Thought leader and 21-time best-selling author Seth Godin recently shared in his daily blog a sentence that captured our attention “more and better aren't the same…" Indeed, and the space between more and better is the state of the public transit industry’s crossroad.
In Denver, transit agency executives and law enforcement are partnering to improve customer perceptions of personal security.
Photo: Denver RTD
3 min to read
Thought leader and 21-time best-selling author Seth Godin recently shared in his daily blog a sentence that captured our attention “more and better aren't the same…" Indeed, and the space between more and better is the state of the public transit industry’s crossroad.
The decades-old public transit performance playbook was designed to celebrate more ridership. However, elected officials invested in public transit at a record level during 2019-2021 when ridership was at its lowest level in 70 years because of the value transit services bring to communities. Highlighting “more and better aren't the same…".
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How More and Better aren’t the Same
If Starbucks doesn't serve coffee, there are no coffee shops. While Starbucks aims to sell “more” coffee, they also aim to offer a “better” coffee experience.
Starbucks has achieved “better” through designing a gathering space for the entire community, baristas demonstrate pride and ownership in their craft, and they have created adjacent development from other businesses wanting to be located near them. The value of Starbucks in our society is far beyond drinking “more” coffee.
Transit agencies from coast to coast are leading a similar transformation in thinking from the old-school public transit playbook to modern thought leadership. Better is more than simply the "number of cups served".
In Albany, transit leaders are focused on measuring and delivering community value. In San Antonio, transit leaders are delivering industry-leading customer satisfaction levels. In Denver, transit agency executives and law enforcement are partnering to improve customer perceptions of personal security.
Modern transit is about measurable value. Transit thought leaders have worked to become less focused on looking inward and more focused on delivering customer and community-centric outcomes.
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Modern transit recognizes that simply moving more people who don't like your product is not and never was cause for celebration. Modern transit recognizes it doesn't require buying 40-foot buses to provide mobility.
The old-school transit playbook used valuable operational inputs such as on-time performance and mean distance between failures to define success.
Those measures do not accurately, nor effectively, tell the whole story of how we can serve and satisfy our customers and communities.
In San Antonio, transit leaders are delivering industry-leading customer satisfaction levels.
Photo: VIA
From Better to More
Modern transit leaders think about these very topics in a very different manner. The combination of customer-empowered Key Experience Indicators (KEIs = customer's perception of operational performance they find to be important)) combined with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs = agency operational performance on metrics customers prioritize) is the treasure trove of insight that can lead to “better” (increased satisfaction), and as a result, attract “more” customers to public transit.
Better creates more. More doesn't create better.
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Dozens of transit agencies are leading this “more and better isn’t the same” conversation with:
Polis comprises cities and regions, as well as corporate partners, from across Europe, promoting the development and implementation of sustainable mobility. This year’s event had over a thousand attendees across various policy forums and an exhibition.
Across North America and beyond, transit agency officials are contending with a perfect storm of operational headaches and strategic challenges that hamper daily service and long-term progress.
Simply incentivizing electrification is not enough to make a meaningful impact; we must shift our focus toward prioritizing public transportation and infrastructure.
For many years, the narrative surrounding public transit improvements has been heavily weighted toward environmental gains and carbon reduction. While these are undeniably crucial long-term benefits, the immediate focus of this new funding environment is firmly on demonstrable system efficiencies and a clear return on investment.
The notion of agencies being over- or underfunded, I argued, doesn’t hold up. If an agency wants to turn up the heat — to grow beyond the status quo — it must demonstrate measurable value.
Some agencies might suggest they are funded in the public transportation space. Some complain that they are funded too little. I have never heard a public transportation executive proclaim that they are funded too much. And if no public agencies are funded too much, then, by definition, none are funded too little. To steal from Goldilocks’ thinking, they are all funded just right.
From East Asia to Europe, more than 400 exhibitors and 70 sessions tackled global mobility challenges — highlighting AI, automation, and urban transit equity in the race toward a carbon-free future.
A closer look at ridership trends, demographic shifts, and the broader impacts of service reductions reveals why maintaining, and even improving, bus service levels should be a top priority in 2025.
