"Mystery riders will be riding our buses at least through next March.

What do you think? Will mystery riders help us improve our service?"

I predict that the mystery riders will improve service...through next March. Drivers who are habitually rude to passengers are likely to stop only for as long as they think they are being observed.

That said, I have only rarely seen what I would consider to be outright rudeness on the part of METRO drivers. Maybe the bad ones are on different routes from the ones I usually ride.

I have had a few complaints against drivers but mostly it's overcrowded buses. Today I caught the #1 at Macgregor and Fannin and the bus was completely full- from the winshield to the the rear of the bus. I had to stand all the way downtown. Maybe this is just to force people onto the rail like Royko says. This happens almost everyday.

Forgot to mention the time- it was around 3:30pm.

I don't think mystery shoppers really prove anything. I work in retail and we have mystery shoppers, some times we do well, sometimes bad. People are not robots and if a driver has problems at home, etc, just like those of us in retail, or if we are under stress, we might not do everything by the book. There are some drivers that are rude all the time and my biggest complaint would be the way they take off before I have sat down, once I bumped my chin on the handrail as I was thrown into my seat.  But I don't have any major complaints about the drivers as they are similiar to me, having to work weekends, nights, holidays, etc.

don,

Were you bleating with the other "Sheeple?"

When METREAUX continues to reduce bus service, that's what you get.  They effectively chase away those who can find another (rubber-tired) mode to get where they need to be, when they need to be there.

How many bicycles did you count?

I'm with Steve on this. It's like when parents come to school to see how their child is behaving during class. The kid will behave until the parents leave, then it's back to normal.

Now, I personally have never had a driver be rude to me, and I ride all over the city during the day. I've seen drivers be rude to other passengers, but the driver doesn't start it most of the time. I think the worst thing I'd ever seen a driver do was almost get into a knock-down, drag-out fight with a passenger a few weeks ago.

As for the cramming of the passengers, that happens all over the city, not just near the Rail. However, the 11-Almeda/Nance has become a nightmare lately. Downtown trips in the morning are packed since they moved Bruce Elementary over to Jensen @ I-10. No matter how hard she tries, the driver of the 6:50am bus heading downtown from Denver Harbor can't get to Lamar @ Fannin before 7:35am. She's supposed to be at the Downtown Transit Center by then, and it's still 8-10 blocks away. It's not on time coming back either, there are several days when the Northbound 11 that's supposed to be at the Downtown Transit Center at 3:52pm doesn't show up until 4:15pm.

I would start thinking about splitting that route, if I were you. Then re-attach them to lower ridership routes that end downtown because both ends of the 11 do well on their own.  I mean, let's face it, the only reason the 70-Memorial and 35-Fairview still exist(after the other ends were discontinued) is because they're basically the maid shuttles. Now you can attach them to both parts of the 11-Nance/Almeda and boost your ridership with the 70-Memorial/Almeda and the 11-Nance/Fairview.

put mystery riders on these high occupancy... tight scheduled runs...Let them TATTLE-TALE What operators have been complaining about for years!!

But you know the mystery riders are there to find fault in the Operator just doing what he/she has to do to survive out there.

Want to improve service?  I have several Ideas...does not include mystery riders...ANOTHER FIRING/SUSPENSION  TACTIC!!

***We Are So Used To This Kind Of RIFF RAFF

One of the primary premises of successful, useful Mystery Shopping for any business is:  DON'T announce the start and end dates of the program, and DON'T state which locations (or routes) are to be shopped.

Talk about defeating your purpose!

I'm the guy with the cane that blogged as while back about the etiquette shown by folks getting into a fight on the bus.

I'm not anti-Metro, I use the service regularly and overall it's not a bad service.

The idea of a mystery shopper is a solid idea, but there is still a disconnect between the ridership of Metro and the management of Metro.  Perhaps thought could be put to that issue.

Could metro do a better job?  Probably, but as long as you're dealing with human beings, ego is going to enter into the picture.

Overall, I give Metro a thumbs up.

So perhaps the drivers will start putting the commuter bus temperatures somewhere between "Ice Age" and "Inferno of Hell" if a Mystery Rider complains?  Somehow, I doubt it.  

no!!!!  the thing about the commuter temps are....

first, the  bus runs every 5 minutes or so....on average!!

second, there are tinted windows and cushioned seating.

third, there are vents to control air ducts

fourth, the suspension is the best mci can build!!!!

WHY DO THEY COMPLAIN?????  SO MUCH????????

They pay a HIGER RATE...SUBSIDIZED BY THE COMPANY???

get on a local, fight off roaches, spiders, and all kinds of VARMITS!!

OUTLOOK WILL CHANGE!!  

We cannot please every rider, if it is turned down....someone will complain!!

If it is turned up, someone will complain!!!!

AT LEAST THE COMPLAINTS OF THE COMMUTERS DO NOT FALL ON DEAF EARS!!

TRY RIDING A LOCAL DOWN SCOTT OR MLK AND SEE WHERE YOUR COMPLAINTS GO..........!

Mystery riders are ok, but what about our wonderful operators at 713-635-4000?

Can I expect a call back on a complaint? No. Why do they even offer that option? They never do.

What if a bus flies by me? How do you expect me to give you any numbers from off of the bus, and when I can't, do you just not process the complaint? You'd think that if they had the route number and looked at a schedule, had the time and cross streets, they (or someone with the driver info) would be able to figure out what operator is driving.

