Nottingham Express Transit is still enjoying some of the highest levels of customer satisfaction according to the latest survey conducted on behalf of NET by Osiris MR with overall customer satisfaction remaining at 94% for the third consecutive survey. All categories in the 2012 survey have seen a rise showing that customers (passengers!) seem to be enjoying the service on offer across the network.
The survey was split into three sections: Overall satisfaction with NET, Journey on board satisfaction and Satisfaction at tramstops. 1500 tram users were questioned by the independent market research company employed to conduct the survey and they were overwhelmingly positive on the majority of aspects of operations (with rather predictability the worst satisfaction rating coming on price of tickets – only 51% were happy with the prices of the tickets).
The overall satisfaction on board the trams came in at 81% (2010 – 76%) with both reliability and helpful and friendly staff the best categories with 94% of those surveyed happy. The vast majority of people were also satisfied with the journey time (92%) whilst the frequency of services saw 91% satisfied. Interestingly 90% of those surveyed were satisfied with the ease of buying tickets – whether this figure will remain this high once conductors are dispensed with and on platform ticket machines introduced remains to be seen.
At the tram stops there was an 82% satisfaction rate (2010 – 77%) with the electronic displays (94%), stop information (92%) and stop cleanliness (91%) the top sub categories here. Security seems to top people’s concerns as the lowest score is for security at Park and Ride sites (67%) with security on route to stop also fairly low at 71%. Two further areas come in below 80% – litter bins (78%) and tram stop shelters (76%).
General Manager of NET, Paul Robinson, was delighted with the outcomes of the survey: “With overall satisfaction figures of 94 per cent, we’re clearly out-performing recognised industry standards. This mirrors our exceptional operational reliability record of 99.5% in 2012. All measured areas have shown an improvement since the last survey in 2010 and both overall satisfactions, at tram stops and on board the trams, have risen by five per cent – to 82 per cent and 81 per cent respectively – over the past two years. We were also pleased at the reasons people gave for using the tram. More than three quarters said it is easy, convenient, fast, frequent or reliable. What’s more, 97 per cent of customers would recommend the tram to a friend or family member.”
* The full results of the survey (including comparisons with previous surveys) can be found at http://www.thetram.net/news/1/survey-reveals-tram-satisfaction/