NJ Transit Passenger Survey of 2005
Before I post my analysis of this year’s Customer Service Survey, I thought it would be fun to revisit an older post from 2005. Some of you might have looked at this in 2005 but it’s a good refresher to show that NJ Transit really hasn’t done a thing in terms of us passengers over 2 years and service is just as shitty as it was 2 years ago. I’ll be posting the results of this years survey in a few days.
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My answers to the NJ Transit Passenger Survey and analysis of why 87% of the questions were absolutely useless for us passengers.
I warn you now this is very long but well worth the read.
1. At what station did you board the train today (Jersey Ave)?
Are you kidding me? If you collect proper fares, you know exactly the origin and destination of every rider. There are a few of these which I’ll just flag my analysis as ‘Proof of incompetence’ (0 points)
2. What was the scheduled departure time for this train (07:44am I think)?
‘Proof of incompetence’ - Again, they should know this. How about you ask a relevant question if you are going to waste our time with data you should already have -You’re your train depart on time? (0 points)
3. How did you get to the train station (Drove alone and parked)?
Ok, some general demographics? Seems a lot like information that the DOT could use. (½ point)
4. What type of parking did you use (Station Lot Parking)?
Again general demographics? Seems a lot like information that the individual stations could use. (½ point)
5. Where did you begin this trip today (Home)?
Whoever is responsible for wording this question, please write to me and explain to me why it wasn’t phrased - Why did you use NJ Transit today? See, you need to ask me where I ended the trip and waste my friggin’ time. (1 point - you are lucky I don’t penalizing you for being inefficient)
6. What is that address (My home address)?
I know, you want to find me and blow up my house for running TransitHell.com. You already have my address so that can’t be it. How about just a zip code if anything? Save us the time. (0 points - for making me write my address)
7. At what station did you get off the NJ Transit Train (NY Penn Station)?
‘Proof of incompetence’ (0 points)
8. Where is your final destination (work)?
This goes with #5 and if you asked that questions properly, you would know this. (0 points - I already gave you 1 point on #5 very reluctantly…don’t push it)
9. What is that address (my office)?
Ok, again with the addresses. Are you planning on building a directory service or something? Do you want the floor of my office too? How about what time I go to lunch? (0 points)
Now there’s a section “If going to NY… (yippppppee me…more data)
10. How will you complete your in-bound trip to NY today (Stay on the train to NY Penn)?
Ok, you are seeing how many passengers you lose to the PATH & Bus? I’ll give you a point (1 point)
11. Once in NY, how will you reach your final destination (NYC Subway)?
What do you care. You are NJ Transit and you are out of jurisdiction (0 points)
I get to skip the “If going to NJ…”
13. Are you using Secaucus Junction today to transfer to another train (No)?
Ok, 8 people use this train station. Do you really need to waste a question to find that out? Shouldn’t you know based on fares how many people use it? (0 points)
I get to skip 14 because I answered No to #13.
15. How do you usually travel for the other half of your trip (Same)?
I have a monthly because I go in 2 directions. Go away. (0 points for aggravating me)
16. What was the scheduled departure time of this train?
Same as #2, Proof of incompetence (0 points)
17. What was the main purpose of this trip (Work)?
In my case you asked this in #8. (0 points)
18. What type of train ticket are you using for this trip (Monthly)?
Ok, first off, this is another Proof of incompetence. You collected my fare. (0 points)
19. How did you purchase the ticket for this trip(Mail-Tik)?
Proof of incompetence (0 points)
20. How often do you make this trip (4 or more times a week)?
I’m really embarrassed for you that you really don’t have many points so out of pity I’m giving you a point (1 point)
21. In what month and year did you first begin using NJ Transit trains (05/97)?
Ok, I see what you are getting at here however there is a GIANT hole in your data. What does this show? That I’ve been a rider for 8 years? You didn’t ask me about living in Jersey City for 2 years when I took the PATH. This was an ambiguous question with no evance to the answer. (0 points)
