that are low-performing, such as on-time performance as low as 23 percent, the agency stated during the audit that it had not received any recommendations from its Road Operations unit for schedule or route modifications for any express bus routes during our review period. At the exit conference—after fieldwork for this audit had been completed—officials contradicted their earlier written statements and claimed that Road Operations did recommend modifications during the review period. Officials subsequently submitted a document listing purported adjustments the agency claims it made in 2018 and 2019.  However, since the MTA did not provide this document until our audit testing had ended, we did not verify the information it contains and offer no opinion regarding its reliability.

Finally, the MTA does not have an adequate process for providing customers with real-time information regarding delays affecting particular buses along a bus route. The agency generally notifies customers of system-wide service disruptions and delays. However, when a delay impacts a particular scheduled bus, the MTA generally notifies customers only if the resulting service gap is: (1) twice the scheduled interval between buses; or (2) more than an hour. A policy of leaving customers uninformed of delays of up to one hour, and potentially stranding them at bus stops, creates a significant risk of seriously inconveniencing customers who rely on and pay a premium for express bus service.

Audit Recommendations

Based on the audit, we make six recommendations, including the following:

• The MTA should establish goals for all publicly reported performance indicators so that Road Operations personnel gain a clear understanding of management’s expectations.
• For its on-time performance target, the MTA should consider increasing the percentage of express buses that it expects to operate on schedule.
• The MTA should ensure that Road Operations: (a) identifies possible route and schedule modifications for express buses that do not meet performance goals; and (b) recommends appropriate modifications to the MTA’s Operations Planning department.
• The MTA should provide customers with real-time notifications of service delays impacting individual bus trips and measure its performance in doing so.

Agency Response

In its response, the MTA generally agreed with five of the audit’s six recommendations. The MTA disagreed with the recommendation (#4) to consider increasing its on-time performance target for the percentage of express buses that it expects should be on time.