Private sector infrastructure providers, often relying on user fees from customers for revenue, have a strong incentive to focus on providing superior customer service.29 Moreover, as the asset is no longer managed by the public sector, the public sector is able to concentrate more on ensuring the provider maintains certain customer service levels.
In the case of accommodation PPPs, such as schools or defense facilities, customer satisfaction metrics can be built into the contract to ensure a strong customer orientation. In the United Kingdom, more than three-quarters of end users reported their public-private partnership projects were performing as expected or better than expected; one-quarter said that the facilities were "far surpassing" expectations.30
Innovation in customer service delivery helps to account for such high satisfaction levels. Motorists using the Citylink private tollway in Melbourne, Australia, for example, receive alerts when their account is low and can top up their accounts from their mobile phone. A mobile customer service unit traverses the city around the clock, visiting customers at work and at home, helping to install tags and answer account questions. Dissatisfied customers can file complaints with the CityLink Ombudsman, an independent dispute resolution service that investigates complaints and proposes ways to resolve the issues. The private operator has also introduced a customer charter and customer performance scorecard; by measuring CityLink's performance against charter targets and making the results public, the process has increased transparency and accountability.31
In the United States, the owners of the 91 express lanes in southern California hold focus groups to learn more about how to please customers.