(The following article by Joie Tyrrell was posted on Newsday’s website on November 12.)
NEW YORK — They are the ambassadors of the railroads and buses, the front-line people who answer questions, sell tickets, collect fares and ride the Long Island Rail Road and LI Bus with the thousands of commuters each day.
And, according to one transit advocacy group, they do an OK job when it comes to customer service, but it could be better. The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released an extensive report yesterday detailing how the agencies, including the LIRR, train front-line personnel.
Their findings: The LIRR does offer substantive customer service training but needs to better communicate with riders – especially regarding service delays.
“When everything goes well, it’s fine, but when anything goes wrong, that’s when they all fall apart,” said the committee’s executive director, Beverly Dolinsky.
According to the report, the railroad excels in screening prospective conductors and refresher training offerings. But the railroad could improve assessing customer service capabilities prior to hiring, which could include administering personality and skill tests to applicants.
The railroad also should work harder to provide up-to-the-minute service information to ticket clerks and station agents, the report said. And, it could sharpen customer service and system knowledge skills for its employees at the Travel Information Center, where customers call for LIRR information.
LIRR spokesman Brian Dolan said the railroad will review the report.
“We place great emphasis on employee customer service training and education,” Dolan said. “Our employees are the highest-rated attributes in our annual customer service satisfaction survey.”
Michael J. Canino, general chairman of the LIRR’s United Transportation Union, said the railroad’s conductors are the most highly skilled in the country.
“They are very well trained by the Long Island Rail Road and these people have been evaluated before they are even hired,” Canino said. “In every customer survey I’ve seen – No. 1 was crew performance, that’s not an accident.”
The transit group lauded LI Bus’s strong connections with the disabled community. But the bus company could improve customer service incentives, including developing a reward system to recognize good work.
Bus officials said they would review the report.
The report was forwarded to all the MTA agencies and the MTA itself, Dolinsky said. The MTA’s agencies, which include the subways and Metro-North Railroad, often fail to share information or coordinate efforts, the report said.
Overall, the MTA should look at ways to improve accessing and providing customer service information, such as requiring all station-based personnel to have text-messaging pagers as backup communication systems. The MTA also should develop emergency response teams whose principal focus is communicating with the public and providing available options to customers.
“People like to know what’s happening,” Dolinsky said. “Customers can respond to service delays a lot better when they have information.”
Peter Macholz, a commuter from East Northport waiting for his train yesterday in Penn Station, agreed. “They can’t keep on schedule and that’s the most frustrating,” he said. “They don’t warn you where you can make alternate arrangements.”