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 public transportation. The following (Figure 8.12) is a list of benefits the students identified as most important to them which included reducing parking demand and reducing traffic congestion as the two greatest benefits.
Figure 8.12 Benefits to riding Public Transit (n=445)
The following (Figure 8.13) are the student respondents who use MAT services with less than 25 percent indicating they use MAT to travel in the community.
Figure 8.13 Students Using MAT (n=445)
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 8.14). Shopping and going to another campus were the main reasons Concordia students use MAT.
Figure 8.14 Reason Students use MAT (n=445)
We 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 8.15).
Figure 8.15 Reasons Students Do Not Ride MAT (n=345)
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 less stress, convenience, friendly drivers, and environmentally friendly characteristics. Serves the Fargo-Moorhead area and reliability were the greatest agreed upon values among respondents (Figure 8.16).
Figure 8.16 Important Characteristic Values of Public Transportation (n=100)
It is helpful to be aware of how customers perceive their previous MAT service experiences. This response shows if MAT services are living up to expectations (Figure 8.17). Eighty-one percent of respondents indicated that MAT bus service took them to their desired destination indicating current route locations are well positioned.
Figure 8.17 Explanation of Experiences (n=100)
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 8.18).
Figure 8.18 How Long People are Willing to Wait (n=445)
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. More than 70 percent of respondents indicated they are willing to pay $10 or more for MAT services (Figure 8.19). This shows high appreciation for the service.
Figure 8.19 How Many are Willing to Pay More (n=201)
Students Perceptions of Parking
Parking is generally a major issue on most campuses. We addressed parking in this survey to identify how many students own parking permits, the cost of parking and the convenience of parking on the Concordia College Campus.
Slightly more than 75 percent of survey respondents have parking permits (Figure 8.20).
Figure 8.20 Students with Parking Permits (n=452)
The highest concentration of parking permits issued on the Concordia campus were in the FP and C lots, according to respondents (Figure 8.21).
Figure 8.21 Parking Lots Used by Survey Respondents (n=343)
Concordia students are not happy with on-campus parking conditions (Figure 8.22). Greater than 50 percent of respondents rate Concordia's parking convenience as either poor or very poor, whereas less than 3 percent of respondents rate the parking convenience very good.
Figure 8.22 Parking Convenience (n=452)
Parking affordability is perceived differently. More than 54 percent of respondents rate parking affordability as either very good or good, and less than 5 percent rate affordability either poor or very poor (Figure 8.23).
Figure 8.23 Parking Affordability (n=452)
Campus Public Transportation
Three questions were asked to help identify the current demand for Concordia public transportation and where services could be added. First, students were asked if they planned to take Tri-College classes. Only 50 of the 445 respondents indicated they planned 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 to get to and from Tri-College classes. Just under 40 percent of respondents indicated they would consider taking MAT buses to Tri-College classes with roughly the same percentage indicating they would not consider taking the MAT bus (Figure 8.24).
Figure 8.24 Tri-College students who would consider taking MAT bus (n=445)
Finally, students were asked if they would use a MAT circulator route serving the MSUM and Concordia campuses that runs with approximately 15 minute intervals (Figure 8.25). Twenty percent of respondents indicated they would use the MAT circulator and almost 50 percent indicated they may use the circulator.
Figure 8.25 Students who would use MAT Circulator bus around MSUM and Concordia if available (n=445)
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. Twenty-five percent of respondents indicated they would like to see more bus shelters on campus, and 40 percent said they would like heated shelters (Figure 8.26).
Figure 8.26 Desire for More and Heated Shelters (n=445)
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. Just under 60 percent indicated they would not be willing to pay additional activity fee for unlimited MAT transportation (Figure 8.27).
Figure 8.27 Students Willing to Pay Activity Fee (n=445)