BUS STORY # 73 (Special New Year's Edition: Some Good News!)

From the ABQ RIDE website (including the photo above):

ABQ RIDE Customer Complaints Tumble by 35%
Complaints Drop as Ridership Grows to More Than 10.1 Million

http://www.cabq.gov/transit/newbus.html

Mayor Martin Chávez and ABQ RIDE Director Greg Payne are pleased to announce ABQ RIDE customer complaints for 2007 have dropped by 35% from the previous year.

The decrease in customer complaints comes at a time when transit ridership actually increased 11.5% to 10,127,358 passenger boardings in 2007, a record for ABQ RIDE. “Our commitment to improving ABQ RIDE is reflected in these numbers,” said Mayor Chávez.

Among ABQ RIDE’s findings:
· Overall complaints decreased 35%
· Complaints related to regular, fixed route bus service declined 21%
· Complaints related to the Paratransit, SunVan service declined 11%
· General complaints declined 57%

Chavez and Payne attributed the decrease to a concentrated efforts this past year to improve customer service and public safety at ABQ RIDE in 2007, such as:· Improved driver training
· Increased numbers of security officers and APD in city buses and at bus stops.
· Introduction of the Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system that tracks vehicle speeds and locations
· Faster response to customer service complaints

“We aren’t perfect, but there’s no question ABQ RIDE is heading in the right direction,” Payne said. Adding “To have complaints plummet like this while ridership is increasing is almost unheard of. It speaks volumes about the men and women of ABQ RIDE. They are among the very best employees in the City of Albuquerque.”

Read the full article at http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/270715metro12-19-07.htm
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My personal thanks to Mayor Martin Chavez and ABQ Ride Director Greg Payne for their sincere commitment to improved and clean public transportation for the city of Albuquerque. And a special thanks to all those folks at ABQ RIDE who have made the most important change of all: a dedicated and conscientious effort to do their jobs not only as good employees, but as considerate and helpful fellow citizens. Happy New Year!