RGRTA has become a national model

Mark R. Aesch • Guest essayist • August 8, 2010

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100808/OPINION02/8080333/1...

vote4harry wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here's the deal.
The D&C has found a way to BAN my comments here. I can only see them if I am logged in. If you see these comments, please let me know.

Here are my comments:
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/393

I said this previously:
Perhaps you should go to Albany with our Mayor and see how your "service" plays out there? Mayor Duffy told me that the RGRTA is "more powerful than the Mayor & city council." I think if your game was played in Albany you could soon be more powerful than any elected Governor there too. Shadow Governor? Why don't you give it a try?

"Harry Davis for Mayor of Rochester"

"Emails: Showing Reasons For The Impeachment of ROC City Council Members Lovely Warren, Ortiz, Haag, Spaull, Palumbo & McFadden "
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/302
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

COMMENTS BY ME, HARRY DAVIS, HAVE BEEN DELETED ON THE D&C WEB SITE BELOW!
10:15PM Sunday: The D&C re-posted these comments after I commented again that they were deleted!

At a time when most public transportation agencies have raised fares, when airlines are charging passengers for luggage, and when FedEx and UPS delivery fees are on the rise, the vast majority of Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) customers have seen a reduction in fares and improvements in customer service.

Behind RGRTA's ability to out-perform both public and private sector transportation providers is a commitment to management by quality information and a workforce dedicated to transparency, continuous improvement, and providing services with a private sector mindset.

As a result of this dedication, ridership in Rochester is at an all-time high — actually four times the national level, the authority has experienced four consecutive years of surplus earnings, and RGRTA is in the enviable position of being debt free.

This remarkable level of performance is causing others in the transportation industry to take notice.

Just last week, a transportation authority based in the Southeast became the latest to reach out to us in hopes of gathering information that would help it to avoid a fare increase.

We walked them through our business model, showing them how our fiscal year commences April 1 with the rollout of RGRTA's Comprehensive Plan, a hefty document detailing all of the projects and goals that employees themselves have defined for their respective departments.

The plan also outlines precisely how we will quantitatively measure work progress by quarter.

For customers, media, and elected officials interested in monitoring our performance, we have made the plan and quarterly status reporting as transparent as possible. Distribution of the plan, open meetings of our Board of Commissioners, and website postings all ensure easy access to our strategies and data.

First-quarter results, which were presented to the board this past Thursday, showed that overall, we were 13.5 percent over targeted goal.

Measurement markers showed that we exceeded expectation in such areas as customer satisfaction, bus cleanliness and broken down buses. At the same time, however, we did not meet other targets. For example, our goal to limit customer telephone on-hold times to within 60 seconds was not achieved. We came in at an average of 69 seconds.

Whether results are up or down, what is most imperative to our success is that we know precisely how we are performing.

When our organization is more successful, our employees are more successful. Much like private corporations have been doing for years, we link incentive pay directly to performance, ensuring the entire workforce is collectively focused and working as a team to achieve the same outcomes.

Today at RGRTA, we are driving fewer miles. We have more customers riding our buses — and they tell us they are happier with our service. We have earnings of $30 million over the last four years. We have increased productivity 92 percent.

All this and we are operating with less dependence on taxpayer dollars.

Clearly, RGRTA's commitment to strategy and quality is why we are repeatedly out-performing our private and public counterparts.

*Aesch is chief executive officer of RGRTA.
.......................................................................
comments:

vote4harry wrote:

THESE COMMENTS BY ME, HARRY DAVIS, HAVE BEEN DELETED ON THE D&C WEB SITE!
..........................................................................................................

Mark, You say: "Whether results are up or down, what is most imperative to our success is that we know precisely how we are performing."

Here is how you are performing. It is generally agreed that 99% of we who live and vote in Rochester stand firmly against your take-over of Mortimer Street for your bus barn. You talked a Mayor and city council into caving to your high powered $$ calls to refuse to go along with President Obama's revolutionary new initiatives for transportation and waste $52 million of our tax dollars.

Your cronies in city government now have made the advent of high speed rail in Rochester and inter-modal transportation at the Amtrak station subject to the political back-room machinations of Senator Schumer and others who don't give a damn what the majority of the citizens of Rochester want & need.

