PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SURVEY RESULTS

Please note that the results of this survey may not be representative of the population at large. I posted the link on MySpace and Facebook, and sent an email to a number of contacts in my address book asking people to take the survey. Twenty-two people responded and eighteen people completed the survey; so view the results within the parameters of the pool of responses, as they likely were from people I knew personally, and thus more likely to share experiences and have other demographic similarities. Rather, view the results as a snapshot of what some folks in Albany have to say about public transportation, and compare it with your own feelings. I'm all about feelings at "Riding the Bus."

Additionally, my mother issued a formal complaint on Thanksgiving, advising me that the survey was set-up wrong because if you hadn't used public transportation in the past year, there was no point in continuing.

I apologize for that, as I would have liked whatever feedback respondents had to provide. My purpose in limiting usage questions to the past year was that I wanted to know how people felt about public transportation as it is now, as opposed to how it may have been five or ten or twenty years ago. Even though the survey is officially closed, if you have more to add, by all means, shoot me an email (robyn.torres@gmail.com), or leave a comment. I always like to hear what people have to say, and I'm pretty good about remembering to post it.

That being said, onto the results:

1. What is your age?
All respondents were between the ages of 18-64, with the greatest number of those (n=15, or 68%) in the 18-34 age group. 6 people were between the ages of 35-54, and 1 person was in the 55-64 age group.

2. What is your gender?
5 males (22.7%) and 17 females (77.3%) took the survey.

3. In what type of setting do you live?
10 respondents reported living in a suburban area (45.5%), while 6 each reported living in an urban environment or a rural environment. While the bulk of respondents lived in the suburbs, the majority of respondents lived at one end of the population spectrum or the other.

4. Do you have access to a car?
21 respondents (95.5%) reported always having access to a car, while one person reported almost never having access to a car. Everyone, however, had some level of access.

5. What type of public transportation have you used in the past year?
Just over half of the respondents (54.5%) said they had not used public transportation in the past year. Of the remaining half, 36.4% used the subway, 22.7% used a commuter train, and 27.3% rode a bus. Rail commuting, then, was most the most prevalent method of transportation respondents used in the past year at 59.1%. One person (4.5%) said they used airplanes and taxis.

6. If you have used public transportation in the past year, has it been to go to/from:
Most people said they used transportation for leisure activities (7 respondents, or 58.3%), followed by work (4 respondents, or 33.3%). Shopping was third on the list, with two respondents (16.7%), followed by school and non-work related appointments at 8.3% each. Other responses included vacation and frequent flying for non-specified purposes (the respondent said s/he hit the button by accident and was just trying to move to the next question).

7. Would you say it was convenient to use public transportation?
5 people (38.5%) said it was mostly convenient to use public transportation, while 3 said it was "not really" convenient. 1 person said it was definitely convenient to use public transportation, and 1 person said it was not convenient at all. Two respondents selected "Other": one commented "No idea where the bus is going;" and the other wrote, "Would have to get up an hour earlier each day to use it, so instead I have to drive to the city I work in then take public transportation from my car to my job. I work two jobs and if I was only able to rely on public
transportation I would have no way home at night after the second job and would be stranded having to pay a taxi more than I make at the second job to get me back home."

Based on the answers listed above, most people fall in the middle with regard to their feelings about the convenience of using public transportation. While one person had very positive feelings, the others' comments would suggest that they felt using public transportation was either confusing or not reliable for someone with a hectic schedule.

8. Would you use public transportation again?
85.7% (n=12) responded yes; 7.1% (n=1) responded no. One respondent wrote, "Only if I had to." Overall, many more respondents said they would use public transportation again.

9. Would you ever stop using your car to use public transportation?
Over half of the respondents, or 55.6%, said they would not stop using their car to take public transportation. 27.8% said they would, and the remaining 16.7% were undecided.

10. What, if anything, would cause you to use public transportation more than you already do?
10 people answered the question. 2 said nothing would cause them to use it more, while 1 was unsure. 1 person wrote, "If I worked more than twice a week," perhaps indicating lack of incentive. 3 people said they would use it more if they had better access to it. 2 people said they would be more motivated to use public transportation if they became "totally sick of putting money into my car," or if they couldn't afford to drive anymore. 1 person would use it more with "better information, park and ride, safety issues."

Conclusion: All in all, most of the people who took the survey would use public transportation again or thought it was relatively convenient, but they wouldn't give up driving unless they absolutely had to because driving was easier, more convenient, less confusing, or they had more access to a car than they did to public transportation. If transit usage were to increase dramatically, transit systems would probably have to make it easier and less confusing to ride. No one argued that it was cheaper to drive a car; they were just willing to pay more for greater convenience. Ironically, people usually pay for things they don't have to do themselves. In this case, the service was less helpful than [good old-fashioned] self-reliance.