Southern Hospitality
Fred Gilliam’s goal is to make sure Capital riders have no reason not to come back to the service.
“But also, don’t allow somebody to screw up their day simply because their day is screwed up,” Gilliam says.
“If you lower your standard to their standard you’re less than professional.”
All Systems Go
Fred Gilliam says Capital Metro’s future looks very good, and who can argue with him? The system is implementing its first commuter rail line and is on the verge of putting in BRT, but Gilliam doesn’t feel that is enough.
Gilliam has thrown down the challenge for the agency. He wants to double its ridership of 35 million by 2025. That’s a big statement for an agency that only has 40 percent of its ridership that is dependent on its service. How are they going to do it? By keeping what they have.
“Market research tells you also you lose about 20 to 25 percent of riders every year. Most every system does this. And if you are lucky you replace it,” Gilliam says.
“And so what we have to do is figure out why we are losing it. Because that is the biggest difference you can make on the increase in ridership, is quit losing it.
“And so if you are able to attract riders by whatever you are doing, then the other is understanding where the other factors are. And that’s what we are trying to do with this market research.
