Survey says: MBTA not so bad

I think there's an important point hidden in Kaz's snark.

The survey is centered around riders' perceived satisfaction, and we've been conditioned to be satisfied with very little.

I participated in the previous two surveys before this year's. One of the things I learned is that on most days, the T gets me from one place to another without making me stand around a long time in one place, feel personally endangered, or subject me to intolerable filth. When that happened, I decided the T was doing an OK job, since I don't expect them to consistently rise beyond that level. I think the popularity of "neutral" in many categories suggests that many share my attitude -- it's a virtual shrug of the shoulders, as if to say "it's not great, but what else is new?"

The survey doesn't allow statistical representation of why people are unsatisfied with some things. The report highlights station announcements as having a higher dissatisfaction rating, but except for asking whether people heard the announcements, I don't think they can get at what people don't like: Too often? Too many ads? Not often enough? Erroneous? For example, if station announcements on the Red Line were audible but wrong (which happens a lot), I don't see a statistic that could have reflected it.

It's also reprehensible that the survey didn't consider a ride late until it was more than 30 minutes late. Five minutes late may not count, but 10 minutes should.

The survey also doesn't ask riders about what I think are some important, broader issues. I'm very concerned about the age of the system and the safety risk from the heap of deferred maintenance, especially considering the report issued last month. I also have no faith in the T's ability to manage a crisis that disrupts service. I have never seen timely replacement service or clear, correct information about what is happening and what riders should do. Both of these are several levels above the data collected in the survey, and they both contribute mightily to the T's poor reputation.

Finally, I find it remarkable that respondents saw fare evasion 7% of the time. That's maybe $200,000 a day in lost revenue? Seems like that cash could come in handy.

100 would be enough IF it were a representative sample of ridership. I really doubt any effort was made toward that end.

It could be validated by ridership patterns represented in the diaries alone ... issues such as lines ridden, times of rides, start and end neighborhoods, etc.

I was one of the ppl that did this transit diary. I found out about it on this site and decided to sign up. I did ask if the T knew about this survey b/c honestly it was the best 2 weeks of the D line that I've ever had.

I was kind of p*ssed about it b/c normally I wait forever for a train which when it pulls up it's to packed ot get on or we get kicked off b/c the train is going out of service or the drivers are so incredibly rude that I just shake my head. The "norm" didn't happen for these 2 weeks.

I do think that we are so used to a service that is less than stellar that if we make it to our destinations w/ out the train blowing up we think we are doing well.

I guess I am cynical as I don't think the service is improving I just think it was a fluke.

51% of the respondents reported income of $80,000 or more. That's way above the city average, let alone the average for transit riders.

single Green Line streetcar or single rapid transit car during rush hour, that sample doesn't even come close to being a statistically significant percentage of the total daily MBTA ridership on any of the bus, transit, or rail lines, let alone the entire system.

Not so - I was a participant and I do all of my workday commuting by bus.