Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Bringing Performance-Based Management to Transit

4th International Transportation Systems Performance Measurement Conference

Patricia HendrenOffice of PerformanceMay 20, 2011

Purpose

• Expanding the use of performance measures to− Inform− Promote− Unify

• Tackling the “challenging” areas− Economy− Environment− State of Good Repair

• Lessons Learned

• Research Needs

WMATA at a Glance(aka Metro)

Office of Performance: Inform, Promote, Unify

Purpose: • Expand the use of

performance information to guide actions, to promote Metro’s benefits in the region and to unify employees to accomplish our goals

How:• Range of products that

vary by audience• Turn data into

information• Tell our story

• Focus is positive not punitive

Public/Board: Vital Signs Report

Measures:

What is so special about VSR?• Why did performance change?

• What actions is Metro taking?

Keys to success:• Open dialogue, partnership and

collaboration with operations

• Stakeholder input

• Tied to goals & other parts of triangle

• Report sent to Superintendents

• Goes beyond a dashboard

OTP: Bus, Rail, Access MDBF: Bus, Rail

Crime Rate Arrest, Citations

Availability: Escalator, Elevator

Injury Rate: Employee, Customer

Customer Comment Rate

Vital Signs Report: Results

• Kudos for transparency

• Media getting the facts right

• Lobby display

• Content becoming richer

• May Report: 11 out of 12 measures improved

• Brand recognition

• Superintendents emailing to colleges

“Thank You” letter from Governor McDonnell:“I applaud your efforts to improve communication on the performance of the Metro system through the new Vital Signs report and companion scorecard…”

Promote

Unify

GM /CEO PerformanceManagement

• May 2010, established a six-month action plan

• Feb 2011, committed to 13 measures and targets to Board of Directors

• Now, GM/CEO holding Executive Leadership Team accountable for actions that will improve performance

• How? Holds 1-on-1 monthly meetings with Executive Leadership Team (ELT)

Inform Promote Unify

Create a Safer Organization

Deliver Quality Service

Use Every Resource Wisely

Retain, Attract and Reward

the Best and the Brightest

Maintain and Enhance

Metro’s Image

Actions

Who

Performance Measures

Data Source

Targets

SHOW what you do

ARGUE for support/resources

MOVE from reactive to strategic

FOSTER unity around goals

FOCUS staff and resources

What you Do Strategic Goals Execution Plans Benefits to You

Execution Plan: Linking Day-to-Day Work to Goals

Inform

Unify

Linked to Goals and Objectives •Measures show progress

towards agency goals•Quantitative & trackable

•Actions outline how you will makeprogress

•Balance specificity and flexibility

Targets set where wantto end up

Action owner makes sure action getscompleted

Offices listed to foster unity and establish accountability

Execution Plan Components Inform

Unify

Performance Tracking Inform

Unify

Transition to Performance-Based Management not Uniform

Bus Maintenance Department is our shining star

Economy, Environment & Transit

12

Livability Principles Provide more transportation choices

Promote equitable, affordable housing

Enhance economic competitiveness

Support existing communities

Coordinate policies and leverage investment

Value communities and neighborhoods

Transit Role

Equity

Economy

Environment

TransitBut how do we PROVE it??

• Performance Focus:Projects that maintain and replace assets on a regular life cycle basis to deliver the same level of service

• Customer/Demand Focus:Projects that help meet growing ridership and improve the rider’s experience

Customer/ Demand/

Focus$3.8 Billion

33%Performance

Focus$7.6 Billion

67%

13

Metro’s capital needs FY2011 - 2016: $11 billion

State of Good Performance

Prioritized Needs based on Strategic Goals

Not Funded 100%

$11 B $8 B $5 B

14

Customer/ Demand/

Safety Projects

Performance /Safety

Projects

• Accelerated asset management & expansion

• Safe and reliable system• Improved customer

amenities

$0

Funded100%

Funded100%

Funded69%

Not Funded

31%

Funded76%

Not Funded

24%

Funded63%

Not Funded

37%

• Steady asset management• Maintain safe & reliable

system• Moderate system expansion

(Bus, MetroAccess)

• Assets in state of disrepair• Unreliable system• Overcrowded conditions

Like New Slightly Used Falling Apart

Transit: State of Good Repair

• Limited public reporting of performance outcomes

• FTA’s 2010 National State of Good Repair Assessment− Few agencies have capital asset inventories− Transit lags other sectors in monitoring asset condition− Almost no prioritization or “what-if” tools used

Transit is where highways were several years ago….

“Federal officials should collect and disseminate standardized transit data to enable public, private and non-profit actors to make more informed decisions…”

Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America, Brookings 2011

Lessons Learned

• Establish public expectation for public reporting

• De-emphasize dashboards and fancy tools

• Focus on actions

• Analysis, analysis, analysis…

• External buy-in doesn’t “end” (*Keep away from targets)

• Overcome resistance by using positive approach

• Peer pressure works

• Don’t wait for good data … it will get better once used

• Data will contradict your boss

• This takes time.

