Metro to gauge progress by using ‘secret shoppers’

Metro Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said Thursday that Metro this year will employ “secret shoppers” to gauge the agency’s progress toward meeting its goals of improved service reliability and customer communications.

“Large retailers concerned about the customer’s experience in their stores have long employed “secret shoppers” as a way to help assess their performance,” Zimmerman said at his first full board meeting as 2008 chairman. “This year Metro will implement a similar program as a tool to help management see the system through our riders’ eyes.”