(The following Associated Press article by Steve Strunsky was published in the Jersey Journal on April 15.)
NEWARK – For now, Bill Wright is giving George Warrington the benefit of the doubt.
Wright, a retired railroad man, is a volunteer with the New Jersey Rail Passengers Association, a watchdog group that keeps tabs on New Jersey Transit, of which Warrington is executive director.
At the agency’s regular board meeting yesterday, Warrington announced a “Back to Basics” customer service program that includes relaxed senior citizen ID requirements, expanded student discounts, improved information signs, online monthly ticket sales and a customer service center at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan.
Wright was at yesterday’s meeting to watch Warrington lay out his customer service program for board members and the public.
“I think it’s a good idea if it works. It’s what everybody should be doing, and I think it’s the first time it’s ever been laid out as such,” Wright said.
The program, which is now being implemented, carries a cost: $300,000 for improvements to the agency Web site; $900,000 to upgrade a telephone schedule information system; $400,000 for new radios; $100,000 for the new customer service office; $400 for faster ticket vending machines.
The improvements, which had been approved in a previous budget, stem from recommendations by a customer service task force that surveyed 15,000 riders and 100 agency employees who deal with customers.
“Every business knows that, if asked, customers will tell you what frustrates them and what their preferences are,” Warrington said. “And front-line employees know their customers better than, frankly, back office staffers.”
Wright, who has been critical of the board on various issues in the past, said only time would tell whether the measures amount to improved customer satisfaction.
“But at least it’s being actively addressed,” Wright said. “That I’ll give him an A-plus for.”