Above are the results from Metro’s semi-annual onboard customer satisfaction survey. Those who have followed this blog in the past will recognize many of the questions — and may notice a few new ones.

A few results worth noting:

•Since the survey began in 2003, bus rider satisfaction had never matched or surpassed rail satisfaction. However, in the Spring 2016 survey, bus rider satisfaction surpassed rail rider satisfaction by two percent and those percentages held steady into the Fall 2017 survey.

•The percentage of Metro Rail riders who have been riding for five or more years has decreased since 2015. That’s probably due an influx of new riders on the Expo Line and Gold Line extensions (both opened in 2016) and the loss of some long-term riders.

•The percentage of those who used bikes or skateboards to reach their first bus stop or rail station has dipped since 2015. Here are the complete numbers:

Bus 2015: 3% biked and 2% skateboarded (5% total)

Bus 2017: 2% biked and 1% skateboarded (3% total)

Rail 2015: 4% biked and 3% skateboarded (7% total)

Rail 2017: 4% biked and 2% skateboarded (6% total)

While neither biking or skateboarding ever had a large first-mile mode share (the majority of riders walk to the bus or train) both decreased in 2016 and stayed at that level in 2017. This downward shift coincides with Metro’s implementation of free transfers in late 2014, which we think has resulted in people catching transit closer to home and work.

•Reported sexual harassment saw a slight increase from the previous year from 14 percent to 15 percent. Although this is within the survey sampling error, this is the first increase since Metro implemented the survey question in 2014, but is still lower than when the question was first asked.

After the 2014 survey found that 22 percent of passengers reported unwanted sexual contact while riding on Metro, the agency launched an “It’s Off-Limits” campaign in 2015 to combat sexual harassment on the system. The agency in 2017 added a hotline (844-Off-Limits or 844-633-5464) people can use to report harassment. The agency also increased the number of police on buses and trains last summer.

•Smartphone ownership continues to increase among riders. Bus riders saw a one percent drop from 2016 to 2017, but numbers are still way up for both bus and rail since the current version of the question was first asked in 2014.

What do you think of the survey? Questions? Leave a brief comment please and we’ll try to answer promptly.

If you are interested in looking at all survey results from 2003-2017, they can be found here at Metro Research’s webpage.

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