Metro is lowering its standards for how it measures success, dropping the thresholds for how it measures if its trains and buses are on time or whether its escalators work. Even so, Metro is calling the new standards “stretch targets” that may not be attainable even at the lower rates.
The news met some skepticism from board members Thursday, who questioned how riders would see the change. But General Manager Richard Sarles already has decided to redo the measuring sticks and defended them Thursday as a good strategy.
| Metro’s new targets | ||||
| Category | Old target | New target | ||
| Rail on-time performance | 95% | 90% | ||
| Bus on-time performance | 80% | 78% | ||
| Escalator availability | 93% | 89% | ||
“It focuses staff on making improvements,” he told The Washington Examiner. “It’s a good way of managing.”
Under the new measures, the rail system should be on time 90 percent of the time, instead of the old goal of at least 95 percent. Buses ought to be on time at least 78 percent of the time, instead of 80 percent.
Metro has made some standards tougher. It expects customer and worker injuries, for example, to drop as the agency becomes safer.
The benchmark for crime in the system, meanwhile, is to have fewer serious crimes than in 2010, when the agency hit at least a six-year high.
The new targets are part of the way that Sarles has asked the board to measure his success as a leader. He created a monthly vital signs report to assess how the agency is doing. If Sarles meets targets, he could get bonuses, which he has said he would share with his staff.
But he said he’s focused on meeting the goals, not getting a bonus. Board members said they haven’t determined which parameters they will use to determine if he deserves one.
The new goals may be within reach. Metro beat the new rail standard in March with a 91 percent systemwide average, according to an agency report. It almost reached the new bus measure for the year, with 77.6 percent of buses on time, just below the 78 percent standard.
Even so, “on time” may not be what it sounds like. Trains are considered on time if they are two minutes later than scheduled during peak service — or up to 50 percent of the wait time during off-peak times. That means if riders are expecting a 15-minute wait on a weekend, Metro considers the train on time if it arrives in 22 minutes.
Buses considered on-time can be two minutes early or seven minutes late.
Board member Mortimer Downey, a former U.S. deputy secretary of transportation, questioned the changes, saying Metro already had the widest definition of what qualifies as on-time as any transit agency he’s seen. He said lowering the bus rate to 78 percent was like telling riders the agency could predict a bus would come but not when.
“I have the sense we are trying to move into weather forecasting,” he said.
Metro officials said they need the new rail standards because trains have been running slower since Metro switched to manual operations from automatic after the deadly June 22, 2009, train crash. Such switches have caused about a 5 percent reduction in performance.
Sarles said the platform signs showing estimated train arrival times make on-time performance “less meaningful to customers.” What matters to him as a customer, he said, is not whether the wait for the train is five minutes or 20 minutes, but if he knows when the train is coming.
