NEWARK — NJ Transit yesterday published the results of its latest customer survey as part of Scorecard, posting an overall satisfaction rating of 6.4 for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2014, matching the corporation’s highest customer satisfaction rating that was achieved during the third quarter of the previous fiscal year. In addition to a strong overall satisfaction score, NJ Transit also posted record highs on its bus, rail and light rail service during the same time period.
Through Scorecard, NJ Transit continues to utilize feedback gathered through these surveys to target specific improvements in order to boost customer satisfaction, as well as to provide the public with a clear measurement of how the corporation is performing.
The most recent survey, which was conducted online at njtransit.com between Aug. 12 and Sept. 3, was the first to be offered in both English and Spanish. It asked bus, rail, light rail and Access Link customers to rate NJ Transit on a scale of 0 to 10, and as with previous surveys, customers considered 42 attributes of the system related to facilities, scheduling, vehicles, communications and the overall experience using NJ Transit. Customers were also asked to identify the most important aspects of service among the items they rated.
“This survey data continues to drive our strategic decisions with the goal of improving the overall experience for the people who use the NJ Transit system each day,” said NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein. “We remain committed to actively monitoring our customers’ feedback so that we can respond to meet their needs.”
Of the approximately 457,560 customers who used NJ Transit service on a typical weekday in the first quarter of FY14, NJ Transit received more than 19,000 responses to the survey, the highest number of responses to date. Regarding customer loyalty, 79 percent of the customers surveyed said they would recommend NJ Transit to a friend or relative (above the 67 percent baseline rating). NJ Transit established the baseline with the first customer survey conducted in advance of the launch of Scorecard in 2011.
For the first quarter of FY14, customers rated their overall satisfaction with NJ Transit service as above average with a score of 6.4, matching the survey high set during the third quarter of FY13 and nearly reaching the agency’s annual goal of 6.5
Current customer satisfaction ratings on NJ Transit’s four service modes are as follows:
Bus customers rated their overall satisfaction with service at a 6.4, marking a record high, as well as a significant improvement above the baseline rating of 5.5. About 280,700 customers used NJ Transit’s interstate and local bus system on a typical weekday during the first quarter of FY14, representing approximately 61 percent of all NJ Transit customers.
Rail customers gave NJ Transit an overall score of 6.0, matching the survey high set during the previous quarter, and showing a strong improvement over the baseline rating of 4.5. Approximately 135,525 customers rode NJ Transit trains on a typical weekday throughout the first quarter of FY14, comprising 30 percent of all NJ Transit customers.
Light Rail customers gave NJ Transit an overall satisfaction rating of 7.4, reaching an all-time record high. About 37,525 customers used NJ Transit’s three light rail lines on a typical weekday in the first quarter of FY14, making up approximately eight percent of total NJ Transit customers.
Access Link, NJ Transit’s paratransit service for customers with disabilities, was given an overall rating of 8.1, down slightly from the record high of 8.3, but still well above the baseline score of 7.5. Access Link serves approximately 3,810 customers on a typical weekday.
“The fact that four out of five NJ Transit customers would recommend our service to a friend or relative speaks volumes to the work we are doing through Scorecard to improve customer satisfaction,” said Weinstein. “We are encouraged by the strong marks we achieved in this latest survey, and we want our customers to know that we continue to rely on their valuable feedback to continue to meet their needs.”