22. Why did you start making this trip by train (I answered I moved)?
This is confusing. Why did I start making the original trip by train or why do I now make the trip at the station I go from? After I graduated college, I took the train from New Brunswick, then I moved and took the train from MetroPark, then I moved and took the PATH from Jersey City, then I moved and take the train from Jersey Ave. Does that answer your vague question? Ok, now what are you gonna do with that answer? (0 points)
23. What was your previous method of travel before you began using the train (Other, N/A)?
Again, did you mean this current route or do you mean ever? If you mean ever (which I took it as, the answer is none because I was in college and was too drunk to take the train. (0 points)
24. This is a nice multipart answer from 0 (not acceptable) to 10 (excellent). It was too much to type so here’s my results. For the most part they are harmless questions. I’ll give a point just because it’s just too much to analyze (1 point)
25. How likely are you to recommend this service to a friend or ative (Do not Know)?
I have MAJOR issues with the question. I understand in customer service satisfaction you want to be at the satisfaction level of someone willing to recommend their service to a ative. That’s when you know you have a good product in a competitive world. However, this is different and this question is pointless. NJ Transit has a monopoly. Sure you might argue you can take a bus, bike, plane or car but those are alternatives to train service. Just like when the government broke up the phone company did that mean there weren’t other ways for people to communicate? If someone asked me, Hey Ripper, I need to go to NYC and they live in Edison, I would recommend they take the train. It’s the best method. I’m not recommending the service because it’s a good service. I’m recommending it because it’s the only one. (0 points)26. Based on your travel experience in the past year, would you say that service has….(Remained the same)
Whoever convinced NJ Transit to ask this question should be selling bridges. Upfront it appears this question is fine. How are we doing compared to last year? However, nowhere does it gauge my expectation. My answer of service remaining the same seems like it would be a good stat for them to use. If everyone answers this then at least they aren’t getting worse. However, with rising costs and advances in technology, I expect service over the course of the year to improve. So in asking this question I now feel worse about their service because to me the expectation is now worse. (0 points)
27. Which of the following statements best applies to you (I use the train because it is the best choice for me, even though there are other ways I could make this trip)?
This question directs people to a forced answer which is the one I chose. One other choice was “I have no other way to travel, so I use the train”. Everyone has other ways to travel. Busses are far more frequent and available. Also, most people have 2 legs and can walk. Is it convenient and practical? No. But it proves the first question meaningless. The other answer was “I usually use another type of transportation but I occasionally take the train.” WTF is this? They used usually and occasionally in the same sentence. Hey NJT, I usually get to the train station on time and occasionally get to work on time. (0 points)
28. Indicate how often you travel to the following destinations in a typical year (Newark Airport, 5 - by train 1, Meadowlands 12)
Why ask me about the Meadowlands? Are they planning on saying X people go to the Meadowlands per year so we should put a train there? What else would they ask for? FYI, you need to also ask if I’d take the train if it was available. Since most of my trips there are for Giants games, I would not take the train. (0 points)
Since I’m not using Hamilton Station, I skip to 31.
31. Are you …(Male)?
Are you planning on finding me a female transit partner that is skinny and smells good? I didn’t think so (0 points)
32. What is your age? (25-34)
If I answered something else, does it make my train show up on time? Of course you need this information to sell advertising on the train. Would you put up TransitHell.com posters if I paid for them? (0 points)
33. Are you of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin (No)?
Ask fucking Darwin (0 points)
34. What is your race (White)?
You couldn’t have combined 33 & 34? Haven’t you realized I don’t like you wasting my time? (0 points)
35. Do you speak a language, other than English, at home (Other - PHP, Visual Basic, JAVA)?
Seriously, why do you give a rats ass what I do at home? Since you asked a retarded question, I gave you a retarded answer. (0 points)
36. Do you have a physical condition that makes it difficult for you to use the train (No)?
You finally asked something that is relevant. (1 point)
37. How many people, including yourself, live in your household (Two)?
Damn, I thought maybe we had a shot for 2 in a row. (0 points)
