The New York MTA isn't the only transit system to spend valuable time evaluating ways to evaluate service, and it certainly won't be the last. TransitCenter suggests one metric to end these kinds of debates.
A post by TransitCenter examines the question of how to properly measure transit performance, in response to a "longstanding internal debate over how best to evaluate subway performance" at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
The TransitCenter post argues that in debating whether to use "on-time performance" or "wait assessment" to measure the performance of the city's subway system, the MTA is having the wrong debate.
The agency could quickly adopt a performance indicator that would better reflect reality from the rider point of view and help the MTA more effectively manage its service — excess journey time. Lauded by transit experts around the world as best practice, excess journey time legibly measures the types of delay mentioned above, and can be calculated using information the MTA already collects and analyzes.
The remainder of the post explains the "excess journey time" metric in more detail and makes the case for the MTA to quickly adopt the metric and get back to work on improving the system.
Read the full story: Memo To MTA Board: You’re Measuring Performance Wrong. Here’s What To Do Instead.
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