I feel (this is a guess because I don't ask them to call back anymore - it's a waste) that they are listening more, but overall, the complaint box is broken. Fix that, and there will be less need for secret shoppers.

I don't know if mystery shoppers will help or not. I do think that they wont catch the driver directs at you though. I am a 21 year old college student and there is one driver that creeps me out because he constantly hits on me even though I have told him I'm married. How will the shoppers catch things like that?

Why do you need mystery rider is you already have plenty of good complains?

Mizz Porkie--

Not all commuter buses run every five minutes.  Mine certainly doesn't.  And the bus I usually ride home hasn't even shown up for the last three weeks.  (The schedule hasn't changed on the site, the driver just doesn't show up.)  None of us bother to complain anymore because, like the city lines, it does no good.  No one gets a call back.  No one does anything about it.  And probably, the complaints never even enter the system.

The driver controls the temperature.  Yes, there are air vents but usually in the winter, the driver turns them off.  There's no way to heat or cool yourself, you're at the mercy of the sadistic driver.  The heat comes from the ceiling and from the windows.  It's stifling and there's no escape from it.

And no suspension can dull the feeling of the driver slamming on his breaks and gas like a 16 year old learning how to drive stick shift.  

Varmints and riffraff are arbitrary.  We get the same stuff on the commuter buses.  I can't tell you the number of times I've moved seats or literally gotten off a bus because a "business man" got on the bus and obviously hadn't showered in the last decade.

We pay to ride just as you do.  If a company subsidizes, that's a bonus, but generally it's not for the full pass or even half of the pass.  And I know quite a few commuters who get no subsidy at all.  Your "Golden Child" theory about commuters doesn't hold up.  You're going to have to deal with the fact that we too will have complaints, no matter how good you think we have it.

you know ms pants you are absoulutely right!!

its across the board.  i am a driver been here 14 1/2 yrs. infact, if we really did do some complaining....you'd NEVER get a bus!!

most of them aren't road worthy!!!  so i guess you have to take it as you get it!!

AS WE SAY...ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES!!

"...most of them aren't road worthy!!!"

Good point so---my question would be---ummm---WHY ARE THEY OUT ON THE STREETS IF THEY'RE NOT ROAD WORTHY?!  There may be all of a sudden a "shortage of buses" problem if not enough is available but at least riders like me know that the buses that's in the best condition will come to my stop next.

THERE IS ALREADY A SHORTAGE OF BUSES...HAVE BEEN FOR A WHILE NOW!!

WE WAIT UNTIL THEY COME IN OFF ROUTES, TAKE THEM W/O BEING FUELED OR SERVICED!!

ITS NOTHING NEW TO US!

MAYBE  WHEN THAT BUS DOES NOT SHOW UP...THERE IS NONE!!

All Metro is concerned about is making "pullout".

Apparently if all buses (scheduled on routes) leave then federal money comes in.

Work on buses? Sometimes.. The problem still exists when minor functionaries refuse to reveal their failures to the people above them and we ALL suffer.

wi11ie

"WE WAIT UNTIL THEY COME IN OFF ROUTES, TAKE THEM W/O BEING FUELED OR SERVICED!!"

Uh-huh---yeah---so nobody says anything?  Y'all just hop on the bus and take off without seeing if everything is legit?

"MAYBE  WHEN THAT BUS DOES NOT SHOW UP...THERE IS NONE!!"

Cool---another way ridership may go dipping down the drain---late buses or none that shows up.  Very frustrating, don't ya think?

Mystery Rider will work.

1.) Don't have a cut off date.

2.) If a driver,Supervisor or any Metro employee did

   not do there job or was just unprofessional then

   take action.

3.) But if they did a great job then reward them.

cedric....if yoy only knew!!!!

we are a hired servant!

If there is a problem whith a bus.....and the Operator try to intervene....The answer is quickly..."what is your job description"??

"who gave you authority to make maintenance decisions"?

all we can do is document it and roll. MOST OF THE TIME ITS NEVER FIXED UNLESS SOMETHING HAPPENS OR IT BREAKS DOWN!  and if we ever refuse.....then we'd be charged with refusal to work! .....ie., TERMINATION!!

YES, we could probably TROUGH OUR JOKE OF A UNION, GREIVE IT ....BUT THE GREIVIANCE PROCESS AT METRO COULD LAST .........MONTHS, EVEN UP TO A YEAR W/O PAY!!!  

COULD YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AFFORD THAT?

THOUGHT NOT!!

" But if they did a great job then reward them "

we lost our performance bonuses several sers ago when "THE HACKER" Shirley DeLibro we CEO...but ummmm....I believe they kept THEIRS!!

we used to get pins to add to our ties for good service, but no-more!!  

we used to get gift certificates from BENNIGANS, for good service....no-more!!

Breakfast quarterly for the BOF with the least accidents...no-more!!

Jacksets, Belt buckles, patches, and GOD KNOWS>>>>WE WORKED HARD TO GET ALL THOSE PATCHES ON OUR SLEEVES!!!!  ALSO it built MORALE!! It made you go an extra mile b/c It felt That someone in UPPER MGMT CARED ABOUT The Lowly OPERATOR!!!!  no more!!

enough said...just had to VENT!