38. Are there any children in your household (No)?
Although one might argue this answer (0 points)
39. Do you own or rent your current home (own)?
Will you be paying my mortgage? Would you like the bank routing number as well? (0 points)
40. How long have you been at your current address (2-5 years)?
In a way I answered what you needed to know by #21 & #22 which were also not helpful. (0 points)
41. How important was NJ Transit rail service in choosing your home location (Not Important)?
I guess in a way you can do something useful with this information although I’m not exactly sure what. Are you going to start building houses? (0 points)
42. Do you take advantage of commuter tax benefits, such as TransitChek or WageWorks to pay any part of your commuting expenses (Yes, $110)?
This should be rephrased - Do you get tax relief from other programs because we sure won’t help? (0 points)
43. Does your business/employer reimburse you for any part of your commuting expense (No)?
If you find anyone who answers yes, can you let me know so I can go work with them? This is as relevant as the previous question. (0 points)
44. What is your approximate annual household income ($150,000 - $199,999)
Yeah Ripper’s got bling. (0 points)
You then asked for my home address so you can enter me in a chance for a free monthly pass. This thing was so damn long you forgot already you asked me for my address in #6. How about you ask me for a phone number and if I win, call me for my info on where to send it? I thought so.
So there you have it. I give you 6 points out of a possible 44 or 13% relevance. Nowhere did you ask me if you thought security at my train station was adequate, if the bathrooms on the trains worked (not that I’d ever go in them), if the conditions of the trains were suitable, if the climate on the train was to my liking or if I would pay for internet access aboard the train. You weren’t looking to improve customer satisfaction based on this “Passenger Survey”. If you were, you need to try a lot harder to convince me you care or will do anything with any of those answers to improve my commuting experience.
Tags: customer service, NJ Transit, train
August 1st, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Buying a monthly:
This is somewhat related to the survey comments about buying a monthly etc.
NJT’s website, is a piece of work! When my ticket buying experience gets to be a pain in the butt.
Am I seeing right? August 1st. Someone at work, a new NJT commuter, needed to figure out the monthly ticket buying rigamarole and we were all peering at the section “Life Made Simple”(bottom corner) of the NJT website opening page – buying your monthlies etc.
http://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo
I think none of us were hallucinating at what we saw. Or please, someone tell us that we were not seeing double. Either way, we needed kidney belts to control our laughter.
Take this yoga specimen in the long white robe on the train platform. What the hell, a mummy from the Pyramids?
Now, who in the heavens would be doing yoga on a dirty train platform, full of crap, chewing gum, spilled beer, pigeon shit, condoms on a good night. Where is the “out of body experience” music? The train whistles from the train pulling out?
NJT is either insulting the serious yoga followers or else redefining the practice.
Who came up with this idea for NJT’s website? Excuse me, NJT, my gene pool is fxxked up already. I don’t need a yoga experience to buy a train ticket.
Ok, if I try to understand the symbolism of the yoga man, the message is that, like yoga, buying your monthly or single tickets, is simple. Ok, I’ll try to smell the coffee instead of the curry, I’ll be flexible, NJT tried!
BUT (T)
I tried doing this yoga thing and ALL I got was back pains. A worse case of rigamortis on occasion.
I guess I will describe my ticket buying as a pain in the back and for a double whammy a pain in the BUTT. The line ups at the ticket machines were out of this world this morning. So many commuters, so few machines and don’t even mention the ticket agents at Newark Penn. What do you do if you don’t know from month to month what your out of town trips are going to be? Sometimes, there is no choice but to wait until the last moment to purchase a monthly.
Buying my monthly this morning, made this experience look simple:
http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/mtb-cliffs-of-moher.jpg
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Summer smell extravaganza on NJT….
I have to post this here, since this is all related to what NJT really should know about its level of service.
