Finding 100 Ways to Make the MTA’s Buses Better

“How am I driving?” signs on the back of buses? Air fresheners on MTA vehicles? An adopt-a-bus program?

Those are among the suggestions made by Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees in a contest seeking 100 ways to improve bus service in Los Angeles County.

Some ideas will be put into effect in the next year, including putting suggestion boxes on buses, turning bus headlights on during the day as an additional safety measure, and assigning more transit police to ride buses.

MTA employees submitted 379 ideas to make bus travel more customer-friendly but only 100 were selected for implementation or study.

The suggestions deemed worthy of study include: posting route and schedule information at bus stops and on the Internet, sending out goodwill ambassadors to ride buses and greet passengers, establishing a credit card for paying fares, starting an adopt-a-bus program and posting drivers’ pictures on buses.

The MTA is also considering a proposal that MTA management be required to ride buses at least once a month--something that transit chief Joseph E. Drew says he is doing.

Among those that didn’t make the cut: a bus driver’s suggestion that a sign be posted on buses reading, “We reserve the right to refuse service.”

Or a suggestion that the MTA provide entertainment on buses. “For instance, mimes or clowns could be hired to get on and off buses,” the employee said.

Some employees indicated that they thought there already was enough entertainment on buses. One suggested that drivers be protected from unruly passengers in some kind of enclosure--maybe like the ones used by taxi drivers. That was dismissed by transit officials as not customer-friendly.

A worker suggested that a recorded message be played on buses reminding riders that no smoking, drinking or eating is permitted. The rules already are posted, said a transit spokesman. But the agency plans to study posting rules of bus courtesy.

Another employee suggested that the MTA lower the bus fare to $1, from $1.35. That idea also was rejected, along with the suggestion that drivers be given CPR training. An MTA spokesman said the suggestion boxes on buses would make the “How am I driving” signs unnecessary.

The contest was the brainchild of Drew, who since taking over the MTA this year has sought to humanize the much-maligned agency.

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The ideas will supplement a major bus improvement program that the MTA is undertaking, including putting more buses on the street and lowering the cost of the monthly bus pass to settle a lawsuit brought by bus riders.

Six employees will split the top prize of $1,000 for suggesting that the MTA put customer comment cards on buses.

Other ideas being given further study include selling bus passes at ATM machines, requiring employees to undergo courtesy training once a year, publishing a book of all bus routes and schedules, and making bus passes like a Lotto game by using the serial numbers to award prizes.

Rejected was a suggestion that drivers give away tokens, good for free rides, to passengers who have been inconvenienced. However, an MTA spokesman said the agency is planning to publicize its program offering free rides to passengers whose bus is more than 15 minutes late.

Some of the ideas, such as an adopt-a-bus program where businesses and community groups would clean buses, could face opposition from union workers whose job is to clean buses.

One employee suggested that bus drivers be required to wait for passengers who are running for the bus--something that drivers already are supposed to do if it’s safe and reasonable, an MTA spokesman said.

An employee also suggested that the MTA use a clip from the film “Independence Day” for ads promoting the agency. In the movie, a survivor of the alien invasion says, “Today was the first day I used the subway. Thank God for the Metro Rail.”

Drew said the ideas represent practical ways to make improvements.

“They are the kinds of things you notice when you are on the job day in and day out, and recognize changes that could make public transportation a little easier, a little more efficient, a little more attractive to customers.”