National Academies Press: OpenBook

On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques (2005)

Chapter: Chapter Seven - Costs

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Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Costs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13866.
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Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Costs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13866.
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Page 56
Page 57
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Costs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13866.
×
Page 57
Page 58
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Costs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13866.
×
Page 58
Page 59
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Costs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13866.
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Page 59

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55 On-board and intercept surveys involve a number of steps: planning, questionnaire design, fieldwork, data collection, data cleaning, analysis, and report writing. Given the dimen- sions of the effort involved, survey costs can be quite substantial. Overall costs for surveys reported by transit agencies ranged as high as $350,000. Survey costs can also be quite modest, particularly for smaller, targeted surveys. Approximately one-fifth of the surveys with cost data reported by transit agencies cost less than $10,000. Table 21 summarizes survey costs for 37 surveys for which transit agencies reported what appears to be usable cost information. Costs included were consultant costs for projects using consultants and the value of in-house staff time for projects conducted using in-house agency staff. (A few agencies reported the value of in-house staff time; in other cases, the value was estimated using approximated wage rates for professional, clerical, and field staff.) Some agencies reported consultant costs but not staff costs or time spent; these surveys are included because the consultant cost is likely to greatly exceed the value of staff time, but the omission should be borne in mind in analyzing the data. A useful way to assess survey costs is to calculate the total cost per completed survey, thus viewing costs relative to the number of surveys that were completed and usable. A large number of factors affect survey costs. As Table 21 shows, even when controlling for basic factors such as whether the survey was conducted by means of personal interviews or was self-administered, the cost per survey varies widely. Figure 6 summarizes key factors affecting data quality and survey cost. The widest range is seen for self-administered surveys distributed by survey workers, which show a range from $3 to $56 per completed interview. Costs for self- administered surveys distributed by bus operators ranged from $13 to $22 per completed interview. For surveys conducted using personal interviews, cost per survey ranged from $13 to $40, even after excluding several outlying values. Although it is difficult to fully explain these wide varia- tions, several observations can be made. In the largest group of surveys—self-administered surveys distributed by survey workers—the lower-cost surveys tended to be larger, sug- gesting that economies of scale reduce the cost per survey. Lower-cost surveys also were generally from transit agencies with relatively high numbers of riders per vehicle hour. Presumably, fewer survey worker hours are needed to contact a given number of riders with a positive impact on costs. The higher-cost, self-administered on-board surveys were likely to be O&D surveys, which require substan- tially more effort to code and analyze, but have small to moderate sample sizes. In some cases, the response rate is relatively low, further increasing the time needed to obtain a given number of surveys. Similar patterns are seen in surveys conducted by per- sonal interviews. Surveys with a lower cost per interview are often in high-density cities and have higher response rates. Survey costs are also affected by the overall scope of con- sultant contracts. Depending on the nature of the project objectives, there may be additional analytic or outreach tasks included in costs for some surveys that are not included for other surveys. CHAPTER SEVEN COSTS

56 Agency Project Name Consul- tant Cost Est. In- House Staff Costs* Est. Total Costs Completed Surveys Cost per Survey Com- pleted Response Rate If O&D Survey Unlinked Trips per Vehicle Hour Self-Administered Surveys Distributed by Survey Staff GCRTA (Cleveland) Annual Onboard Survey $650 $2,800 $3,450 935 $3.69 23% 32 TriMet (Portland, OR) TriMet Origin Destination Survey—Systemwide 2000 $270,000 $44,500 $314,500 81,100 $3.88 40% Yes 48 Metro (Los Angeles) Spring 2004 On-Board Customer Satisfaction Survey $60,000 $3,500 $63,500 14,265 $4.45 52% 60 Santa Monica (CA) Big Blue Bus Line-by-Line Analysis $15,586 $6,000 $21,586 4,709 $4.58 36% Yes 51 TriMet (Portland, OR) Annual Fare Survey $65,000 $16,750 $81,750 15,179 $5.39 62% 48 Metra (Chicago area) On-Board $150,000 $150,000 25,000 $6.00 50% 333 WMATA (Washington DC) Metrorail Passenger Survey $350,000 $350,000 57,700 $6.07 28% Yes ** Metro (St. Louis) Metro On-Board Survey Results Final Report June 2003 $20,000 $1,750 $21,750 3,500 $6.21 35% 39 Fort Worth Transportation Authority Customer Satisfaction Survey $1,000 $1,600 $2,600 403 $6.45 80% ** CTA (Chicago) Douglas Branch Blue Line Passenger Survey $800 $10,550 $11,350 1,756 $6.46 80% Yes ** Milwaukee County Transit System Trolley Evaluation $500 $800 $1,300 195 $6.67 N/A ** SANDAG (San Diego) Onboard Transit Passenger Survey $250,000 $50,000 $300,000 42,740 $7.02 54% Yes 49 Delaware Transit Onboard survey $0 $7,000 $7,000 960 $7.29 30% Yes 20 Systemwide TABLE 21 SURVEY COSTS

