Here's some data to grab your attention. Read on to get a proper understanding of what I'm doing, and why Metro's performance statistics are NONSENSE.
| All journeys in observation period | |
| Number of trips in observation period | 15 |
| Trips 5 minutes or more late | 7 |
| Proportion of trips late | 46.67% |
| Cumulative minutes late | 65 |
| Average minutes late | 4.34 |
If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that my mission is to record and analyse the perfomance of Metro on the trips that I take to and from work in the CBD, travelling on the Sandringham line. Please read my very first post to learn why I'm bothering to do this (it isn't because I have nothing better to do - honestly!).
I normally catch trains to work that are scheduled to leave Sandringham between 7:30am and 8:30am on weekdays. For each journey that I make, I record the actual departure time (for the station at which I get on), and the actual arrival time at Flinders Street station. I have synchronised my watch with Metro's clock to ensure accuracy (assuming that Metro's clocks actually operate properly - surely this is a safe assumption?). I will publish lots of detail on this trip.
The timing of my return trip is less regular, but usually I aim for trains that are scheduled to leave Flinders Street between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. As the timing of my return trips is a bit unpredictable, I will only publish summary data for this leg.
Once I've collected a meaningful amount of data, I plan to contact Metro and the VIC government to ask for feedback. I know that you won't be holding your breath for Metro or the government to respond with anything beyond the usual standard blurb, heavy on weasel words, references to stakeholders and general corporate speak waffle, but I feel compelled to try. I might even see if I can get The Age to publish something, hopefully attracting more readers to this blog (at the moment I feel as though I'm shouting into a dark, empty silence).
Drum roll please.......
Performance Update #1
Trips to the city
| Number of trips in observation period | 9 |
| Trips 5 minutes or more late | 4 |
| Proportion of trips late | 44.44% |
| Cumulative minutes late | 37.85 |
| Average minutes late | 4.21 |
Detailed trip data:
| Date | From Sandringham | Minutes late at Flinders Street |
| 09/03/2011 | 8:17 | 3.73 |
| 10/03/2011 | 8:27 | 0.83 |
| 11/03/2011 | 8:17 | 0.47 |
| 16/03/2011 | 8:17 | 0.25 |
| 17/03/2011 | 8:27 | 8.83 |
| 18/03/2011 | 8:08 | 5.10 |
| 21/03/2011 | 9:20 | 2.00 |
| 22/03/2011 | 8:17 | 8.17 |
| 23/03/2011 | 8:27 | 8.47 |
Trips from the city
| Number of trips in observation period | 6 |
| Trips 5 minutes or more late | 3 |
| Proportion of trips late | 50.00% |
| Cumulative minutes late | 27.27 |
| Average minutes late | 4.54 |
Let's put the data above into context. Metro's performance target is to run at least 88% of trains within 5 minutes of the timetable schedule. This means that at least 12% of trains must run late for Metro to be penalised. To me, 12% sounds quite high (it gives Metro plenty of leeway before there is a penalty), but that is the benchmark.
For the trips that I made to work, only 55.56% of services were within 5 minutes of the timetable. 44.44% (so virtually half) of trips were 5 minutes or more late. Based on my experience, Metro failed its performance hurdle by a country mile.
I'm actually not surprised by the statistics. I had intuitively registered that the performance was rubbish, I just hadn't recorded it accurately before. This first update was during an uneventful period for Metro. There were no major service disruptions (storms, power outages etc). It was a relatively 'normal' period of crappy, unreliable service.
Do you see where I am going with this blog now? My initial data supports my argument that the Metro performance statistics are NONSENSE. Even the most incompetent management team can run almost empty trains during non-rush hour periods on time. Measuring performance during non-rush hour periods is just not meaningful. My statistics (which I accept are imperfect) show how Metro is performing (or failing to perform) during the periods in which most commuter journeys are made.
I encourage others to start to record data. Let's see how bad things are on other lines. Remember that we actually pay to use the trains. How many other companies can get away with such poor performance and still have increasing customers? Are we trapped? It appears so.
Until my next update, good luck with your commuting. You'll need it.
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