on-board survey of bus and light rail customers may 8, 2006 transit marketing, llc cji research...

On-board Survey of Bus and Light Rail Customers

May 8, 2006

Transit Marketing, LLC

CJI Research Corporation

On-Board Survey• Pre-survey to identify key satisfaction factors • 2312 Passengers Surveyed

– 1487 Bus– 728 Light Rail– 97 Neighborhood Ride

• Data weighted to reflect ridership• Survey Administered by in

– English– Spanish– Russian– Hmong– Vietnamese– Chinese

• Option provided for passengers with disabilities or those making short trips

2

Usage Characteristics

4

4

User Segments by ModeMix of bus and light rail useUse of rail or bus or mix

(Source: RT Onboard Survey, 2006)

Uses only bus

25%

Uses Mix

56%

Uses only rail

19%

5

5

Transit frequency segments and their mix of transit modes ( “Rider type ”)

Type of user by frequency of using RT


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Six or seven days 34% 26% 52% 43%

Four or five days 39% 54% 32% 38%

One to three days 27% 20% 16% 20%

Uses only bus Uses only rail Uses Mix All riders

Frequency of Use

Most riders are regular users.

81% ride 4+ days per week.

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6

Years using RT, by rider typeYear riders began using RT regularly


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2006 14% 13% 14% 14%

2004 - 2005 35% 35% 28% 31%

2001 - 2003 19% 20% 24% 22%

1950 to 2000 33% 32% 34% 33%


Duration of Ridership

45% of riders began riding RT between 2004 and 2006

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7

Trip purpose by rider typeTrip purpose by Type of user


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Other 6% 4% 5% 5%

Social services 7% 7% 6% 7%

Medical 4% 1% 4% 4%

Social/recreation 1% 0% 3% 2%

College/Voc school 9% 4% 11% 9%

Grade/Middle/High school 17% 3% 11% 11%

Shopping 13% 8% 12% 11%

Work 44% 73% 48% 52%


Trip Purpose

72% of transit trips are work or school commutes

73% of rail-only riders were making work trips

Rider Demographics

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Age by rider typeAge by Rider type


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

48 or older 27% 30% 21% 24%

32 through 47 21% 28% 26% 25%

22 through 31 20% 25% 24% 23%

Youngest through 21 32% 17% 29% 28%


Age

51% of riders are age 31 or younger

Rail-only riders are somewhat older

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10

Age or RT Riders vs. Population

Heavy transit use among younger age groups is typical of transit systems nationally

Ages of Sacramento County residents and riders compared(Sources: RT 2006 Onboard Survey and US Census, 2004 projections)

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

20.0%

Sacramento County

Onboard survey

Sacramento County 10.0 8.1% 8.6% 8.5% 8.5% 8.5% 9.6% 8.5% 7.3% 5.6% 4.7% 3.3% 3.4% 2.2% 1.8% 1.3%

Onboard survey 3.3% 17.9 14.6 11.0 7.5% 7.2% 8.8% 9.7% 8.6% 5.1% 2.8% 1.1% 1.1% 0.4% 0.6% 0.1%

10 to 14

15 to 19

20 to 24

25 to 29

30 to 34

35 to 39

40 to 44

45 to 49

50 to 54

55 to 59

60 to 64

65 to 69

70 to 74

75 to 79

80 to 84

85 and over

11

11Employment, by rider type

Employment, by rider type


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Employed for pay in your home 1% 0% 1% 1%

Retired 5% 2% 2% 2%

Homemaker 2% 0% 2% 2%

Unemployed 3% 1% 5% 4%

Disabled and not employed 3% 1% 5% 4%

Student AND Employed 4% 3% 5% 5%

Student 28% 10% 26% 24%

Employed for pay outside your

home

54% 83% 54% 59%


Employment Status

88% of riders are commuters: either employed or students

83% of rail-only users are employed

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12

Transit dependence, by rider typeTransit dependence by rider type


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No license or no vehicle 66% 32% 71% 62%

Shared vehicle 15% 27% 14% 17%

Vehicle and license 19% 41% 15% 21%


Transit Dependence

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Income

53% of riders have household incomes of $25K or less

34% of all riders but 65% of rail-only riders have HH incomes of $35K or more

Income, by rider typeIncome, by rider type


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

More than $100,000 7% 12% 3% 6%

$75,000 to $100,000 7% 22% 4% 9%

$50,000 to $74,999 11% 21% 7% 11%

$35,000 to $49,999 11% 10% 6% 8%

$25,000 to $34,999 14% 12% 12% 13%

$20,000 to $24,999 12% 10% 16% 14%

$15,000 to $19,999 5% 4% 7% 5%

$10,000 to $14,999 9% 4% 9% 8%

Less than $10,000 25% 5% 35% 26%


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Income of Riders vs. Population

Riders are lower income than the overall population

Relative youth and lower income of riders are related

Income of rider and community householdsIncome of community and of riders compared

(Sources, RT Onboard Survey, 2006 and US Census projections, 2004)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Sacramento County

Onboard survey

Sacramento County 6% 6% 10% 14% 15% 21% 13% 16%

Onboard survey 26% 8% 19% 13% 8% 11% 9% 6%

Less than $10,000

$10,000 to $14,999

$15,000 to $24,999

$25,000 to $34,999

$35,000 to $49,999

$50,000 to $74,999

$75,000 to $99,999

More than $100,000

Fares and Information

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Fare Payment

33% of riders pay fare in cash

37% use a monthly or half-month pass

31% pay a student fare or use a college pass

10% receive an elderly/ disabled discount

Paying the fareHow fares are paid


Cash - regular adult

23%

Cash - student

7%

Cash - senior

2%

Cash - disabled

1%

Mo or half mo pass - Regular

adult

23%

Day pass - regular adult

9%

Mo or half mo pass - student8%

Other pass - Los Rios Col

7%

Mo or half mo pass - disabled

4%

Day pass - student

5%

CSUS

4%

Mo or half mo pass - senior

2%

Day pass - disabled

1%

Day pass - senior

0%Other

4%

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Fare Preferences

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18Sources of transit information, by rider type, as a percent of s ources mentioned (not of rider type). Multiple sources accepted.

