Operating Philosophy

By John Miché

Quality is that ineffable part of an organization which continually strives for excellence. It is not merely the ability to meet established specifications, but an inherent desire to exceed them. Machines, no matter how advanced they may be, do not produce quality, people do. Quality begins and ends with people.

BART is, in many respects, a dysfunctional organization. Throughout its history, BART has captured many unflattering headlines regarding failures of its internal and external relationships. Quality is impossible in face of such discordance, poor service is the result.

As for public policy, I do not agree with the premise that public transit must be forever subsidized. While special services for the advancement social concerns deserve and may require subsidies, normal operations should not. Unfortunately, given the hidden subsidies promoting the use of private automobiles, public transit is uneconomical, and may continue to require subsidies as long as this artificial economy persists.

As for the debate regarding the economics of publicly verses privately operated utilities, I do not agree that private companies are inherently more efficient than public agencies. That a private company is profitable does not indicate an effective use of resources. Both private and public organizations are ineffective and wasteful when they lack quality consciousness.

The daily news is filled with the doom and gloom of our times, raise taxes or cut services. There is another way, quality is the alternative. As in the title words of W Edwards Deming's recent book on the subject, quality is the way "Out of the Crisis". Continuous improvement of quality, decreases cost, attracts new customers, and increases market share.

The primary purpose of the BART system is to provide people with efficient, reliable public transportation. People will not long pay for a system that is wasteful of its resources and unreliable in the service it provides. In this regard, it is my hope, that I may contribute to improving the quality of the BART sys