Speaking of bathrooms on trains, I have to get on the bathroom bandwagon with SlavetotheCommute and say how the smell from the bathroom in the car I was riding in on NJT, this evening, was causing some unusual nose pinching by my fellow commuters. It could not possibly have been Amtrak’s fault, since Amtrak had problems with its bathrooms from day one. Imagine being in the middle of doing your thing and the plastic window frame falls out. So much for your fare and a bare bottom exposed….
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Interesting post about plastic window frame falling out of first class Amtrak bathrooms…
http://reading-room.amtraktrains.com/?609
Acela Exp Equipment Question… by AlanB (8/9/2002 - posted from 162.83.208.x)
In addition, the problems are not just with the powercars. There are problems within the cars themselves. I’ve personally seen the plastic window frame falling out in the first class car’s bathroom. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Returning to my ride on NJT this evening, I had been in air-conditioning temperatures of 65 degrees for the whole day because of some cholesterol- manager- special in my office….and was welcoming the sight of my train after standing in the heat for 15 mins. I was accustomed to the deep- freeze. I sat in my corner of the train car and my nose started saying, “I served you all day in that fxxking office of yours, now what are you going to do for me”. The bathrooms on NJT were no different from the workmen’s potties on a summer day on the streets of Manhattan. I was in Newark, I had left the subway piss behind. I was still smelling piss and more….
I was having nose palpitations, since I just saw my nose doctor the week before, and he said “it’s this time of the year” (WTF), doc you get paid big bucks, to feed me this mantra? Yeah doc. “this time of year” mantra is just another load of BS when you are on NJT. Did you know that I just paid for a fare increase on NJT? Common, the garbage freight train on my line is enough; I don’t need a double non-peppermint gum olfactory experience on the way home. Holy shit! No kidding!
The baby-faced conductor, earring stud on one ear, and long hair tucked under his hat was about the only one oblivious to the smell; he was glued to his cell phone, understandably so, since we were waiting to depart. Girlfriend problems or semblance of a train connection from NY?
It seems that conductors have a Teflon lining to their nose, better yet than a non-stick frying pan - nothing impresses them except for those skinny stick insect women with fake hay–roll- sized bras on the train. They are a dime a dozen in my office and I always marvel how one boob is out of kilter at the best of times. Who are they kidding? They need a dispatcher to tell them to realign their tracks, I think.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markybon/40258325/
Read about the best restroom award:
“The reality is that public restrooms matter to the public. The way a business or building treats its facilities is a reflection of its operating standards.”
NJT NOT! HA!
http://www.bestrestrooms.com/
http://www.bestrestroom.com/rest_award.html
In case you travel to LA, their public potties are a no-go.
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/takingoff/bathrooms/index.html
August 6th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Fix the signals once and for all. How long will they feed the riders this BS?
I posted this here because it is very telling that we keep hearing about signal problems every other commuting day. As many mentioned before, and as I found out, the 2007 customer survey left no room for making a meaningful comment.
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“Stupid is as stupid does” The signal problem. (A joke too close for comfort)
After the switch problems that held up 900 passengers on board of an NJT train and forcing their evacuation from the tunnel at 12:45 a.m. last Sunday night, Amtrak Signal Engineers were sitting across from NJT Signal Engineers scratching heads and much more. The signal “blue print” grids (see link below) could not tell them who owned the signals lines and who was responsible for their maintenance in the first place. All their university degrees combined could not tell them what specifically went wrong.
Their best bet was to call in the NJT baby-faced conductors who thought that it was faulty wiring caused by lightning and thunder, that struck the NJ area most recently. Mr. G. the weather man is always right. That explanation was too vague. It did not solve the problem. Next they followed the dog tracks, saw the yellow patch and located the pole that caused the problem – “short circuit and leakage reactance”. It’s as simple as that said the condutors.
“We told them what they wanted to hear” said the young conductors. “What difference does it make?” “Another train will be stuck in the tunnel tomorrow. Amtrak, NJT, it’s the same”! Same shit, different day is our motto.
