Comments on: In undercover effort, MTA rates station clerks

By: Ben W.

Ben W. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:47:48 +0000

Stores often hire "secret shoppers" to test the shopping experience in their stores. The MTA could do this just as well, to ensure that its own workers are always polite and helpful. The end result would be a brighter, smoother-running New York transit system.

By: John

John — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:27:52 +0000

You do the “secret shopper” thing and they fill out surveys for specific employees. Yes it’s subjective, but if you do it enough (a few times per person) you’ll get an idea of who’s rude and who’s not.

By: rhywun

rhywun — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:44:44 +0000

To be fair, that’s a completely subjective call. How do you measure “rudeness”…? The only thing you could go by is customer complaints and is there even a facility for that?

By: rhywun

rhywun — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:41:05 +0000

Yeah, and the wording on the side displays is even worse. It’s like they recycled LED displays from around 1980. I get the point that digital displays are cheaper and more flexible, but I’ve seen hand-held calculators with better displays.

By: R2

R2 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:10:59 +0000

Especially since it’s even more difficult to read the much tinier (even if better lit) LED on the front indicating which train it is on the R142 and R160s. Thank goodness I still have eagle-eye vision.

By: Kid Twist

Kid Twist — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:03:38 +0000

Here are the criteria: An employee is either rude or he isn’t. You don’t statistics to document that.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:01:50 +0000

I warned you I was reaching a bit!!

By: TCeez

TCeez — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:06:40 +0000

Keep waiting for the official report…

I predict a completely statistically insignificant sample with no real findings or fixed criteria. Lets just say that this seems to be pulled out of someone’s a**

By: rhywun

rhywun — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:00:59 +0000

There’s a few reasons I bemoan the removal of the colored bullets from the new trains, but their emotional impact on riders is a new one

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:16:33 +0000

I’d agree with you on the color analysis, but the bullets just don’t dominate. With the new trains, in fact, the colored bullets live on only in the map and exterior signage. I don’t think that’s pervasive enough to present any sort of emotional impact.

Good points though on the line manager aspect to this operation.