Okaloosa County BOCC — August 16, 2016 — Access EC Rider TDP - August Draft Report — reading text

American Indian or Pacific Islander, 4% Other, 7% Alasaka Native, 1% Asian, 4% White, 58% Black, 26% Figure 4-46: Are you of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity? Yes, 8% No, 92% Figure 4-47: Do you have a driver’s license? Yes, 36% No, 64% ACCESS EC RIDER | Okaloosa County’s 10-Year Transit Development Plan 89  Section 4 – Public Involvement Figure 4-48: What is your age? 65 or older, 11% 19 or Under, 11% 60 to 64, 6% 20 to 29, 24% 50 to 59, 25% 30 to 39, 16% 40 to 49, 7% Approximately half of passengers responded that their 2015 total household income was less than $10,000 or they did not work (Figure 4-49), and only 5% of passengers indicated they had a total annual household income of $40,000 or greater. In addition, more than half of passengers (57%) indicated that they did not have a working vehicle at their home (Figure 4-50). Figure 4-49: What was the range of your total household income for 2015? Do not work, 16% $50,000 or more, 4% $40,000 to Under $10,000, $49,999, 1% 35% $30,000 to $39,999, 8% $20,000 to $29,999, 13% $10,000 to $19,999, 24% ACCESS EC RIDER | Okaloosa County’s 10-Year Transit Development Plan 90  Section 4 – Public Involvement Figure 4-50: How many working vehicles are at your home? One, 24% None, 57% Two, 12% Three or… Customer Satisfaction Customer service and general satisfaction questions identified passenger satisfaction levels, recommendations for service improvements, and overall perception of EC Rider bus services. Passengers were asked to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of EC Rider’s services (see Table 4-3 and Figure 4-51). Passengers indicated they were the least satisfied with the frequency of service and convenience of the existing bus routes, and they were most satisfied with bus driver courtesy and safety/security of the bus. Table 4-3: How satisfied are you with each of the following? Very Somewhat Somewhat Question Neutral Satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Bus driver courtesy 67.31% 15.38% 12.50% 4.81% Safety/security on bus 66.99% 21.36% 9.71% 0.97% Availability of seats on the bus 61.17% 21.36% 13.59% 1.94% User-friendliness of bus schedule/information 59.62% 15.38% 16.35% 4.81% Vehicle cleanliness and comfort 59.62% 27.88% 10.58% 0.96% Value of bus fare (service you get for you paid for) 55.34% 21.36% 14.56% 5.83% How on-time the bus is running (punctuality) 54.37% 25.24% 16.50% 1.94% Accessibility of bus passes (ease of purchase) 53.40% 16.50% 22.33% 3.88% Bus stop cleanliness and comfort 53.40% 23.30% 19.42% 3.88% Safety/security at bus stops 53.40% 19.42% 20.39% 4.85% Ease of transfers between buses 52.94% 22.55% 16.67% 3.92% How directly the route goes to your final destination 50.00% 15.38% 25.00% 5.77% Length of time your trip takes 45.19% 20.19% 23.08% 8.65% Availability of bus schedule/information 40.00% 20.00% 20.00% 11.43% Convenience of route (where buses go) 39.42% 23.08% 25.00% 6.73% How often the buses run (frequency) 34.29% 17.14% 33.33% 9.52% ACCESS EC RIDER | Okaloosa County’s 10-Year Transit Development Plan 91  Section 4 – Public Involvement Figure 4-51: How satisfied are you with each of the following? Availability of seats on the bus Safety/security at bus stops Safety/security on bus Bus driver courtesy Bus stop cleanliness & comfort Vehicle cleanliness & comfort User-friendliness of bus schedule/information Availability of bus schedule/information Accessibility of bus passes (ease of purchase) Value of bus fare (service you get for you paid for) Length of time your trip takes How on-time is the bus running (punctuality) Ease of transfers between buses How directly does the route go to your final destination Convenience of route (where buses go) How often the buses run (frequency) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Very Satisfied Somewhat Satisfied Neutral Somewhat Unsatisfied Very Unsatisfied On-Board Survey General Conclusions Results from the on-board survey provided insight into various aspects of EC Rider bus service. Conclusions drawn from the on-board survey analysis are summarized as follows:  Overall, most EC Rider passengers were “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with various aspects of the transit service being provided. However, they believed focus should be placed on offering more convenient routes, increasing frequency, and shortening overall trip lengths.  Approximately 60% of passengers used the bus three or more days per week, and more than 40% had been using EC Rider for two years or longer.  A lack of access to a working vehicle or valid driver’s license were noted as primary reasons why many passengers used EC Rider for their transportation needs.  Weekend service, more frequent service, and later service on existing routes were indicated as the most desirable service improvements for EC Rider.  Approximately 15% of passengers indicated they were transit-dependent in that they would not be able to make this trip if not for the bus.  Full-fare single trip payment was used by approximately 61% of respondents, and 12% used reduced-fare single-trip payment; only 18% used passes, including full and reduced monthly passes, as their fare payment type. ACCESS EC RIDER | Okaloosa County’s 10-Year Transit Development Plan 92  Section 4 – Public Involvement Access EC Rider TDP Website A website for Access EC Rider TDP (www.accessecridertdp.com) was developed early in the project and launched on February 17, 2016, to serve as a principal information portal for citizens and stakeholder agencies. In addition to hosting project‐related information and documents, visitors to the website could access the online survey (in either English or Spanish), send comment/questions to the Project Team, or connect to the WFRPC’s Facebook and Twitter pages. In the first month of the website being live, there were 117 total visits to the website, 82% of which were unique visits. By July 2016, there were 637 total visits, 438 of which were unique visits. Figure 4-52 is a screenshot of the Access EC Rider TDP website’s homepage. Figure 4-52: Screenshot of Access EC Rider TDP Website ACCESS EC RIDER | Okaloosa County’s 10-Year Transit Development Plan 93 SECTION 5: SITUATION APPRAISAL This section reviews transit policies at the federal, regional, and local levels, followed by a review of potential revenue sources. These are then synthesized to develop the situation appraisal. The situation appraisal assesses the operating environment for EC Rider with respect to land use, state and local transportation plans, socioeconomic trends, organization issues, technology, and 10-year transit projections. The situation appraisal serves as the basis for the formulation of EC Rider’s service needs and future goals and objectives. Review of Plans and Studies A review of selected federal, regional, and local plans, programs, land development codes, and studies that influence transit operations, infrastructure, and policy was conducted to understand the potential implications for EC Rider service. Findings from this review help to ensure that development of the Access EC Rider TDP is consistent with other local planning efforts and help Okaloosa County to better understand its transit operating environment. Table 5-1 summarizes the plans and studies that were reviewed for this effort and provides an overview of the relevant goals and policies and key considerations for the Access EC Rider TDP Situation Appraisal. A more in depth discussion of the plans review can be found in Appendix E. Potential Funding Sources As the Access EC Rider TDP explores alternatives to expanding transit services in Okaloosa County, it is important to understand what potential revenue sources may be available to support such expansion. This section summarizes the potential funding sources for EC Rider and evaluates the opportunity for Okaloosa County to improve operating revenues, documenting those sources that have a greater potential for increasing the available revenue to operate expanded transit services based on the