please empty your brain below
DG: it's all about the holistic experience, which is all the rage in transport planning at the moment.

We've been forced First Group's awful 'ftr' erm, concept bus or 'street car' in York. Buses are now 20\\% less frequent, and 60\\% more expensive than they were two years ago; but we now have 'hosts', rather than conductors, 'pilots' rather than drivers, the ninja-esque 'revenue protection team' prowling the streets, more CCTV, fewer seats, interweb points at the busstops and a glossy magazine on the bus. what a gimmick, what an experience.

Andrew | 01.03.08 - 10:16 a.m. | #

You make Bow Road station sound awful. My local tube station is surrounded by countryside, singing birds, butterflies and has gardens on the platform (and has won the "Best gardens on the tube" competition in the past). It's got dot-matrix indicators you can see from everywhere on the platform. The stairwells are decorated with artwork from children at local schools and there's a photo booth just inside the entrance with a Metro dispenser next to it. I love my local tube station and if that TfL question machine came my way I would probably answer 2. My only gripe is that there's not enough automatic-gates (just 3) to get the volume of people through quickly in the rush hour.

Jag | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 10:18 a.m. | #

I rather like Bow Road station (and I really like Kingsbury station too).

But TfL's question isn't "Do you like this station?", it's "Is this a world-class station?"
And world-class it is not.

That's the fatal flaw with this survey - an ill-defined subjective question which can be interpreted in several different ways giving completely contradictory answers.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 10:28 a.m. | #

I think world-class was really the wrong choice of word here. I like Covent Garden tube station with its old-fashioned platform tiling that proudly displays the name "COVENT GARDEN" in large, decorative letters, hernia-inducing 193-step emergency staircase and rather charmingly annoying lift announcements (which now sound like they've been done by Loyd Grossman). The train indicators work and are actually located, sensibly, in the middle of the platforms, and give the times and destinations of the next three trains. It's right in the heart of the tourist centre of Central London. However, I wouldn't call Covent Garden tube station world-class.

Maybe TfL here should have simply asked passengers to rate the station on a scale of 0-5 (with 5 being excellent). However, as DG says, managers always seem to like using language which gives the best impression of quality, even when, as with the Bow Road opinion survey, it's not actually necessary, and may even give undeservedly poor opinions of the station.

Andrewh | 01.03.08 - 12:40 p.m. | #

They'll only listen in this sort of crappy-approximation-of-research if everyone gave it a '5'. It would certainly have got a 5 from me

Blue Witch | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 1:21 p.m. | #

Perhaps everyone who believes that this sort of thing is daft should copy and paste and print out this post and send it to TfL cc Ken and their local London MP (if they live in London)?

Perhaps the message might then get through...

Blue Witch | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 1:23 p.m. | #

Nothing to stop you pressing 5 one or twenty seven times...

hippykid | 01.03.08 - 1:40 p.m. | #

If TfL have got their heads screwed on, they'll have google alerts set up to tell them any time someone blogs about them, so they'll probably know all about Mr. Geezer and what he thinks of them already...

The 'world class' thing has probably come from some internal management strategy exercise and once it's got into their corporate plans, management will feel compelled to use it everywhere.

disgruntled commuter | Homepage | 01.03.08 - 1:50 p.m. | #

DG, I agree with you. I've worked for LU for quite a few years now, and have yet to have the definition of 'world class' - and how it is to be achieved - explained to my satisfaction.

Alan | 01.03.08 - 2:00 p.m. | #

Here at Network Rail the higher-ups are also always hawking on about being world class - and I assure you a world class company it is not.

Another Andrew | 01.03.08 - 2:57 p.m. | #

They should take a leaf out of ebay's book and ban negative feedback.

"A++++++ station. Would travel again"

Scaryduck | 01.03.08 - 3:59 p.m. | #

Yes press button 5 repeatedly as though you have OCD.

Debster | 01.03.08 - 7:29 p.m. | #

You have to look carefully at the selection of answers offered here (and I studied all this for my DipM). Generally, punters don't like hitting 1 or 5 and will pick an answer somewhere in the middle. They'll only hit 1 if they work there. They'll only hit 5 if they've had some bad experience there (a member of staff was unpleasant, for example). So they are likely to hit 2, 3 or 4.

The thing to note is that, by hitting 1, 2, 3 or 4, the respondant is indicating that at least some element of their Bow Road experience was world class. If we say that 20\\% of people hit 5, showing that no part of their experience was world class, the statistical geeks can (correctly) state that "80\\% of respondants stated that they had a world class experience". It doesn't mean that the whole of their experience was world class, but they implied by not choosing option 5 that at least part of their experience was world class.

Now, I think I might run a poll of readers of grayblog. Do they believe that my blog is world class?

graybo | Homepage | 02.03.08 - 9:43 a.m. | #

Did an online survey for TfL last week. I'm signed up to an online survey (Lightspeed) for points, which leads to a gift of my choice.

To be quite frank the survey was as laughable as that world class statement. At least they are trying I suppose.

chichard41 | Homepage | 02.03.08 - 8:30 p.m. | #

I always lie to survey people. It's a matter of principle.

trad or anon | 03.03.08 - 7:16 a.m. | #

Manor House station recently had a more down-to-earth opinionometer, something like

1. How safe do you feel at this station?
2. Are you male or female?

I don't think Manor House is ready for the "world-class" questions until people stop being whipped by belts (etc) in the ticket hall.

dunce | 05.03.08 - 11:57 a.m. | #











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