Last month we presented the long-awaited results from our most recent comprehensive passenger survey, conducted in October and November of 2023, to the Sound Transit Board Rider Experience and Operations Committee.
Why take so long to share this valuable data and passenger feedback? The sheer volume of responses – in fact, double what we’ve seen in previous surveys – took several months to analyze.
In the end, more than 20,000 riders contributed a diverse range of demographic and geographic perspectives, making this survey a huge success.
What we heard
The big picture? Passengers’ overall grade for Sound Transit went up, but their likelihood to recommend ST to friends or family decreased.
On a grading scale where “A” equals excellent, “C” means average, and “F” failing, riders gave Sound Transit an overall B+ based on their own experiences. This was a solid improvement over the Bs we received in spring and summer 2022.
But when asked about their likelihood to recommend us on a scale of 0-10, passengers’ overall grade remained high but decreased, from 8.5 to 7.8.
What explains this discrepancy? Individual comments suggested that passengers may be thinking altruistically and simply want better for people they care about than they expect for themselves.
As one respondent explained, they “would be much more critical of possible difficulties when recommending ST to family and friends” than they would be in grading Sound Transit overall.
Another respondent noted that transit doesn’t always work for everyone, depending on where they live and travel. “I need ST. Most of my friends do not need ST,” they said. “It is at best an option for them. But when something negative happens, that is what registers in their memory.”
A deeper dive
Beyond overall grades, we also asked for feedback on a range of more specific aspects of passengers’ experience, like safety (of our facilities, vehicle operation, and other people on transit), accessibility, dependability, cleanliness, information, and more.
Passengers told us the thing they feel best about is our staff. When asked how much they agree or disagree with statements, passengers gave the most positive responses to: “Sound Transit operators drive vehicles safely,” and “Sound Transit staff is courteous and professional.”
Passenger feedback about our areas for improvement also affirmed much of what we already know and are continuing to address, both on our system and in our communities: “Sound Transit provides an experience free from discrimination, harassment, or violence from others,” “Sound Transit facilities are kept free from excessive trash, graffiti or dirtiness,” and “Sound Transit facilities and equipment are maintained in good working order.”
It’s good news that even in these lowest-ranking areas, 60% or more of passengers gave positive feedback.
But we want to be great.
To get there, we dug deeper into riders’ experience. Any time a survey respondent selected anything less than “strongly agree,” we asked more questions about why.
This data told us that safety regarding other people is the most important driver of passenger satisfaction. Within this category, 59% of respondents said their primary concern is other people behaving unpredictably (compared to “being harassed or endangered,” 39%; “biohazards” like needles, human waste, etc., 31%; and “use of narcotics,” 29%).
We wanted to explore these perceptions around personal safety in more depth. So this spring we followed up with the Sounding Board, our panel of about 400-600 riders from across the region who share feedback with us monthly.
We asked Sounding Board members about their experiences with “unpredictable behavior” from other passengers—generally meaning something outside the norm of what’s acceptable on transit, which respondents associated with things like mental health crises and substance abuse. These situations typically don’t involve direct confrontation.
About 89% of said they’ve experienced unpredictable behavior at least once on transit, and about 40% said they witness it regularly.
While many have heard about physical assaults happening on transit, very few have witnessed one or been personally involved.
Whether they’re based on second-hand accounts or first-hand experiences, negative perceptions around transit can be powerful drivers of behavior, and we want to better understand them because they help us improve.
While passengers rated personal safety as priority No. 1, they also ranked cleanliness and maintenance very high in the survey, with the most complaints specific to stations and stops (compared to vehicles). We also heard understandable frustration about elevators and escalators being out of service at stations and parking facilities.
What comes next?
If you were one of the thousands of passengers who responded to this annual survey, thank you! We’re so grateful for the significant time and effort so many people devoted to share their feedback, and we’re committed to putting that information to good use.
We’re already hard at work on several challenges noted in the survey:
- We’ve made huge strides in bolstering transit security, more than doubling teams’ presence across the system since 2022. Now that we’re fully staffed with more than 480 officers, we’re currently conducting a thorough review of our program to make sure our resources are in the right place at the right time, and that they work seamlessly in tandem with other safety and customer service personnel, like King County Sheriff’s officers, fare ambassadors, and station agents.
- Earlier this year, we completed a deep-clean of all the light rail stations in downtown Seattle, which had been collecting grime and dirt for roughly three decades. Sound Transit took ownership of the transit tunnel in 2021, and this much-needed deep-clean not only restored a proper gleam to marble and metal, it also helped establish a new baseline our cleaning crews can maintain going forward.
- We’re working to improve maintenance and functionality in many areas, from elevators and escalators (with a major modernization effort kicking off later this year) to better alerts, signage, and staff ambassador support during both planned and unplanned service disruptions.
While annual survey ratings serve as useful benchmarks, our main intent with this data is driving performance improvements.
Our ultimate goal is to provide our passengers with a simple, seamless, and intuitive experience that consistently results in a great ride.
Make sure you don’t miss out on our next passenger survey in fall 2024! Sign up for rider alerts here.