This blog post takes a deep dive into the CX Plans from nine transit agencies across North America to see how they are tackling the challenge of winning back riders and earning their loyalty.

For transit agencies that want to go the extra mile to provide a great customer experience, consider the "Hire for Heart" program at Long Beach Transit.

It always seems impossible until it is done. Hot off the press, an excerpt of a Customer Experience chapter I wrote...

Traditional design of transit services is often constrained at the start by what's available, politically acceptable, or convenient. A Customer Experience approach, however, is different. It starts with customer requirements and, instead of accepting practical or political constraints, it works to overcome constraints to build a quality customer experience. Take, for example, transit ambassadors. A CX approach starts with understanding customer pain points and expectations, a

Some of the best Customer Experience ideas start with insights from front-line employees. When I oversaw the rollout of a BART brand update 15 years ago, I assembled a team of Station Agents and Operations Supervisors to explore ways to improve the rider and employee experience. In our monthly meetings, one recurring theme surfaced - Station Agents taking pride in being able to spot "Newbies" (i.e., new riders) when the Newbies enter a station. At the same time, our surveys t

Just imagine. It's a normal Saturday morning, and you're about to hop on the train to get to your waitress shift when you hear a service announcement. It's hard to hear but it says something about construction and a bus bridge, and you're just hoping it's not on your line.... Unfortunately, though, it IS your line. You get halfway there when the train operator tells everyone to get off and you're escorted by employees in red vests to a bus stop. Naturally you are worried abou

When building a CX Program, don't forget to also focus on the experiences of your own employees, because the quality of the service they...

There's nothing worse than waiting and waiting for a bus. A late bus can make you late to school, work, daycare pickup, or other time-sensitive trips. And it can cause things like job loss or daycare penalties that many riders can't afford. Actually, there is something that's worse: Waiting and waiting for a bus AND NOT KNOWING when it will come. That is the situation that many transit riders around the country face when bus runs get canceled due to bus operator shortages or

User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) require humility. User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) demand that we set aside our own preconceptions and surrender to the wisdom of the crowd. That means listening to transit riders and being open to bursting our own bubbles. Better yet, we can actually learn to ENJOY bursting our own bubbles... - think of it as learning and self-improvement. ( : "wisdom of the crowd" (Oxford Dictionary): the collective knowledg

Enemy #1 to any CX Program is the notion that "It's not my job." Even though job descriptions sometimes say "other duties as assigned," many employees feel they need to limit their duties to maintain control over work scope creep, or to avoid stepping on the toes of fellow employees. Moreover, labor contracts will often reserve certain kinds of work for only certain positions, and this is often for good reason - such as to protect jobs. For example, customer service agents ma

One way to systematically identify customer pain points is to do what's called Journey Mapping. This involves thinking about every stage of a transit's customer's journey from planning their trip to the "last mile" egress to their destination. For each stage we ask ourselves what do customers see, what do they hear, what do they smell, and what do they feel. This helps us identify the pain points we need to remedy to make it a great experience. We also think about the diverse

Most organizations are flooded with customer feedback, and the challenge is knowing what to do with it all. Maybe you have a steady...

You can maximize the effectiveness of your Customer Experience (CX) program by linking CX with your organization's annual budget process. The budget process is a place where tradeoffs are considered and decisions made that have a huge impact on the customer experience. Make sure that customer voices have a role in that process and budget decisions are aligned with the results of your Customer Experience surveys. Likewise for both operating and capital budget decisions. One fa

Even though violent crime on transit is fairly low, many transit riders across the country are worried about their personal safety when...

When someone goes to Google Maps to figure out how to get from A to B, they can see how long it would take to drive or to take transit....

It's not unusual for Cleanliness to pop up as a top pain point for transit riders. Cleanliness is an important aspect of the customer experience, and clean transit systems are more likely to keep and attract riders. Cleanliness, however, means different things to different people, so it is important to drill down to identify the aspects of cleanliness that most need improvement. Is it litter? is it stains? Is it spills? is it the hygiene of surfaces? Is it smell? Biohazards?

To improve experiences for transit customers often requires that transit agencies undergo change. Previous assumptions and practices may need to be reconsidered. Priorities may need to be adjusted. The agency may need to broach difficult issues. The problem is that few people like being told they need to change, especially if they are comfortable doing things the way they've always done them. And those with experience will know there is risk in change, especially if it impact

Statistically-sound customer surveys should be the cornerstone of any CX program. The main objectives are: To identify the top pain points to remedy; and To gauge the success of CX initiatives over time. Your customers may experience hundreds or even thousands of pain points, but a CX Plan can only focus on a small number. Otherwise, an organization may spread itself too thin. It's often said that if you try to do everything for everyone, you'll end up doing nothing for nobod

A systematic, agency-wide approach is needed to create an effective customer experience program. Here is a quick overview of key building blocks (along with links to more detailed blog posts): Identifying and Remedying Pain Points CX starts with understanding customer pain points using valid surveys and real time "live listening" through social media and call centers. Tip: The best source of information for CX is in-the-moment surveys to detect issues during the customer jour

A CX Plan cannot script customer-centric behaviors for every scenario. The situations are simply too numerous. As such, CX needs to become part of the organizational culture at every level to be successful. Every day, transit employees at all levels have opportunities to impact the customer experience. When employees are committed to serving the community and providing good experiences to riders, they are more likely to go the extra mile to make a difference. For example, an