Lessons Learned: Language Matters

MISSION - establishes overarching purpose of the organization

GOALS - provides direction for the organization to attain the mission

OBJECTIVES - breaks goals into “bite-sized” bits

PERFORMANCE MEASURES track progress towardgoals/objectives

TARGETS sets end point or direction for measures

ACTIONS steps taken to movetoward goals/objectives

EXECUTION PLANS captures all of the above at a departmentallevel to document who at Metro does what, by when

• Better coordination occurs when we all use the same terminology• At Metro, these terms describe our cascading strategic framework:

-

-

-

-

Lesson Learned: Moving away from “Data Rich, Information Poor” HARD

Work Order

Type Asset Tag Work Order Description Maint Office

Problem Code

Work Type

Created Date Status Status Date

8250931 ESC E05X01 ESC

ESC, E05X01, WON'T RESTART - HANDRAIL SHEAVE REPLACEMENT - HANDRAIL STILL BINDING

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

3430 CM 10/29/2010 5:33 INPRG 10/29/2010 10:44

8253392 ESC D03W02 ESC

ESC, D03W02, ACCIDENT (4 PATRON INJURED)

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

2096 EM 10/30/2010 14:20 INPRG 10/30/2010 14:31

8260871 ESC F03N06 ESC

ESC, F03N06, REPLACE RIGHT HANDRAIL.*

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

3 CM 11/2/2010 5:00 APPR 11/2/2010 5:02

8262926 ESC E01X01 ELE

ELE, E01X01, SAFETY WORK ORDER

ELES-ELEV-Y2R1

4300 CM 11/3/2010 5:38 APPR 11/3/2010 5:44

8262930 ESC E04X07 ESC

ESC, E04X07, REPLACE BOTTOM R - TENSION CARRIAGE

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

2733 CM 11/3/2010 5:42 APPR 11/3/2010 5:43

8267188 ESC F06N02 ESC

ESC, F06N02, ***NEW DETAILED BRAKE TORQUE & INSPECTION *

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

3433 CM 11/5/2010 4:26 INPRG 11/5/2010 4:28

8277949 ESC E08X04 ELE

ELE, E08X04, SAFETY WORK ORDER **

ELES-ELEV-Y2R1

4300 CM 11/11/2010 6:46 INPRG 11/11/2010 8:45

8279388 ESC E04X01 ESC

ESC, E04X01, * NEW DETAILED BRAKE TORQUE & INSPECTION

ELES-ESCA-Y1R1

3433 CM 11/12/2010 0:26 INPRG 11/12/2010 0:3285.0%

90.0%

95.0%

100.0%

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Escalator System Availability

FY 2010 FY 2011 TargetUnion Station

Metro CenterGallery Pl-Chinatown

Farragut North

Farragut West

Dupont Circle

L'Enfant Plaza

Foggy Bottom

Pentagon City

McPherson Square

Pentagon

Rosslyn

CrystalCity

Shady GroveVienna

Silver Spring

Columbia Heights Ballston

SmithsonianBethesda

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Esca

lato

r Sy

stem

Ava

ilabi

lity

Number of Escalators

Top 20 Ridership Stations (December 2010)

(# of Weekday Entries/Exits in Dec) < 25,000 25,000 – 36,000 36,000 – 56,000

Then knowledge…… then decision-making

Lessons Learned: Benchmarking won’t go away… despite limitations

• Near impossible to do U.S. transit apples-to-apples comparisons- Disparate agency characteristics- Lack of data accessibility / usability (NTD not good for peers)- Different measure definitions- No U.S. version of Nova / CoMET / IBBG

• Without U.S. version, benchmarking limited to one-time exercises

• Results can be easily misinterpreted

Lesson Learned: Don’t just release data…. You must interpret it.

“Crime Surges in Metro System”Washington Examiner Feb 22, 2011

• No Story•Board discuss… actions

Research Needs

• Develop asset management database & tools for transit→ Learn from highways (HPMS, NBI)

• Establish a US transit benchmarking organization− CoMET, Nova examples (anonymous)− Run by university− Federally funded…. APTA?

• Evaluate quality and usefulness of National Transit Database

• Visualization tools

• More venues to share best practices− Conferences, peer exchanges, webinars

• How to get performance-based management to front line employees

22

Evolution of Performance-BasedManagement

Situation= no funding, aging infrastructure, growing demand, retiring staff, conflicting priorities….

5 Stages of “Performance-Based Management” (Kubler Ross Model)

Know what doing, don’t need to track performance…

DENIAL

Don’t have time, can’t quantify me

ANGER

Well, if you only report X…

BARGAIN

Those are the results?

DEPRESSION

Performance tracking not such a bad idea

ACCEPTANCE