Perhaps you should go to Albany with our Mayor and see how your "service" plays out there? Mayor Duffy told me that the RGRTA is "more powerful than the Mayor & city council." I think if your game was played in Albany you could soon be more powerful than any elected Governor there too. Shadow Governor? Why don't you give it a try?

"Harry Davis for Mayor of Rochester"

"Emails: Showing Reasons For The Impeachment of ROC City Council Members Lovely Warren, Ortiz, Haag, Spaull, Palumbo & McFadden "
http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/302
..........................................................................................

Needles wrote:

I would imagine that transportation managers in other states that come here to see your business model take one look at the subsidies you receive from the city, county, state & Feds and walk away shaking their heads. If you didn't have the RCSD contract at something like $7/day per kid, there is not one bus route that passenger fares generate enough income to pay the driver's salary and benefits much less the cost of the bus. There is not one public transportation system, anywhere in the US that can operate without subsidies and I totally understand that since roads, rail and air are all subsidized. RGRTA is the only authority in the country that has its chief executive crowing about how its all because of him.

Its not your management acuity, its the subsidies.

8/8/2010 9:57:51 AM I would imagine that transportation managers in other states that come here to see your business model take one look at the subsidies you receive from the city, county, state & Feds and walk away shaking their heads. If you didn't have the RCSD contract at something like $7/day per kid, there is not one bus route that passenger fares generate enough income to pay the driver's salary and benefits much less the cost of the bus. There is not one public transportation system, anywhere in the US that can operate without subsidies and I totally understand that since roads, rail and air are all subsidized. RGRTA is the only authority in the country that has its chief executive crowing about how its all because of him.Its not your management acuity, its the subsidies. Needles
Recommend(1)New Post
Reply to this Post
Report Abuse
.................................................................................
rochplanner wrote:

I have to agree with Rick. This self congratulating is ridiculous. While there has been increased ridership there is still a large population here that will never ride the bus because of the inconvenience. If RGRTA truly wants to show leadership and a vision for a vibrant Rochester in the future then they will embrace rail transit options. Rail transit has been proven in studies to attract young urban professionals to an area, improve traffic flow and help spur economic development.

Cities of all sizes, including some smaller than this one, are building light rail, trolley or street car networks. For some reason those in leadership positions in Rochester fail to see the light on this. Startup rail lines would cost a fraction of what some of the major road projects in the area have cost. The problem is that our leaders won't even bring it up for discussion. For once wouldn't it be nice if Rochester was ahead of the curve on something and not just following along?

8/8/2010 9:34:20 AM I have to agree with Rick. This self congratulating is ridiculous. While there has been increased ridership there is still a large population here that will never ride the bus because of the inconvenience. If RGRTA truly wants to show leadership and a vision for a vibrant Rochester in the future then they will embrace rail transit options. Rail transit has been proven in studies to attract young urban professionals to an area, improve traffic flow and help spur economic development. Cities of all sizes, including some smaller than this one, are building light rail, trolley or street car networks. For some reason those in leadership positions in Rochester fail to see the light on this. Startup rail lines would cost a fraction of what some of the major road projects in the area have cost. The problem is that our leaders won't even bring it up for discussion. For once wouldn't it be nice if Rochester was ahead of the curve on something and not just following along? rochplanner
RecommendNew Post
Reply to this Post
Report Abuse
.................................................................
Rick787 wrote:

Well Mark I hope you arm is not hurting from patting yourself on the back. I believe that you negelected to state that the majority of your operating capital comes from federal funds, and the subsidies that you charge private business for the service. Of course the ridership numbers are going up look at the ecomomy, those that have cars tend to use them only when necessary and are willing to sacrifice time for being able to save some momey. I too would consider using the bus if it didn't take triple the amount of time for me to travel to work bus 90 minutes, car on a bad day 30 minutes.Come back and pat yourself on the back again when you redesign your service routes to make them user friendly and timely. The hub & spoke system is long outdated, circulator routes bumping main north / south, east / west routes are much more user friendly and faster than continually traveling through city center.

8/8/2010 7:29:16 AM