2015 Annual Report INDEX CHAIR’S LETTER OF SUBMITTAL TO CITY COUNCIL COMMISSIONERS AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT STAFF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 AN INTEGRATED, AFFORDABLE AND VALUED MOBILITY CHOICE 3 DEMONSTRATED FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY 10 BEING OPEN, TRANSPARENT AND UNDERSTOOD 14 EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE 15 AN ENGAGED, DIVERSE AND RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE 17 LOOKING FORWARD - TRANSFORMATIONAL INITIATIVES 18 THE LONDON TRANSIT COMMISSION COMMISSION - CURRENT SHERYL ROOTH CHAIR DEAN SHEPPARD VICE CHAIR JESSE HELMER COMMISSIONER ERIC SOUTHERN COMMISSIONER PHIL SQUIRE COMMISSIONER SENIOR MANAGEMENT - CURRENT KELLY PALECZNY GENERAL MANAGER MIKE GREGOR DIRECTOR OF FINANCE JOHN FORD DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION & PLANNING CRAIG MORNEAU DIRECTOR OF FLEET & FACILITIES JOANNE GALLOWAY DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY London Transit‟s vision in the 2015-2018 Business Plan is to be the valued and trusted mobility choice for Londoners. The vision is supported by the mission statement which is moving Londoners – progressively, reliably and affordably. The vision and mission are supported by five linked and, in certain respects, competing strategic outcomes, namely: An integrated, affordable and valued mobility choice Demonstrated fiscal accountability Being open, transparent and understood Effective utilization of infrastructure An engaged, diverse and respectful workplace Consistent with the Business Planning Process, each year an annual report is completed and shared publicly. The report provides an overview of how the LTC performed against each of the strategic outcomes identified in the Business Plan. The table below sets out the performance against the outcomes for the 2015 fiscal year. Strategic Outcome Grade Comments An integrated, Needs Implementation of 5 year service plan is affordable and valued Improvement anticipated to address the majority of service mobility choice concerns relating to both service quality and levels of service provided. Demonstrated fiscal Excellent Overall effective cost management including a accountability flat-line of both City of London investment and rider investment (fares). Being open, Satisfactory Communications in all areas continues to be a transparent and work in progress. understood Effective utilization of Excellent Assets are considered to be „very good – fit for infrastructure the future‟. An engaged, diverse The complete re-development and and respectful implementation of training programs relating to workplace Good the areas of customer service, human rights, diversity in the workplace, driver certification and health and safety in 2015 has provided a solid foundation going forward. The grades of „needs improvement‟ in the area of „integrated, affordable and valued mobility choice‟ and „satisfactory‟ in the area of „being open, transparent and understood‟, highlight the two areas of focus going forward. 1 With respect to „an integrated, affordable and valued mobility choice‟, combined ridership on London‟s conventional and specialized transit services declined in 2015 to 22.7 million rides, eliminating the gains in ridership made from 2012 through 2014. The decline in ridership was isolated to the conventional service, and is directly related to a program change with Ontario Works that now sees clients issued funds directly for transportation versus the historic approach of issuing a monthly transit pass. Isolating the decline associated with the Ontario Works change from the ridership analysis indicates that conventional ridership levels in 2015 were consistent with those achieved in 2014, notwithstanding the introduction of approximately 17,500 annual service hours in 2015. The additional service hours were targeted to result in a moderate 1.5% increase in ridership, which did not occur. Ridership on the specialized service continued the trend of growth in 2015, reaching total ridership of 273,000, the highest in the service history. The flat-lining of conventional transit ridership is not isolated to London, transit systems across the country have experienced the same trends, some even declining notwithstanding the ongoing and continued investment in public transit services. History demonstrates that conventional transit ridership is influenced by factors both internal and external to the transit system. Internal factors, those within the control of the transit system, include service design (hours, frequency and coverage), service quality (safety, reliability, comfort) and service pricing. The implementation of the 5 Year Service Plan over the period 2015-2019 is intended to address the longstanding issues relating to service design and quality. Factors that influence transit ridership that are considered external to the transit system (not within the system‟s control), include population and demographics, urban form, economy, employment, transportation options and emerging technologies within the local service area. Gaining a better understanding of the impacts of these factors on London‟s ridership will be key going forward to ensure that the system continues to operate at or near the top of Ontario transit systems in key service efficiency and effectiveness measures. The objective of „being open, transparent and understood‟, which received a „satisfactory‟ score, will also be the focus of work programs going forward. 