Last month, NJ Transit announced its Scorecard Initiative, in which a series of quarterly customer surveys would be offered to riders of NJT’s trains and buses, with results made public on njtransit.com. The transit agency asked riders to sign up to be Scorecard participants, which is exactly what I did.

Yesterday, the first Scorecard survey arrived in my inbox. The survey asked a total of 27 questions, including a blank “Please provide any comment you would like to add…” box. After some initial narrowing questions (determining how often I ride, which stations I use, etc.), the main section was somewhat broad, asking me to provide 1-to-10 satisfaction ratings on service, cleanliness, on-time performance, security, the NJT website, etc. To my mind, the funniest question came near the end of the survey: “How Likely Are You To Recommend NJT to a Friend or Relative?” That seemed like a weird, generic question borrowed from another survey about something else. NJT usage is driven by necessity, not the kind of recommendations that would send you to a local restaurant or new movie.

The survey took about 10 minutes to complete (it could have been done in 5, but each new page was slow to load…), and it looks like I can win one of 5 prizes (1 month of free commuting!) just for being a Scorecard scorer. The wording of many of the questions was sufficiently vague that it was hard to calibrate my answers: Picking a number between 1 and 10 to rate something only described as “security” or “cleanliness” isn’t easy. I mean, my train has never been attacked, so does that mean 10 for security? And if the seats and aisles are clean but the bathrooms are understandably funky, where should cleanliness average out? Overall I gave scores mostly in the 4-7 range, with the lower end being for “fares” (which I interpreted as “Value for the money”) and the higher numbers for the general condition of most of the trains I ride.

According to the final page, the results of this initial questionnaire will be posted in July, to coincide with the start of the new fiscal year. The agency says that, “The ‘Scorecard’ initiative will use metrics to set corporate-wide standards of accountability and create transparency for the public, helping NJ Transit make strategic decisions to maximize its resources as well as illustrating how the agency is managing its commitment to excellence. In addition, the Scorecard will show the agency’s strengths and weaknesses, providing clear insight into where NJ TRANSIT needs to improve in order to provide a greater return to the taxpayer.”

It will be interesting to see what we learn directly from the NJT ridership—are things good, bad, or in-between?

If you want to take the survey yourself, click here. Whether you formally take it or not, we’d like to know what you think: is NJ Transit doing a good job, does it need an overhaul, or something in between.