Main source of information, by rider type


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

511 Service 2% 1% 3% 2%

Next Stop News 2% 2% 2% 2%

System Map 2% 4% 5% 4%

Ask RT Operator 7% 7% 8% 7%

Displays at Stations 6% 15% 9% 10%

RT Telephone Info 12% 5% 14% 12%

Bus Book 15% 9% 18% 16%

RT Website 25% 36% 19% 24%

Pocket Schedule 30% 21% 23% 24%


Primary Information Sources 65% of riders have internet access at home or work

44% of riders have visited RT website

Customer Satisfaction

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Satisfaction overall with RT service,by rider type

Overall satisfaction by type of rider


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Not satisfied at all 1% 3% 5% 4%

2 2% 4% 3% 3%

3 4% 4% 7% 6%

4 17% 10% 16% 15%

5 23% 29% 22% 23%

6 28% 29% 25% 26%

Very satisfied 25% 20% 23% 23%


Customer Satisfaction: Overall

72% of riders rated RT positively (5 or above on a 7 point scale)

21

21Customer satisfaction in detail

(Percent rating services “Excellent ” only)

Percent scoring each service "Excellent"(Source: RT Onboard Survey, 2006)

16%

18%

19%

19%

19%

19%

21%

22%

22%

24%

24%

26%

28%

29%

30%

30%

32%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Shelters/benches at bus stops & rail stations

Freedom from nuisance behavior of others

Cleanliness of transit vehicles

Frequency of service on the weekend

Time service stops running in the evening

Transit vehicles not overcrowded

Connections at transfer points

Frequency of delays for breakdowns or repairs

Service running when schedule says - on time

Security at transfer points

Total travel time for your trip

The fare you pay

Frequency of service on weekdays

Safety from crime on the transit vehicles

Friendly, courteous drivers

Safe, competent drivers

Availability of schedule information

Customer Satisfaction: Top Box Scores

Percent rating each aspect of service as excellent (7)

22

22Detail of customer satisfaction, by rider type

Percent scoring each service "Excellent," by rail, bus or mix(Source: RT Onboard Survey, 2006)

15%

18%

17%

17%

17%

17%

20%

21%

20%

24%

23%

25%

27%

29%

28%

29%

30%

17%

21%

27%

21%

20%

22%

21%

16%

20%

26%

27%

28%

28%

35%

34%

33%

35%

20%

17%

18%

26%

23%

20%

26%

20%

28%

22%

24%

27%

29%

23%

32%

31%

34%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Shelters/benches at bus stops & rail stations

Freedom from nuisance behavior of others

Cleanliness of transit vehicles

Frequency of service on the weekend

Time service stops running in the evening

Transit vehicles not overcrowded

Connections at transfer points

Frequency of delays for breakdowns or repairs

Service running when schedule says - on time

Security at transfer points

Total travel time for your trip

The fare you pay

Frequency of service on weekdays

Safety from crime on the transit vehicles

Friendly, courteous drivers

Safe, competent drivers

Availability of schedule information

Uses Mix

Uses only railUses only bus

Ratings by Rider Type

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Impact scores Impact scores - all riders


0.0000

0.0500

0.1000

0.1500

0.2000

0.2500

0.3000

0.3500

Customer Satisfaction: Impact Scores

24

24Impact scores, by rider typeImpact scores by use of rail, bus or mix


0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

Uses only bus Uses only rail Uses Mix

Rail-only riders are more impacted by other passengers, overcrowding, vehicle cleanliness and security.

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25

25Impact scores, by rider typeImpact scores by use of rail, bus or mix


0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

Uses only bus Uses only rail Uses Mix

Bus and Mixed mode riders are more concerned with on-time performance and hours of service

25

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Ridership Retention

31% of RT riders expect or hope to stop using RT

Rail-only riders are most “loyal”

Expectation for continued use of RT, by rider type

Expectation for continued use of RT, by rider type

"A year from now, do you expect to…"


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Stop using RT for another

reason

7% 8% 6% 7%

Get a car and stop usingRT

26% 11% 27% 24%

Keep using RT 67% 82% 66% 69%


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Rider Retention – A Closer Look

A year from now, do you expect to:

21 and younger 22-31 32-47 48+

Keep using RT 48% 67% 76% 86%

Get a car and stop using RT 43% 24% 19% 10%

Stop using RT for another reason 9% 9% 5% 4%

How old are you? (Quartiles)

Loyalty increases with age

Young riders are most likely to “expect” to get a car and stop using RT

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Conclusions

• Regional Transit services carry a diverse ridership population, with large components of work and school commuters.

• Most riders rate the system positively (5 or above on a 7 point scale) but there are distinct opportunities to improve satisfaction and rider retention.

• There are distinct differences in the demographics and concerns of users of different modes.

on-board survey of bus and light rail customers may 8, 2006 transit marketing, llc cji research...

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