Page 2639 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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A clear focus of the summit was the importance of the customer and the necessity to keep the customer at the core of the governance models and transport reform. In Japan, JR-East, which owns and operates all of Japan’s rail assets, underwent structural reform and “awareness” reform, which resulted in the adoption of a customer-first philosophy—so much so that they provide the equivalent of a doctor’s certificate to passengers who experience delays of more than 10 minutes. The public transport operator needs to understand the emotional reaction of their customer. It is important to collect customer insights and define their customer personas, such as: what are the customer touch points and their pain points?
On a daily basis Canberrans will no doubt come into contact with TCCS assets and public transport infrastructure. This focus on reviewing and renewing customer engagement is important to TCCS and has been adopted into its core governance values and framework. However, the presentations and workshops also discussed the importance of empowering staff working in the public transportation space. JR-East regularly engages with staff. In each work area they assign a service leader and hold small meetings with those leaders. If one area has a good idea, there is praise and reward, as well as reflections on their customer engagements.
Negative passenger feedback is significant, but JR-East also picks out the compliments and passes these on to its staff. The presentations on customer service noted the importance of on-the-ground staff as a customer’s first engagement with transportation, which can start with a bus driver. Bus and train operators were looked at as journey makers rather than just facilitating travel from point A to point B for public transport users.
Of great relevance to Canberra and our government’s commitment to innovation, the delegation attended a workshop and panel discussion on electric bus systems. This discussion was pertinent to the ACT, with the government currently upgrading its fleet to include a new trial of electric buses. Many cities across the world have announced targets to move away from diesel buses by 2025. In 2030, 70 per cent of new city buses will be electric in Europe. However, compared to China, whose electric bus fleet makes up 85 per cent of all buses, our Western world has been slower to adopt this technology. There is strong motivation and support to move away from diesel and look at electric or hybrid technologies. I was amazed to learn about the infrastructure currently operating in China to support its electro-mobility services. One system in China, for example, can simultaneously charge 30 buses to full in just 10 minutes.
The future of the bus fleet industry is clearly in electro-mobility. An important question is: what does this mean today for fleet and depot investments by Transport Canberra? The energy mix in cities to support public transport is an important consideration for governments in achieving sustainable transport. Other presentations at the summit focused on design, ranging from bus layout and ticketing systems to setting clear land use objectives. The overall vision for a city, including well-planned and integrated public transport, is essential to achieving a livable city over the long term. To be successful, governments need to learn about innovative service design
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