Last time, I shared a perspective on what I call the “Goldilocks principle” of public funding: public agencies are funded just right. 

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.

Examples of such agencies exist across the country. 

San Antonio, with industry-leading customer satisfaction, secured a fantastic ballot proposition victory to enhance its high-quality experience. 

Toledo, with community value scores exceeding 93%, similarly enjoyed community investment to expand, regardless of its current 3% ridership levels. 

Improvement in Action

In June, we hosted our 2nd Annual TransDASH Performance Summit, recognizing and learning from transit agencies that are both leading and demonstrating the most improved performance. 

The fundamental truth of these agencies is that they got better on purpose. A list of those recognized is below. 

1. FACTS: CDTA in Albany has an astonishing 94% Community Value score — almost 9% above the industry average. Albany leadership achieves such tremendous support because they are focused on the community’s story versus their own. The facts make clear that Capital District residents overwhelmingly support CDTA because the agency: 

• Connects people to jobs. 

• Provides mobility for the elderly and disabled. 

• Supports opportunities for low-income households. 

CDTA leans into those priorities and avoids talk of the ADA being "an unfunded mandate" or how to attract "more choice riders."

2.FOCUS: With 2.8 customer trips per revenue mile, Long Beach Transit has designed service to match customer demand better than most mid-sized agencies that are stuck at close to an average of only one trip per mile. Over the last 10 years nationally, demand is down 28%, yet supply is only down 1%. The mismatch between supply and demand has created the so-called "fiscal cliff,” creating immense operational inefficiencies. Long Beach focuses on taking a much different approach, matching supply with demand, and their intentionality has earned them best in class for efficiency.

3.FIX: TriMet in Portland established a measurable and prioritized goal to improve its customer satisfaction. The result: it jumped 15%. The headline in this success, however, is that they achieved this by focusing on the right KPIs (inputs) in the correct order to produce their desired outcome (higher customer satisfaction). TriMet leadership didn't chase noise from newspaper articles or elected officials; they focused on the right things by following the clear facts, which led to them leading the nation in the highest customer satisfaction improvement.

Learning from the Best

It is wonderful to select a limited number of outcomes and then focus your agency on becoming best in class on that limited portfolio. But there can only be one leader: 

• We should know who that is — so we can all learn.

• The goal is to improve — to get better on purpose — in the areas we have prioritized.

• Learn from those who are producing measurable value.

The facts bear out that 84% of Americans support public transportation. And they are very clear as to why. 

And, they don't care a bit if we move just 4% of the total population. Telling the story of the 84% is what will make Goldilocks' porridge "just right."