Metro ridership in Washington, D.C., has plummeted over the last decade, and a large portion of defecting riders cite reliably as their primary concern. Now, the embattled agency wants to try something new: refunds. Going forward, a program called the “Rush-Hour Promise” could provide refund credits to peak-period Metrobus and rail riders forced to endure delays of 15 minutes or more.
“These are very big, complex systems and things do happen every day, but from a customer perspective what we’re saying is in effect that we will get you to where you should be within 15 minutes of the schedule,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said, according to the paper. “We’re trying to show you that we can be that predictable in our service.”