MAYBVM

230 231 “Theorganization,today,looksa lotdifferent than itdidthen,”Baker continues,“butourmis- sionremains thesame–wesubscribetoamodel of customer safetyandserviceasourpriority.We operatea fleetof85transitbuses;weservice just shyof fourmillionpassengers,annually,and wehave just shyof200employees.Our annual operatingbudget isapproximately$17million; of that,approximately$3.5million iscomposed of farespaidbythe rider.Other revenues include chartersandgrantsandmarketingprograms. Wearesubsidizedheavilybythe locality,butour operatingratio isprettystrong,relative toother systems.Weareknownasoneof the toptransit systems inthecountry,andhave repeatedlybeen recognizedforourqualitycustomer service,our reliability,andouron-timeperformance.” Not contentwiththoseaccolades,Baker says thatATC,inaneffort toexpandandenhance its alreadysuperior services,iscurrentlygettingto workona“transitvisionplan,which isa rethink- ingofhowpeople inAlexandriamovearound andhowweprovideservices tothem.”Heex- plains, “The transit industryasawholehas seen adecliningridershipbasebecauseof changes in thewaythatpeople live their livesandtheway theymovearound-things suchas telecommut- ing; sharedrideservices,suchasUber andLyft; bikeshares; andamoreurban-centricworkforce have reallychangedthedemands forpublictran- sit,nationwide.So,wehavebeenengagingour communityinanumberofways toensure that our servicesmeet theirneedsandwherewedo, that’sgreat,andwherewedon’t,we trytowork internallytounderstandhowwemight effective- lyprovide thoseservices.” OnewayinwhichDASHhas increased its system’seffectivenesswaswhen it introduced its THE ALEXANDRIA TRANSIT COMPANY “PlanAhead…PayitForward”campaign,in2014.“Itwasa strategicmove totrytoreducewhat’scalled‘dwell time’at passenger stops-theamountof time that abus is station- ary,loadingorunloadingpassengers,whichaffects itson- timeperformanceandthesatisfactionof the riders,”Baker says.Thecompanyspent ayear researchingthesituation andfoundthat significantdwell timewasoftencaused bypassengersaddingvalue totheirSmarTripcards,after gettingonthebus. “Therewasa lotofdowntime,where folkswereadd- ingvalue totheir card,”saysTeevan.“Someof ourbusiest routesatpeakhourswereexperiencingupto15-minute delays.Wewere receivinga lotof complaints frompas- sengersandevenbusoperators. So,whatwedidwaswe stoppedallowingtheaddingof fares toSmarTripcardson thebus.” Teevanadmits that themovewas somewhat contro- versial andATCexpectedacertainamountof resistance fromriderswhowereusedtotheoldsystem.Withthe implementationof“PlanAhead…PayitForward,”passen- gerswouldonlybeable toadjust theirSmarTripaccounts at akioskat aMetrostationoronline,butno longer at a bus’s farebox.“But,wemovedforwardwith it andthere wasnonegativeoutput,”she recounts.“Infact,we received numerouscommentswithinamonth,saying‘thankyou’ becausewewereable toget folks toandfromtheirdesti- nationsontime.” “Wedidamassivemarketingcampaign tohelpmakesure that thepublicwaseducatedand aware,”Baker adds,“andthe resultswereverypositive.We increasedouron-timeperformance,reducedourdwell time,and increasedour customer satisfaction.” Thispast fall,inanattempt tooffernewand innovative ways tobringmorepeopleonto itsbuses,DASHpart- neredwithAlexandriaCityPublicSchools (ACPS) andcre-