When questioned later as to what the real problem was, the baby-faced conductors said “we were fast on our feet, we think and operate like greased lightning”, these pretentious smart asses were looking at the wrong signal grid: we felt like telling them “when does it snow in August stupid”? What is the point? Stupid is as stupid does:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=702825511&size=o
August 12th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
[…] For those who never saw this, take a look here to review my results and analysis of the “NJ Transit Passenger Survey” of 2005. In this survey, we were asked 44 total questions and what I did was comment on all of them and assign a point value of what I thought were valuable questions where NJ Transit could take that feedback and actually do something to improve our lives. What I determined was that 87% of the questions were absolutely useless for us passengers. You can read it for yourself to get a better perspective of what I am talking about. Ultimately, my ending was this: […]
August 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Point #31:
31. Are you …(Male)?
Are you planning on finding me a female transit partner that is skinny and smells good? I didn’t think so (0 points)
Ripper, like you I am still looking for that slim, good smelling partner, on the transit, hopefully with some “flare for the daring”.
Hope this will help you get through the transit virtually
. Sorry this is the best I can do. Toofunny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN9omI_nLII
April 6th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Ranmbo, first pen, first lung
Quote from: mhnj on April 02, 2008, 10:02:17 AM
Quote from: Irene on April 02, 2008, 09:51:14 AM
Some guy got on the train & was bleeding profusely because he was stabbed before getting on the train.
Whoa! I’d love to hear the story behind that!
From the info I got, the guy stabbed himself with a pen & punctured a lung. Sounds like there may be a screw loose there somewhere.
Customer Satisfaction Survey Question: How does NJT handle victims with pen punctured lungs at Newark Penn? Was this announcement satisfactory: “Attention passengers, all tracks are closed, walk home”. Please rate on a scale of 1-10.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Not just the Port Jervis line that stinks to high hell, ….
These complaints as you read them below or in the link just don’t belong to the Port Jervis Line.
Honest, I don’t think that commuters are looking like prize winning angora rabbits after their ride on NJT, regardless of the line they take
http://home.pacbell.net/bettychu/2005allbreedbisris/
Quick get commuters on the other NJT lines a psychiatrist, a pastor and a doctor to cope with the following statement:
“NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency was reviewing Metro-North’s research and would make improvements.
There’s certainly things we can work upon and we are continuing to work upon,” Stessel said.”
(My comment – how do you “continue to work upon or make improvements” to a non functioning toilet? Either get rid of it or don’t offer the service like the PATH or subway. It is no wonder that passengers are urinating in the stations …. I don’t know what kind of “in between” toilet arrangements NJT officials use!
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080720/NEWS03/807200339/-1/SPORTS
AND ALSO commuters need an E-Z pass for their wallets to Walgreens pharmacy to get over the “morning sickness” from this (one of the complaints below):
[- The external odor emitted by the trains is so strong they must often take a deep breath as the train pulls into the station.]
________________________
Port Jervis Line stinks:
“Here are some of the concerns voiced by regular riders of the Port Jervis Line, which is operated by NJ Transit.
- Riders are highly dissatisfied with the schedule, particularly frequency of service, and said service had not kept pace with increasing ridership, resulting in overcrowding.
- Another outbound train is needed between 7:09 p.m. and 7:57 p.m., and a late-night express. The two trains after 7:57 p.m. make stops in New Jersey.
- Announcements on the public address system at most stations and on trains are muffled and difficult to understand.
- Announcements, when made, are often delayed and provide incorrect information.
- During service disruptions, conductors’ levels of knowledge vary and are at times unreliable.
- Middle seats are cramped and narrow. As a result, riders often would rather stand.
- The on-board temperature is either too hot or too cold.
- Most riders avoid using the restrooms because of smelly toilets.
- The external odor emitted by the trains is so strong they must often take a deep breath as the train pulls into the station.
- Riders sometimes get locked in the restrooms.
- Stains and spills are not removed from the floors or seats for days, and often weeks.
- New trains with message screens often have incorrect station stop information, for example, stations are listed in reverse order.
- Customers know that NJ Transit employees work aboard the trains but that Metro-North is the overseeing agency. When problems arise, they don’t know which agency to contact. (The best bet is to contact them both so that each is aware of the problem).
