Metro plans to start a $679,000, three-year mystery shopper program to assess how the transit agency is doing, less than three years after the agency scrapped a similar yet cheaper program for budget reasons. The transit agency said Thursday it has hired Synovate, a Falls Church company to secretly assess the customer service it is providing on its buses and trains starting in February. It will be paid $252,000 in the first year, with options for two more years.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency knows it has some “really, really great” employees but the system also has some rough spots. It wants customer service to be consistent — and good.