Bus Roadeo Coverage and Some Friday Fun

We now have video coverage from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Bus Roadeo available on our website in the Media Center. The new videos include:

Our latest Mass Transit TV episode, sponsored by SinglePoint Communications, includes coverage of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s new music and videos from Transit Boyz, a new and entertaining way to promote public transit. And there’s also highlights from the Roadeo and Customer Service Challenge, including an interview with APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy and International Bus Roadeo Chair Mike Hennessy.

Houston Metro’s Transit Boyz’s “Ballad of the Boyz.” Their recently released video to promote transit use, created by Metro’s in-house marketing department.

APTA Bus Roadeo 2012 – Michael Melaniphy includes Melaniphy’s full interview of the Roadeo, talking about what it was like for him when he competed as an operator, what the operators do for the Bur Roadeo and the Customer Service Challenge, and what the mechanics face in their competition.

APTA Bus Roadeo 2012 – Mike Hennessy includes Hennessy’s full interview talking about the Roadeo and what the course entails, how teams get to this level, and a summary of the various components of the maintenance competition.

Leah Harnack – Editor and Bus Driver Extraordinaire … Almost features me navigating the Roadeo Course. Luckily the music drowns out the words I’m saying, but the facial expressions give away what I’m saying. When you need a quick break and good laugh, it’s time to check out this video!

The teams prepare a long time for the competition and there were so many good stories to be heard around the course.

One board member was going to take her maintenance team out to dinner the night before the event but they spent the evening studying up for the challenge.

Hennessy also introduced me to Penny Foster of Yakima Transit who had never competed in a Roadeo before and made it all the way to this elite level. After finding others to take over her shifts and raising the money needed to come, she made it to Long Beach. And she made it all the way to a finalist on the Customer Service Challenge!

Melaniphy talks in his interview about how much has changed at the Roadeo over the years when you look at the evolution of the technology. Mirroring that sentiment was the keynote speaker for the APTA Bus and Paratransit Conference, “Wired: How Your Customers Have Changed and What to Do About it,” by John R. Patterson.

Patterson had the crowd laughing with his stories exemplifying not-so-great customer service and it created an entertaining session that got everyone thinking about what they could be doing to improve their customer service skills for themselves, and their agency or company.

He started with two great quotes, “Greatness does not come from asking the customer what they want and then giving them what they require. It is understanding the customer well enough to give them what they desire even if it is unexpressed.” – Len Berry and Sandra Lampo.

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou.

Both quotes express his point that the customers’ perspective about the experience they have is the only thing that counts.

And for those thinking they don’t deal with “the customers,” he reminded the crows that everyone has customers, whether that means external riders or buyers or the internal coworkers from other departments.

The theme of the presentation was that with this hi-tech, hi-touch world, we don’t get as many chances today. People are connected in to technology which makes it quick-and-easy to share information, especially those bad customer service experiences.

People expect more than they used to because they have: More choices, More technology/information, Great service.