Transportation Operations/Mobility in the Baltimore Region

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Transportation Operations/Mobility in the
Baltimore Region

• Customer Satisfaction Survey

AMPO Operations Work Group September 28-29,
2006 Las Vegas
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Background

• National Transportation Operations Coalition
  (NTOC) 2005 Performance Measurement Initiative
• Define and document a few good measures for
  transportation agencies to use in measuring and
  documenting performance

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NTOC Team

• US DOT Federal Highway Administration
• American Association of State Highway and
  Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• International City/County Management Association
  (ICMA)
• Transportation Research Board (TRB)
• Association of Metropolitan Planning
  Organizations (AMPO)
• American Public Works Association (APWA)
• Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
• University of Maryland Center for Advanced
  Transportation Technology (Also helped with this
  survey)

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NTOC Performance Measures

• Customer Satisfaction
• Extent of Congestion Spatial
• Extent of Congestion Temporal
• Incident Duration
• Non-Recurring Delay
• Recurring Delay
• Speed
• Throughput Person
• Throughput Vehicle
• Travel Time Link
• Travel Time Reliability
• Travel Time - Trip

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Customer Satisfaction Definition

• A qualitative measure of customers opinions
  related to the roadway management and operations
  services provided in a specified region
• For the Baltimore region, the definition was
  expanded to include all modes of transportation

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Purpose

• Evaluate customer/user viewpoint on
  transportation system performance and perception
  of congestion in the region
• Provide a benchmark for Management and Operations
  (MO ) projects in the next Long Range Plan
• Outreach to senior management and elected
  officials

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Baltimore Region
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Sample Size
Completed Surveys Completed Surveys
Jurisdiction Total
Baltimore 301
Baltimore City 202
Anne Arundel 200
Carroll 100
Harford 100
Howard 100
Total 1,003
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Sample Size

• Maximum sampling error for the total sample size
  of 1,000 interviews 3.0 at the 95 confidence
  level
• Maximum sampling error for each jurisdiction
  5.0 at the 95 confidence level

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Process

• WBA Market Research (Crofton, MD) selected to
  conduct Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews
  (CATI)
• Pretest May 9 10, 2006
• Main Surveys May 11, 2006 June 15, 2006
• Final Report June 30, 2006
• Cost Approximately 25,000

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Questionnaire

• Handout

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Satisfaction with the Transportation System in
the Baltimore Region

• 40 are very or somewhat satisfied with the
  transportation system in the region, with 11
  saying they are very satisfied
• 33 of the residents surveyed are very or
  somewhat dissatisfied with the transportation
  system, with 12 saying they are very
  dissatisfied
• 23 of the respondents are neutral

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Satisfaction with the Transportation System in
the Baltimore Region
Base Total Sample (n1,003)Q1. How satisfied
are you with the transportation system in the
Baltimore region? Would you say you are?
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Satisfaction with the Transportation System in
the Baltimore Region

• Reasons for Satisfaction with regional system
• Sufficient roads (10)
• Roads in good condition (9)
• Easy to get around (8)
• Offers sufficient public transportation (6)
• Reasons for Dissatisfaction
• Roads are too congested (33)
• Roads need to be repaired (30)
• Not enough public transportation (20)
• Light rail needs to be expanded (16) and Metro
  needs to be expanded (14), bus lines need to be
  expanded (13)
• Reasons for Neutrality
• Not enough experience with public transportation
  (33)

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Results on Available Transportation Choices

• 25 of the residents surveyed said they have many
  different transportation choices
• 38 said they have few options
• 34 have only one option

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Satisfaction with the Choices for Alternative
Modes of Transportation

• Almost one-half of the respondents (45) said
  they are satisfied, with 19 saying they are very
  satisfied. In addition, 28 of the respondents
  are neutral.
• However, one-fourth of the respondents (24) said
  they are dissatisfied with the choices for
  alternative modes of transportation in the
  region, with 8 saying they are very
  dissatisfied.

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Satisfaction with the Information Available from
Various Sources

• Before Beginning a Trip
• About six in ten respondents (61) reported that
  they are satisfied, with 29 saying they are very
  satisfied.
• Meanwhile, 22 of the respondents are neutral,
  and 13 said they are dissatisfied.
• During a Trip
• A similar proportion of respondents said they are
  satisfied with the information provided while
  traveling (58), with 25 saying they are very
  satisfied.
• Meanwhile, 21 said they are neutral, and 15
  said they are dissatisfied.

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Satisfaction with the Information Available from
Various Sources (continued)
Base Total Sample Letters indicate significant
differences at the 95 confidence level. Q4. How
satisfied are you with the information available
from the various sources, such as radio,
television, and Web sites, that inform you about
the status of alternate routes and transportation
choices before you begin a trip? Are you?
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Satisfaction with the Information Available from
Various Sources (continued)
Base Total Sample Letters indicate significant
differences at the 95 confidence level. Q5. How
satisfied are you with the information available
from the various sources, such as radio,
television, and Web sites, that inform you about
the status of alternate routes and transportation
choices while you are traveling to your
destination? Are you?
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Commute to Workplace

• The vast majority of those employed (93) commute
  to work. This proportion is relatively
  consistent across all counties.
• This correspondents to 58 of the total residents
  surveyed being commuters.

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Commute to Workplace (continued)

• Many of the respondents within each county work
  in the same county in which they live.
• However, some respondents do commute outside of
  their county to go to work or school.

