The four main objectives of the metro benchmarking groups are:
To share knowledge and identify best practices in a confidential environment
To support members in achieving their operational and strategic goals – focusing on improvements
To build systems of measures for use by management and to establish public transport best practices
To prioritise areas for improvement and support decision-making for management, boards, government, and other stakeholders
CoMET benchmarking
The key performance indicator system is used by the CoMET during the benchmarking process in order to compare performance across the member metro systems. The purpose of benchmarking is to search for best practices that lead to superior performance. There are approximately 30 top-level indicators, which are designed to measure the overall performance of the organisation in six distinct areas:
Growth, learning, and innovation
Financial
Customer
Internal processes
Safety and security
Environment
The indicators are reviewed by members on an annual basis. The CoMET conducts two meetings per year. The group members operate under a full confidentiality agreement. This allows for full data and information exchange within the CoMET but not externally. Statistical analyses are used to provide greater understanding of the results, while time series analyses allow for trends in performance to be identified. This helps to highlight which members are changing their practices and what improvements are relatively achievable. Where clear differences or improvements in performance are identified, detailed analysis is carried out through case studies. Approximately four to six case studies are conducted in the CoMET and Nova group combined each year; these studies include detailed data analysis, questionnaires, and interviews with functional experts. Case studies are further supported by expert workshops where appropriate. In many cases, best practices may be found outside the metro industry, so other public transport operations and even other industries are reviewed for relevant practices.
Major publications
Some of the major publication journals by CoMET and NOVA include:
Canavan, S., Graham, D.J., Anderson, R.J., Barron, A.. Urban Metro Rail Demand: Evidence from Dynamic Generalised Method of Moments Estimates using Panel Data
Singh, R., Graham, D.J., Anderson, R. Characterising journey time performance on urban metro systems. TransitData conference, Santiago, Chile, 22 May 2017.
Hörcher,D., Graham,D.J., Anderson,R., Crowding cost estimation with large scale smart card and vehicle location data, Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, pp. 105-125
Brage-Ardao, R., Graham, D.J., Anderson, R.J., Barron, A.. Metro Operating Costs: Main Patterns and Determinants. Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting, Washington DC
