www.TransformingTransportation.org

Rich Data on the Cheap: The $73 Transit User Survey

Gwen Kash, PhD CandidatePresented at Transforming Transportation 2015

RICH DATA ON THE CHEAP:

The $73 Transit User SurveyGwen KashPhD Candidate, Department of City and Regional PlanningThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

gwenkash@email.unc.edu

Transforming Transportation, January 15, 2015

The Problem:

Photos by author unless otherwise noted.

WHAT WE DID

• 967 Respondents

• Intercept Survey at Transit Stops

• Day and Night

• Across the City

• Collaborative Design (Autonomous Municipal Government of El Alto, Bolivia and me)

• Open and closed• Stated and revealed• Opinions• Experiences• Perceptions

• Qual and Quant

Range of Topics

Range of Question Types

• Travel Behavior• Current Problems

• Priorities• Bad Experiences

• Frequency• How Distressing

• Bus Sariri• Knowledge• Expectations• Preferences• Willingness to pay

Expectations for Bus Sariri

Benefits

1. Security/Crime (34%)

2. Road Safety (24%)

3. Access for Disabled (17%)

4. Faster (11%)

Drawbacks

1. Slower (21%)

2. Routes (11%)

3. Big Buses/Small Streets (7%)

4. Won’t Maintain it (6%)

How much does waiting 10-15 minutes for the bus bother you?

Not at all A Little A Lot

5%

37%

59%

28% of users who gave up and walked had waited 15 minutes or less.

An unsolveable problem? Maybe not.

According to qualitative results,

it’s not just about the time.

“At night… we have to wait a long time, and if there are buses, they all pass full.”

Uncertainty, Crime, and Discrimination

“In the La Ceja [market area], there is a lot of crime and the drivers don’t want to pick us up when we have bags.”

What do you need for a survey?•1 person who knows how to do a survey

•1-2 people to enter data

•5-15 people willing to learn

Paying People to Work for Free• Find someone who is looking for a project

• PhD or Masters Thesis

• Undergraduate internship

• Summer research experience

• Professor who is teaching a community-focused class

• If inexperienced, good advisor and advance preparation is important

• Help them get data

• Existing and to be collected

• Make sure to have data use agreement

Paying People to Work for Free• Get someone else to pay them (e.g. provide

support on scholarship/grant applications)

• Save them time (e.g. with worker recruitment)

• Take care of the boring stuff (data entry, photocopies)

• Support their entire project

• Include parts that don’t benefit you directly

• Access, invitations, contacts

• Save them money using your existing resources

Paying People to Work for Free• Provide goods or services they would otherwise be paying for

• Data collectors

• Office supplies

• Printing

• Photocopies

• Transcription

• Data Entry

• Transport

• Some Data Entry

• Some Transport

My Expected Expenses:

My Actual Expenses:

Organizing Data Collection2. Determine Roles and

Responsibilities• Questionnaire Design• Identifying surveyors• Training surveyors• Supervising • Supplies (photocopies,

arranging transport, etc.)

• Data Entry• Data use agreements

1. Determine Scope• Topics

• Desired Sample Size

• Available resources

• Timeline

• Draft Survey

3. Train Surveyors

• Office and Field

• Recruitment and interviewing

• Personally Observe

• Start with extras & weed if needed

• Identify potential field team leaders

Organizing Data Collection4. Make Adjustments• Get interviewers’

observations• Make modifications• Final field testing

5. Collect Data• Assign field team

leaders/supervisors• Continue to observe

interviews as needed• Monitor data as it

arrives

WHERE TO SPLURGE: Questionnaire Design

Reduce Travel Times Traffic Jams

2%

40%

Two problems with public transit according to users

Local Knowledge Is Important.

More Best Practices• Make Sure Everybody

benefits

• Use proactive quality control

• Vary types of questions

• Listen to your surveyors

• Prepare for future surveys

• Train staff members

• Build in flexibility

Thank You

Special thanks to:

Secretaría Municipal de Movilidad Urbana y Transporte del Gobierno Autónomo Municipal de El Alto

El Comité Bi-Municipal SITM de La Paz y El Alto

The UNC Van Huyck Fellowship

The Carolina Center for Public Service Community Engagement Fellowship