I wish, though, that communication were more consistently embraced.
Over the holidays, I rode MegaBus from NYC to Washington, DC. My daughter and I had the best seats in the house: front row, top level of the double-decker bus with our own power outlets and working WiFi. After waiting an hour and a half outdoors in a downpour [we had arrived early, hoping to get on an earlier bus], we felt we had not only earned our seats, but also reached nirvana. We were warm, dry, comfortable and connected. Rain, holiday traffic, rush hour - we dealt with those happily.
Until we reached a rest-stop and learned we would stop for 30 minutes [most rest-stops last 10 minutes at most].
And discovered that our bus had stopped not at the special express bus area that offered easy and safe access to Delaware House, a really pleasant and clean Airport-like rest-stop, but instead at the truck-stop area where we had to dodge trucks and traffic to reach either a convenience store or Delaware House itself.
And found out after our 30 minutes turned into 60 minutes that a passenger had been lost... [we eventually got her back].
Our trip was originally scheduled to last 4:30 hours. It wound up taking over 6:30 hours.
Now, stuff happens - especially during the holidays, during rush hour and in the rain. However, what this Megabus customer service experience highlighted was that the following really matter! More specifically,
Although I described this as a "Megabus trip from hell" on Twitter, my daughter and I made it to our destination safely. We were appalled at the lost passenger situation and the truck stop experience - both unprofessional.
In contrast, on our return trip back on BoltBus, the driver welcomed us, stated there would be no stops other than to our final destination and asked us to be considerate of fellow passengers and deposit trash in specific bags.
This reimagined form of travel is still evolving. We used to be picked up/dropped off from specific city street corners. In DC, these buses now do so from Union Station. As UrbanCincy reports in The time is ripe for a central intercity bus terminal in Cincinnati [from which the image above comes], cities [including New York City and Washington DC] are realizing the benefits of intercity bus travel - as well as interstate highway rest stops [such as Delaware House].
That means more focus on delivering consistent customer service experiences from Megabus and other bus services, starting with better communications, training and consistent guidelines.
As you deliver your customer experiences, how might you ensure better communication, training and guidelines? Have you come across some good examples to use as models?