Project History
TransitWorks began in 1997 as a collaborative initiative, joining the business community, local municipalities, Boston region transit riders, and other interests under a single umbrella organization. This collaboration was dedicated to maintaining the quality and service levels of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and attempted to help the MBTA take aggressive action to retain and renew relationships with the riding public in order to improve MBTA customer satisfaction, stem a loss in transit ridership, and build public support for the MBTA. The collaboration realized some success over a four year period using all volunteer staff time. After 2001, the initial collaborators of TransitWorks (the Artery Business Committee, now A Better City; the Artery Business Committee Transportation Management Association, now A Better City Transportation Management Association; and the MBTA Advisory Board) continued to see the opportunity and promise of TransitWorks and reestablished the project by hiring a full time staff person in 2004. Today, TransitWorks is designed to repeat and expand upon the work completed from 1997-2001, through system wide evaluations and projects designed to address specific issues at the MBTA.
2008 Project History & Summaries
2008 T-Alerts Pilot Program Study
A survey analysis designed to evaluate the MBTA T-Alerts Pilot Program. Recommendations generated from responses were used to modify and enhance the system prior to opening its registration to all transit users.
2008 Customer Service Call Center Study
A survey designed to measure continuous levels of customer satisfaction that utilizes the MBTA’s Customer Service Call Center’s access to a vast number of riders each day.
2008 On Line CharlieCard Registration Tool Evaluation
A focus group evaluation to determine the feasibility and ease of use of the CharlieCard web based registration tool.
2008 Tourism Evaluation Study
A survey designed to measure satisfaction with and ease of use of the MBTA system by first time users and visitors to Boston. The survey targeted various satisfaction variables and wayfinding elements.
2008 MBTA Ridership Survey
This survey is a statistically significant snapshot of customer satisfaction system-wide. The 2008 Survey employed a random digit dialing sampling method to create statistically significant data on rider attitudes and satisfaction system-wide.
2008 Red Line High Capacity Car Survey
A survey designed to measure levels of customer satisfaction specifically targeting those riders using the pilot Red Line High Capacity car. The survey also evaluated the feasibility of utilizing this style of vehicle on a more permanent basis.