2015 saw the launch of an LTC Service Plan Twitter account and Facebook page as well as the growing use of electronic messaging for internal communications, all of which were well received. The focus for 2016 will be ensuring that decision making includes not only the view from a business perspective, but also from the customer‟s perspective, resulting in an improved customer experience. A number of the programs planned for 2016 will provide the opportunity for increased customer input with respect to what they want from their transit service, feedback which may provide insight into the external factors impacting ridership and opportunities to address same. 2 AN INTEGRATED, AFFORDABLE AND VALUED MOBILITY CHOICE The strategic objective calls for the continued development and delivery of accessible public transit services that are integrated with other modes of transportation, dynamic in nature and considered a valued investment to all stakeholders. The following table sets out an assessment of the 2015 performance against key elements of this strategy. Key Elements Grade Reviewing the transit service to ensure it meets the needs of a growing, competing and changing market (includes service design, Excellent routing, frequency and accessibility) Delivering the service consistent with defined schedules and Needs standards Improvement Developing and implementing proven technology in support of an Good effective, efficient and evolving transit service Progressing in the development and delivery of integrated, Needs Significant accessible public transit services Improvement Conventional Transit Services As noted in the following chart which compares actual 2015 ridership and related measures to 2015 budget, expectations were not met for any of the three key efficiency measures. 2015 Ridership Performance Actual vs. Budget -2.3% Actual -1.6% Budget -2.3% Ridership Rides per capita Rides per rev. (millions) service hour The „ridership‟ and related „rides per capita‟1 measures were negatively impacted by a change in the Ontario Works program that took effect in late 2014. The program now provides clients with funding to cover transportation needs versus the historic issuance of a monthly public transit pass, leaving the choice of transportation option to the user. Eliminating the impact of the 3 program change, ridership for 2015 was level with that in 2014, which is concerning given the significant service level improvements that have been implemented beginning in 2014. The „rides per revenue service hour‟2 measure can be viewed from two perspectives, in that the higher it is, the more efficiently the service is operating (i.e. buses are full), and the lower it is, the more quality the service is from a customer perspective, in that the buses will be less crowded and customers will, more often, be able to get a seat. This measure is one that requires a delicate balance in order to ensure efficiency and offer quality at the same time. The 2015 results for this measure are directly reflective of the decline in overall ridership notwithstanding the increase in service hours. The ridership and service hour performance over the period of 2012-2015 is set out in the following chart. Over the period of 2012-2014, ridership growth was occurring at an average rate of approximately 1.9% per year, but declined by 5.9% in 2015, resulting in ridership levels consistent with those achieved in 2012. Conversely, service hours over the period have increased by an average rate of approximately 1.5% per year. The positive for 2015 with respect to these measures, is the impact the combined decline in ridership and increase in service hours has had on service quality issues including overcrowding. Conventional Ridership and Service Hours 24.0 0.585 23.5 0.575 23.0 0.565 Rides 22.5 0.555 Hours 22.0 0.545 21.5 0.535 2012 2013 2014 2015 Ridership(millions) 23.5 23.6 23.8 22.4 Rev Service Hrs (millions) 0.553 0.560 0.571 0.581 Conventional Service Performance Indicators 70.0 60.0 50.0 Rides 40.0 30.0 20.0 2012 2013 2014 2015 Rides per capita 63.5 63.1 63.1 58.7 Rides per rev. service hr. 42.5 42.1 41.7 38.5 1Rides per capita: total rides divided by population – provides for comparison