Source: Metro-North Railroad”
July 28th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Crash-test commuter-dummies on NJT.
This may not necessarily be a survey, but serves to highlight the perspectives of commuters by someone who writes about commuting. Funny thing is that NJT riders are compared to “crash- test dummies” in this article.
Tomorrow when I board the train, I will laugh, thinking that I am a crash-test “commuter-dummy” together with several hundreds of my fellow commuters. Picture the passengers, sitting on these “stiff seats”, brown or blue, and then comes the announcement “ we apologize for the delay” and of course all this happens, where else? … a little outside of Newark, with Engineer saying “711” to dispatcher (getting his numbers wrong because he’s got coffee on the mind)!
___________________________________________________________________
“Jan. 16 | Maybe I’m just finally sinking into the drudgery of the daily commute, but last night’s trek from Penn Station to Metropark, New Jersey Transit’s most heavily traveled commuter station, was the most uncomfortable I’ve been on so far.
And I’m not new to these trains. I grew up along this line and have taken this train for years. So what is it that makes this trip so much more painful than comparable ones on Metro-North or the Long Island Rail Road?
Perhaps it was the rock-hard pleather seats, which are so stiffly upright they seem to be designed for people who sit perfectly straight like crash-test dummies. And it’s hard to believe anyone, especially the friendly but worn-out New Jerseyians I met last night, is that rigid.”
Next Stop
New Jersey Transit from Penn Station to Metropark, N.J.
By BILLIE COHEN
Published: January 16, 2008
Every weekday in January, Billie Cohen is documenting a different commute for NYTimes.com/realestate.
“The seats guilty of causing great discomfort.” “My backside hurt after 10 minutes and my back after 20”
“5:54 p.m., Jan. 15 Tuesday.
As a born and raised New Jerseyian, I have long since developed a force field of state pride that protects me from the bridge-and-tunnel butt-of-all-jokes damage. So it is with some disappointment — in my former home — that I ask, What the heck?
I’ve seen a lot of trains, buses, trams and boats in this series of daily commutes, and I can easily say that the New Jersey Transit train from Penn Station to Metropark — a route I grew up taking — was the most uncomfortable, dingiest commute yet.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/realestate/16comm.html
And a rider’s comment on Billie Cohen’s article:
January 17th,
2008 11:29 am
“One day is not enough to judge the quality of the commute.
Do it for 30 to 90 days, at least, on the coldest winter days, the hottest summer days and somewhere in between when the usual breakdowns on the very, old, maintenance-deferred NJ Transit train cars, delays for passing Amtrak trains or trains that are short several cars …..
Nobody cares about the comfort of the seats ….Try taking any train from from MetroPark from 7:13 am to 8:42 am and you may stand the entire trip, that is, if you can get on the train.
The added treat in the afternoon commute from Penn Station is the wait amongst the throng of commuters that can be squashed like sardines in a can under what can only be described as inhumane and unsafe conditions that quickly turns to truly unsafe mass hysteria and pandemonium when the train track boarding assignments are announced for several locations …..
The ultimate insult to the commuter then is the constant, blaring announcement by the public address announcer that “NJ Transit apologizes for the delay”. What a joke!!!
By the way, forget the lavatories on the train….
Also, have NJ Transit ticket sales agents just sell everyone a peak-time ticket as it seems ticket agents always sell the off-peak fare to the unsuspecting, tourist passenger who must then pay the “step-up” fare on the train only delaying the ticket collection process.
Lastly, passengers need to respect the personal space of fellow commuters and sit with arms close their bodies and legs closed, espcially when sitting three abreast in a seat.
In the meantime, I don’t mind the cost of my commute but NJ Transit needs to show a lot more respect to its passenger and to provide its commuters with the consistently reliable, safe, comfortable and timely service that they are paying for.”
— Posted by Thomas Nastarowicz
Source:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/karma-commuting-she-comes-and-goes-week-3/