Compete more effectively with van services. The public transportation system has lost many riders to private van and jitney services. The best response is to run a more competitive service. Free transfers are a good start and have won back significant numbers of van riders who are looking for the best deal. Give riders more information.
Transit needs to do a much better job of making announcements on buses.
The New York City Department of Transportation should better maintain its bus stop schedules and route maps. There s much promise in NYC Transit s pilot project for smart bus shelters, which use satellite technology to give its customers real time information on the arrival time of buses. Keep buses cleaner. Transit s own surveys show that many routes are filthy and have interior graffiti. Transit should explore new ways of attacking dirt and litter, including negotiating with its unions on whether bus drivers can help clean buses during stopovers enroute.