Special to The Truth
Services Efforts put into culture development and customer service in recent years by The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) continue to produce positive results, according to a recently completed survey of the people who depend on public transit in northwest Ohio.
The most recent survey, conducted by TransPro Consulting in late April and early May, took place on all TARTA services (fixed route, paratransit, Flex on-demand) and targeted customers riding or waiting for TARTA services at different times of day. The result show scores a step above both industry average and previous surveys of TARTA customers in most categories.
“We often say that our team members are the best advertisement that TARTA could have, and it is gratifying to see that the commitment to serving the public and dedication to our improvement made by our entire team is having an impact,” said TARTA CEO Laura Koprowski. “Our human resources team has worked so hard to make the right additions to our team, and that shows in these numbers as well.
“There is still a lot of room for improvement, and we are eager to hear from anyone who depends on our system about where we are falling short and what we can do better. That said, I am happy that people have noticed the effort put in by our Team TARTA members. We look forward to continuing to improve the way we connect people with their communities.”
A Net Promoter Score (NPS) uses questions to gauge the likelihood that a rider would recommend a service to a friend or neighbor, and the enthusiasm with which they would do so. According to April’s survey, the NPS for TARTA’s fixed route services is 57, well above the public transportation industry standard (28) and 41 points above TARTA’s score in a similar poll taken in March of 2022.
TARTA’s paratransit service has an NPS of 59, eight points above industry standard and 10 points above where it stood for the team two years ago. This spring’s survey marked the first conducted for TARTA Flex. TARTA’s on-demand pilot program owns an NPS score of 57, with an overall satisfaction rate of 97 percent.
The overall customer satisfaction rate for fixed route services sits at 85 percent, which is eight points above industry average and 11 points above TARTA’s satisfaction rate in November of 2020. Overall satisfaction with paratransit service is 98 percent, which remains six points above industry average.
TARTA customers, community leaders and the general public can find out more about efforts to enhance customer service and make every ride more efficient by attending TARTA’s Community Update Thursday, November 14 at the Glass City Center. Find out more at bit.ly/TARTACommunityUpdate.