The recent 150,000 hour service cut to OCTA bus routes is causing headaches for riders who need to change their schedules, job losses for OCTA staff, and has significantly increased the volume of calls to the Customer Information Center (CIC).
The schedule and route changes during 2009-10 put call center volume between 74,000 and 84,000 calls per month. The budgeted volume of calls was 61,000 per month. The recent reductions are expected to drive calls even higher, but those figures are not available at this time.
Customers are calling because they need information and may feel this is the only way they can what they need. Bus books are now being printed twice a year instead of four times a year to save money. Signage and timetable information at stops has been reduced. These changes freed up $200,000 to redirect to the call center budget.
Riders do have other means of obtaining information from either text messaging or the OCTA website. Each of these methods serves a segment of the population, but can't fill the information gap entirely. Each method (text and internet) generally requires a fixed expense in a phone that can text message or a computer with internet connection. For some riders, this may be a high financial hurdle, and for them, these are not viable choices. There is also the "technology gap" to consider. People who have a phone may not want to or know how to text and a segment of the population doesn't know how to use a computer effectively even if they have access to one. The call center is one leg in getting out service and route information to riders.
OCTA's Board is considering how to handle the increased call volume. The contract with Alta Resources in Brea costs about $2/call and has a remaining balance of about $1.5 million. Alta Resources has provided OCTA with CIC services for eight years and has emphasized customer service with a low call abandonment rate.
One strategy being considered is increasing wait time for a call to be answered. A pilot program allowed wait times to increase and call abandonment went from 4% to 10%. Another strategy on the table is staffing to budget - the budget is fixed and services must fit within the dollar amount provided. When the money runs out, service is cut. Alta Resources has been using an "on hold" message to let callers know about other options for obtaining information.
The matter comes to the Finance Committee on March 17, 2010.
Download CallCenterReport From March 17, 2010 OCTA Finance Committee Agenda Packet
with all the cuts last sunday, and people now waiting longer for buses, or flat out cxl of service, how can octa justify leasing 20 buses that were paid for by oc tax payers and
federal money, to run a disneyland parking shuttle. AND the conflict of interest of mayor Pringle who's a octa board member.
SO the next time your waiting and waiting for a bus,REMEMBER WHERE YOUR BUS IS, TAKING PEOPLE TO DISNEYLAND. and how can octa jusify that a federaly funded company putting a private sector company out of BUSINESS.A BUSINESS THAT'S BEEN IN ANAHEIM SINCE 1983. EXPLAIN THAT MAYOR PRINGLE.
Posted by: Bill Skall | 03/20/2010 at 10:07 PM