Student Perceptions of MAT Services
This section of the report focuses on the student respondent's perceptions of the quality of MAT transit system services.
There are many benefits to using public transportation. The following (Figure 6.11) is a list of benefits the students identified as most important to them including reduced parking demand, save money, reduce traffic congestion, environmental concerns convenience, safety, save time, and no opinion.
Figure 6.11 Benefits to Riding Public Transportation (n=89)
The following (Figure 6.12) are the student respondents who use MAT services. Less than 20 percent of respondents indicated that they use MAT services.
Figure 6.12 Students Using MAT (n=476)
An important issue is what motivates students to use MAT. Survey respondents were asked to state their most important reasons for using MAT from among the following choices (Figure 6.13).
Figure 6.13 Reasons Students use MAT (n=387)
SURTC asked students to identify the reasons that keep them from riding MAT. We provided potential reasons and asked students to indicate how strongly they agreed, were neutral or disagreed. The primary reason students do not ride transit is their desire to drive, walk, or ride bicycle (Figure 6.14).
Figure 6.14 What Influences the Mode of Travel (n=387)
The characteristics of transit services that are important to customers are analyzed next. To accomplish this we looked at a number of value characteristics such as free service, convenience, friendly drivers, and environmentally friendly characteristics. Friendly drivers, reliable, free and serves the Fargo/Moorhead area were the greatest agreed upon characteristics among respondents (Figure 6.15).
Figure 6.15 Characteristic Values of Public Transportation (n=89)
It is helpful to be aware of how customers perceive their previous MAT service experiences. Arriving reasonably on-time was the worst experience indicated by respondents as less than 70 percent felt MAT buses were reasonably on-time (Figure 6.16).
Figure 6.16 Explanation of Experiences (n=89)
In the transit industry, wait times for customers are of utmost importance. According to respondents, a wait time longer than 15 minutes will have a negative influence on ridership (Figure 6.17).
Figure 6.17 Willful Wait Time for MAT bus (n=387)
Student Perceptions of Parking
Parking is generally a major issue on most college campuses. We addressed parking in this survey to identify how many students own parking permits, the cost and the convenience of parking on the MSUM campus.
Just under 60 percent of student respondents indicated they own parking permits (Figure 6.18).
Figure 6.18 Students with Parking Permits (n=476)
The highest number of parking permits issued on the MSUM campus was in the A and A-1 lots respectively (Figure 6.19).
Figure 6.19 Parking Lots Used by Survey Respondents (n=354)
MSUM students are not happy with on-campus parking spaces (Figure 6.20). Nearly 45 percent of student respondents rate MSUM's parking convenience as either poor or very poor, whereas less than 3 percent of respondents rate the MSUM parking convenience as very good.
Figure 6.20 Parking Convenience (n=354)
MSUM students are not happy with parking permit prices as well. Nearly 54 percent of respondents rate parking affordability at MSUM either poor or very poor. Less than 15 percent of respondents rated parking affordability as either good or very good (Figure 6.21).
Figure 6.21 Parking Affordability (n=354)
Campus Public Transportation
Three questions were asked to help identify the current demand for MSUM public transportation and where services could be added. First, students were asked if they planned to take Tri-College classes with 431 out of 476, greater than 90 percent, respondents indicated they do not plan to take Tri-College classes. Second, those who answered yes to taking Tri-College classes were asked if they would consider using the MAT bus system to get to and from Tri-College classes. Less than 30 percent of respondents indicated they would consider taking MAT buses to Tri-College classes with greater than 35 percent indicating they would not consider taking MAT buses (Figure 6.22).
Figure 6.22 Tri-College Students Who Would Consider Taking the MAT Bus (n=476)
Finally, students were asked if they would use a MAT circulator serving the MSUM and Concordia campuses that runs with approximately 15 minute intervals (Figure 6.23). Less than 19 percent of student respondents indicated they would use the circulator, and 37 percent specified that they would not use a campus circulator.
Figure 6.23 Students Who Would Use a MAT Circulator Bus Around MSUM and Concordia if Available (n=162)
Campus Transit Accommodation
The final two questions of the survey pertained to the desire for more heated shelters on campus and the willingness of the respondents to pay an activity fee for additional transit services. Thirty-eight percent of respondents indicated they would like to see more bus shelters on campus, and 43 percent said they would like heated shelters (Figure 6.24).
Figure 6.24 Desire for More and Heated Shelters (n=476)
One of the main factors that determine the value of service is if the customer is willing to pay and how much is he/she willing to pay for the service. Slightly more than 22 percent of respondents indicated they were willing to pay $15 or more for MAT transit service (Figure 6.25).
Figure 6.25 How Much Students are Willing to Pay for MAT Service (n=476)
Finally, students were asked if they would be willing to pay an activity fee for free, unlimited use of the MAT bus around campus and the Fargo-Moorhead area. Less than 70 percent of respondents indicated they not be willing to pay additional activity fee for unlimited MAT transportation (Figure 6.26).
Figure 6.26 Students Willing to Pay Activity Fee (n=476)