57 Greater Portland (ME) COG Passenger Survey $15,000 $15,000 2,038 $7.36 N/A 19 (SEPTA (Philadelphia) R-7 Origin, Destination, and Trip Purpose Study $0 $3,440 460 $7.48 86% Yes ** DART (Dallas) Multimodal Travel Pattern Analysis $150,000 $150,000 17,590 $8.53 42% Yes 37 LTD (Eugene, OR) 2004 Origin/Destination Study $42,000 $6,800 $48,800 5,528 $8.83 63% Yes 33 VTA (San Jose) 2000 On-Board Survey $200,000 $200,000 18,351 $10.90 41% Yes 33 Broward County (FL) Transit Public Involvement Component of the 2005 Transit Development Plan $23,600 $320 $23,920 1,400 $17.09 N/A 30 Potomac & Rappahannock Transportation Commission (Woodbridge, VA) Full on-board surveys of local and commuter bus riders $56,500 $56,500 2,544 $22.21 70% 13 Intercity Transit (Olympia, WA) Customer Satisfaction $43,000 $ 2,045 $45,045 1,885 $23.90 70% Yes 21 Orange County (CA) Transportation Authority 2001 On-Board Survey $250,000 $250,000 9,500 $26.32 38% Yes 38 Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (Ft. Wright, KY) Market Research $20,000 $ 3,000 $23,000 600 $38.33 60% 19 Sun Tran (Tucson, AZ) Tucson Transit Study $150,000 $150,000 3,300 $45.45 11% Yes 30 TARC (Louisville) Project Gobility $235,000 $235,000 4,211 $55.81 33% Yes 25 $3,440 Agency Project Name Consul- tant Cost Est. In- House Staff Costs* Est. Total Costs Completed Surveys Cost per Survey Com- pleted Response Rate If O&D Survey Unlinked Trips per Vehicle Hour Systemwide TABLE 21 (Continued )

58 Personal Interviews Metro (Portland, ME) Route 1 O&D Study $5,000 $5,000 995 $5.03 N/A Yes ** CTA (Chicago) Customer Response to Routing Change #95E $0 $3,100 $3,100 401 $7.73 N/A Yes ** PATH (Jersey City, NJ) PATH Origin and Destination Travel Survey $210,000 $210,000 15,850 $13.25 N/A Yes ** King Co. Metro (Seattle) Ride Free Area (RFA) Survey $22,000 $4,000 $26,000 1,663 $15.63 88% ** MARTA (Atlanta) Systemwide Survey $0 $63,000 $63,000 4,000 $15.75 80% 67 NYC Transit (Brooklyn) B15/Q3x $15,000 $15,000 400 $37.50 N/A ** RTC (Las Vegas) Citizens Area Transit O&D Survey (2002) $149,000 $4,000 $153,000 4,077 $37.53 N/A Yes 43 Pinellas Suncoast Transit (Clearwater, FL) Market Research $80,675 $80,675 2,040 $39.55 41% 20 TriMet (Portland, OR) Ticket Vending Machine (TVM) Fascia Redesign $3,000 $2,000 $5,000 107 $46.73 N/A ** Self-Administered Surveys Distributed by Bus Operators Pace Suburban Bus (Chicago area) CSI/User Study $63,000 $39,500 $102,500 7,937 $12.91 14% Yes 23 LYNX (Orlando) 2001 LYNX Market Research Study $200,000 $40,000 $240,000 15,000 $16.00 45% Yes 23 RTD (Denver) Customer Satisfaction Survey $54,000 $26,000 $80,000 3,654 $21.89 41% 30 Notes: N/A = not available. *Blanks indicate that no information was provided. **Systemwide unlinked trips per vehicle hour are shown as a measure of density of passengers on board buses and trains. Shown only for surveys conducted on board throughout the transit system. Agency Project Name Consul- tant Cost Est. In- House Staff Costs* Est. Total Costs Completed Surveys Cost per Survey Com- pleted Response Rate If O&D Survey Unlinked Trips per Vehicle Hour Systemwide TABLE 21 (Continued )

59 Cost Data quality Project goals • Study population (riders or trips) • Number of completed surveys needed • Need for origin and destination data Survey implementation (fieldwork) • Enthusiasm and diligence of survey staff • Training • Supervision Questionnaire design • Well-defined objectives • Length of survey • Level of detail • Clarity of questions • Layout/ease of navigation Response rate • Venue (on-board or in-station) • Interview or self-administered survey • Distribution and collection method (self-administered surveys) • Incentives • Frequency of surveying External factors • Density of riders on route or in stations • Rider income, education, literacy • Trip length FIGURE 6 Summary of factors affecting data quality and cost.

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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 63: On-Board and Intercept Transit Survey Techniques examines transit agencies’ experiences with planning and implementing on-board and intercept surveys. On-board and intercept surveys include self-administered surveys distributed on board buses and railcars, and in stations, as well as interviews conducted in these environments. The report provides an overview of industry practices and covers a broad range of issues addressed in planning a given survey.

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