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Results on Commuting

• 58 commute to work or school
• On average, the respondents leave home for
  work/school at 724 AM and leave work/school at
  451 PM
• It takes the average respondent 33 minutes to
  commute one-way to work/school
• The average trip length is about 15 miles
• About 71use only one method of transportation-
  most often they drive their personal car alone
  (79)
• 9 of the respondents primarily use public
  transportation

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Results on Commuting (continued)

• About three-fourths of the respondents (76) said
  that they feel the time it takes is reasonable,
  with 44 saying it is very reasonable.
• Those whose commute is less than 15 miles were
  more likely than those whose commute is longer to
  say that they feel the time it takes is
  reasonable (87 vs. 64).
• Conversely, less than two in ten (17) reported
  feeling that it is unreasonable, with 6 saying
  it is very unreasonable.

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Results on Commuting (continued)

• About one-half of the respondents (47) reported
  that their travel time has increased, with 18
  saying it has increased significantly.
• However, about four in ten respondents (39) said
  that their travel time has remained the same.
• About one in ten (12) reported that their travel
  time has decreased in the past five years.
• Respondents in Carroll County tended to be more
  likely than those in other counties to report
  that their travel time has increased (63 vs.
  39-50).

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Results on Congestion

• The vast majority of residents (84) agree that
  congestion is a major problem in the Baltimore
  region
• About two-thirds of the respondents (64) define
  congestion as an increased number of cars.
• About three in ten (31) said congestion is an
  increase in travel time and one-fourth as a
  decrease in speed (24).
• About two in ten (19) define it as increased
  time at an intersection

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Results on Congestion (continued)

• Most commuters experience congestion at least
  sometimes on their way to work or school (73)
  35 said they always experience congestion
• 78 of all respondents said they sometimes or
  always experience congestion at times other than
  when commuting to work or school
• If there were no congestion, commuters reported
  that their commute to work/school would be, on
  average, 11 minutes shorter
• 55 change their commute as a result of
  congestion- mostly a different route
• 44 of the commuters do not change their commute
  as a result of congestion

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Strategies for Improving Transportation in the
Baltimore Region

• Overall, most effective in improving the regions
  transportation system (rating of 8-10) in the
  eyes of the respondents are
• Expanding transit (52)
• Better traffic signal timing (48)
• Widening existing highways (46)
• Reducing the number of construction zones (43)
• Building new highways (41) and/or
• Providing special HOV lanes on highways for
  carpools and buses (40)

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Strategies for Improving the Baltimore Regions
Transportation System (continued)
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Strategies for Improving Transportation in the
Baltimore Region (continued)

• Number One Priority
• No one strategy (from a list of nine possible
  strategies) is the clear solution
• An equal proportion of respondents reported
  widening existing highways or expanding transit
  (22) should be the number one priority
• About one in ten (11 each) said the region
  should concentrate on better traffic signal
  timing or building new highways

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Strategies for Improving Transportation in the
Baltimore Region (continued)

• Least able to improve the areas transportation
  system (rating of 1-3) appears to be
• Building more park-and-ride facilities (31)
• Designing bike or pedestrian friendly communities
  (29)
• Providing more information to promote
  carpooling/vanpooling (27)

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Satisfaction with Traffic Signal Operations

• More than one-half of the respondents (56) are
  satisfied with the traffic signal operations in
  their region.
• However, 24 reported that they are either
  somewhat or very dissatisfied.

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Satisfaction with Traffic Signal Operations
Base Total Sample Letters indicate significant
differences at the 95 confidence level. Q23.
How satisfied are you with the traffic signal
operations in your region? That is, how satisfied
are you that the number of stops and delays
experienced at traffic signals are reasonable,
considering the traffic conditions that exist
when you are traveling? Would you say you are?
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Sample Observations Baltimore City

• Residents of Baltimore City are the most likely
  to take public transportation (41 vs 2-15 in
  other jurisdictions) and are the least likely to
  drive their personal car alone to work or school
  (64 vs 87 - 98 other jurisdictions)
• Residents of Baltimore City tend to have the
  shortest commute(11.6 miles on average vs
  14.1-17.3 miles other jurisdictions)
• Better signal timing was the highest priority for
  Baltimore City residents (22 vs 3-10 other
  jurisdictions)
• Baltimore City residents tend to be the most
  dissatisfied (43 vs 18-36 for all other
  jurisdictions) with the transportation system in
  the region

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Sample Observations Carroll County

• Residents of Carroll County were the most likely
  to say they have only one transportation option
  available to them (63 vs 21 - 45 for all other
  jurisdictions)
• Carroll County residents have the longest
  commute, with 30 saying it takes one hour or
  more compared to 7-16 in all other counties
• Respondents in Carroll County tended to be more
  likely than those in other jurisdictions to
  report that their travel time has increased (63
  vs 39-50)
• Residents of Carroll County were more likely than
  those in other counties to say that widening
  existing highways should be the number one
  priority (37 vs 16-25)

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Sample Observations Howard County

• Residents of Howard County tended to be the most
  likely to say they rarely or never experience
  congestion when commuting to work/school (36 vs
  17-27 all other jurisdictions)

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Sample Observations Harford County

• Harford County residents were least likely to say
  they are satisfied (46 versus 59 - 68 all
  other jurisdictions) with the information
  available from various sources

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Demographic Profile

• The respondents in this survey have the following
  demographic characteristics
• Have lived in the Baltimore region for an average
  of 24 years
• Are an average of 52 years old
• Three fourth are Caucasian (75), while
  one-fourth are minorities (25)
• Have a median household income of 79,600 (with
  the highest median incomes reported in Anne
  Arundel and Howard Counties and the lowest in
  Baltimore City) and
• Own or lease an average of two (2.1) vehicles

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Next Steps

• Analyze survey data for specific Management and
  Operations (MO) projects example signal
  timing, traveler information
• Use as a benchmark for future surveys
• Performance Measure for next Long Range Plan

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Questions/Comments