Comments on: Transit Ambassadors http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/ Mass Transit's editor, Fred Jandt, speaks weekly on critical issues facing the public transportation industry. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:15:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Fred Jandt http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-339 Fred Jandt Fri, 18 May 2007 13:39:27 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-339 I love comments like this. It shows what everyone in transit is really up against. Your comment is peppered with incorrect statements and fallacies. This is just the type of thinking we need to overcome to make transit more successful. I love comments like this. It shows what everyone in transit is really up against.

Your comment is peppered with incorrect statements and fallacies. This is just the type of thinking we need to overcome to make transit more successful.

]]> By: Sam Bronte http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-331 Sam Bronte Thu, 17 May 2007 17:41:55 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-331 Mass transit should be banned. It's a giant criminal boondoggle that diverts money away from roads. Buses are rolling roadblocks that make traffic worse. Mass transit is a major target for terrorists, and it just plain doesn't work. And yes, mass transit is smelly, dangerous slow, inefficient, and isn't flexible. My loved ones would be safer spending time in a prison yard. The population would be very similar, though. Of course, you'll probably not publish this comment. Anything that might de-rail your gravy train is forbidden. Mass transit should be banned. It’s a giant criminal boondoggle that diverts money away from roads.

Buses are rolling roadblocks that make traffic worse. Mass transit is a major target for terrorists, and it just plain doesn’t work.

And yes, mass transit is smelly, dangerous slow, inefficient, and isn’t flexible. My loved ones would be safer spending time in a prison yard. The population would be very similar, though.

Of course, you’ll probably not publish this comment. Anything that might de-rail your gravy train is forbidden.

]]> By: Debbie Schwarzbach http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-327 Debbie Schwarzbach Fri, 11 May 2007 00:40:38 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-327 Every day I get up and come to work and I think............I really hope that every customer that we come in contact with today will have a positive customer service experience. I will share this article with our agency staff and contractor staff as well. Thanks for sharing. :) Every day I get up and come to work and I think…………I really hope that every customer that we come in contact with today will have a positive customer service experience. I will share this article with our agency staff and contractor staff as well. Thanks for sharing. :)

]]> By: Tom Hingson http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-325 Tom Hingson Thu, 10 May 2007 18:49:27 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-325 A a recent all-employee meeting we analyzed and discussed a particularly interesting customer complaint. We asked two questions. 1. What does good customer service look like to this customer? and 2. What does good customer service look like to us (the driver, dispatcher, scheduler, etc.)? The group concluded that good customer service often begins with a good, reliable service plan that both the driver and customer can count on. When the driver does not have to defend or explain - good service is easier to deliver. Extraordinary customer service is evident when the customer still feels well served in spite of unreliable service due to poor planning or other circumstances outside the driver's control. We concluded that we all have a responsibility to assure good customer service is possible, even if we personally never see the customer to be served. A a recent all-employee meeting we analyzed and discussed a particularly interesting customer complaint. We asked two questions. 1. What does good customer service look like to this customer? and 2. What does good customer service look like to us (the driver, dispatcher, scheduler, etc.)? The group concluded that good customer service often begins with a good, reliable service plan that both the driver and customer can count on. When the driver does not have to defend or explain - good service is easier to deliver. Extraordinary customer service is evident when the customer still feels well served in spite of unreliable service due to poor planning or other circumstances outside the driver’s control. We concluded that we all have a responsibility to assure good customer service is possible, even if we personally never see the customer to be served.

]]> By: Brenda Schweitzer http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-324 Brenda Schweitzer Thu, 10 May 2007 16:04:50 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-324 Wonderful article!!! I am sharing with the entire staff of our small public transit project in South Dakota. We like to think of ourselves as being good ambassadors, but are we? Do we ride our system, take pride in our vehicles? Is our telephone voice welcoming, and are we expressing that we are here to provide transporation, and want to do the best job we can? Yes...we all need to be good ambassadors, and it's a continuous mission! Brenda Schweitzer Executive Director Brookings Area Transit Authority, Inc. Brookings, SD Wonderful article!!! I am sharing with the entire staff of our small public transit project in South Dakota. We like to think of ourselves as being good ambassadors, but are we? Do we ride our system, take pride in our vehicles? Is our telephone voice welcoming, and are we expressing that we are here to provide transporation, and want to do the best job we can?

Yes…we all need to be good ambassadors, and it’s a continuous mission!

Brenda Schweitzer
Executive Director
Brookings Area Transit Authority, Inc.
Brookings, SD

]]> By: Norman Mars http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-323 Norman Mars Thu, 10 May 2007 16:04:17 +0000 http://www.masstransitmag.com/interactive/2007/05/10/transit-ambassadors/#comment-323 Great points, Fred. Those of us in public service ARE the ambassadors of our various industries, what ever they may be. And it's the front line employee -- the bus driver, the receptionist who answers the phone, the person at the customer service counter -- who give our customers and the public the inevitable "first impressions" our compmanies, agencies, and businesses. The Dorothy's of the world are invaluable to our images. Unfortunately, it only takes one indifferent, grumpy, or rude employee to wipe out all the "atta' boys" our Dorothy's achieve. That's why I just sent 8 of my front line employees to a seminar on Communicating with Diplomacy & Professionalism. Great points, Fred. Those of us in public service ARE the ambassadors of our various industries, what ever they may be. And it’s the front line employee — the bus driver, the receptionist who answers the phone, the person at the customer service counter — who give our customers and the public the inevitable “first impressions” our compmanies, agencies, and businesses. The Dorothy’s of the world are invaluable to our images. Unfortunately, it only takes one indifferent, grumpy, or rude employee to wipe out all the “atta’ boys” our Dorothy’s achieve. That’s why I just sent 8 of my front line employees to a seminar on Communicating with Diplomacy & Professionalism.

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