Transit Initiatives and Communities Conference, June 24, 2013

Hard lessons in reputation management

Sound Transit District

Light rail “near death” experience

• Nov ‘96 Sound Move ballot measure passes

• Nov ’00 Tunnel negotiations suspended

• Jan ‘01 Full funding grant agreementExecutive director resigns

• Apr ’01 Inspector General suspends funding

In the news Sound Transit taken to task - Seattle P-I

Sound Transit: a matter of trust-Seattle Times

U.S. to audit troubled rail project- Seattle P-I

Sound Transit Board must take hold of light rail fiasco- Everett Herald

Lawsuit seeks to halt light rail

- Seattle P-I

Sharks circling regional light rail- The News Tribune

Starting the long road to recovery

• Apr ’01 Agency-wide reorganization

• Jun ’01 Joni Earl new Exec. Director

New initial segment defined

• July ’02 New $500m FFGA application

• Oct ’03 FTA awards $500m FFGA

• Nov ’03 Link groundbreaking

‘Sound Transit is the little engine that could’ - Sen. Patty Murray

Back on track

Additional successes

• 2008: Resounding approval of $18 billion Sound Transit 2 measure following 2007 Roads & Transit defeat

• 2009: $813m FFGA for University Link

• 2009: Central Link completed within the 2001 revised schedule and budget

How’d we do it?

• Earn trust: Under promise/over deliver model

• Centralize communications functions

• Aggressive community outreach - One-on-ones, Speakers Bureau

• Capitalize on every milestone and success

• Public opinion research

Managing Your Reputation

Telephone Surveys/Public Involvement

13

The future is bright

Dec '00

Jun '01

May '02

Nov '02

Apr '03

Nov '03

Nov '04

Sep '05

Oct '06

Apr '07

Nov '07

Feb '08

Nov '10

53%

41%47% 49%

45%51%

60% 61%65% 63% 64% 64%

67%

31%

28%

35%31% 32%

36%

23% 23% 21% 20%24% 24%

15%16%

31%

18% 20%23%

13%17% 16%

13%17%

12% 13%

18%

Favorable Unfavorable Can't Rate/ Never Heard

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Investment Worth It? (2010)Q25. Do you think tax investments in Sound Transit thus far have been completely worth it, mostly,

not worth much or worth nothing at all?

Sep. 2005 Oct. 2006 Nov. 2010

61%63%(+2)

70%(+7)

32%32%(--) 25%

(-7)

7% 5% 5%

Worth it Not worth it (Don't know)

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Mind Share (2012) Have you ever considered riding Sound Transit express bus, Sounder commuter rail or light rail

for your current commute instead of driving?

Not considered

ST1,523,054

81%

Non-transit commuters:1,880,314 (79%)

Considered ST

357,26019%

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Target Market (Mind/Market Share 2012)% of the region’s regular commuters who do not take transit, are between ages 16 and 64, have

commutes 10 miles or longer and are not opposed to riding on of Sound Transit’s services

Target Market of 38% of

regular commuters(902,720)

Taken ST in past 8% (190,046)

Not considered & not taken - 24%

(570,139)

Considered & not taken

6% (142,535)

Focus Groups

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Types of Focus Groups for Sound Transit

• Voter groups to investigate financial issues (2001)

• Voter groups to investigate future packages and plans (2005, 2008)

• Resident groups on light rail ridership (2009)

• Rider groups on schedule books (2010)

• Groups with potential riders (2011, 2012)

Customer Satisfaction Intercepts

20Sound Transit 2012 Customer Satisfaction Intercept Survey | EMC #12-4773

Sound Transit Grade by Year

Q6. If you were giving Sound Transit an overall report card, where A means excellent, C means average, and F means failing, what overall grade would you give them?

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.003.4

3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.3

Mean Grade (A=4; F=0)

“A” grade responses:

53% 42% 45% 53%

A -

B+

48% 46%

21Sound Transit 2012 Customer Satisfaction Intercept Survey | EMC #12-4773

Benchmarking Against Other AgenciesQ6. If you were giving Sound Transit an overall report card, where A means excellent, C means

average, and F means failing, what overall grade would you give them?

Sound Transit 2012

BART 2012

OCTA Bus 2011

RTA Chicago 2011

Calgary Transit 2012

MTA NYC Bus 2012

46%

40%

40%

23%

20%

16%

41%

44%

40%

60%

50%

52%

13%

16%

20%

17%

30%

32%

Overall Satisfaction

A/Very Satisfied/Excellent B/Smwt Satisfied/Good Lower

22Sound Transit 2012 Customer Satisfaction Intercept Survey | EMC #12-4773

% of Choice Riders with a Car (Choice Survey)

Q4. Did you have a car available that you could have used for this trip?

All

Sounder

Exp. Bus

C. Link

0.7864628768462

0.861403998019695

0.783308906946195

0.769211503023531

‘Yes’ % Overall and by Service

Rider Panel

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Rider Panel

SoundOff Results: April-May 2013

Able to do other things

Relaxing/Less stressful

Avoiding traffic

Convenient/Don't have to drive

Reliable schedule

Comfortable

Availability

Faster than driving

Scenic

Socializing

28%

20%

18%

12%

12%

11%

9%

8%

7%

5%

% of SoundWaves respondents mentioning each (Top mentions)

What is the best part of your commute on transit?