Attitudes of transit employees toward merit pay

Merit pay programs are the most widely used financial incentive program among urban mass transit systems. An attitude survey was conducted at a large transit system to determine how employees perceived the merit pay program in which they participated. Employee attitudes toward the merit pay system were mixed. Their perceptions of the accuracy of the performance evaluation were quite negative. However, employees as a whole favored a system in which pay increases are not based on seniority and are not general increases.