Bata Survey Final Report All

BATA SURVEY FINAL REPORTJANUARY 29, 2010

Photograph © Copyright Gary L. Howe Photography

K R I O S C O N S U L T I N GLeading Thinkers

2 3 4 M i d t o w n D r i v e • Tr a v e r s e C i t y, M I 4 9 6 8 4 • t e l e p h o n e : 2 3 1 . 5 9 0 . 1 6 8 5 • w w w. k r i o s c o n s u l t i n g . c o m

http://www.kriosconsulting.com

http://www.kriosconsulting.com

K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

1

The 2010 BATA Survey

Welcome to the final report of the 2010 BATA Community Transportation Survey

Introduction to the Survey

Focus Group Results

Survey Results

Supplemental Data - TC Chamber Survey

Consultant Recommendations

References

Appendix

Speaking of BATA

"BATA is doing a great job. As a business owner in Glen Arbor, I rely on it." ~ Bob Sutherland - Cherry Republic


2

Photos © Copyright 2010 Gary L. Howe - All Rights Reserved


3

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION! 5• Executive Summary! 5• A Word About Surveys! 7• More Than Simply Asking Questions! 7• How the focus groups worked! 8• Speaking of BATA - some selected comments from the focus groups! 8

METHODOLOGY! 9• Survey Design! 10• Electronic! 10• Print! 10• Several Surveys for Several Audiences! 10• Marketing Efforts! 11

SURVEY RESULTS! 12• Demographic Profiles! 13• How Do We Commute?! 14• Significance of Older Respondents! 16• Age and BATA Ridership! 17• An emerging demographic opportunity! 17• Income! 19• Driving Choices! 19• The Cost of Fuel! 21• Why Would People Choose To Ride BATA?! 24• How to Connect with Current and Potential Riders! 29• Perceptions of BATA! 30• Tell Us What You Think! 32

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA - TC CHAMBER MEMBERS! 35• Public Transportation and the Business Community! 36

CONSULTANT RECOMMENDATIONS! 41• Making Use of Community Feedback! 42• Communications With The Public! 42• Route Reorganization! 43• Equipment Maintenance! 43• Community Partnerships! 44• Seasonal Routing! 44• Continued Support for Special Needs Communities! 45• Addressing Community Perceptions! 45• Extending the Number of BATA Board Members! 45• General Comments! 45

REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS! 47

APPENDIX! 48• Original Print Version of the Survey! 49• Unabridged Responses to Question #33! 50


4

INTRODUCTION

Executive Summary

In July of 2009 Krios Consulting was brought on to assist BATA with developing a strategic plan. In early discussions with the executive director, Tom Menzel, it became evident that in order for BATA to proceed confidently with planning its future, it needed to first take the pulse of the communities it serves.

Mr. Menzel’s charge to Krios Consulting was "help find people that don’t currently ride the bus and ask them what it would take to get them to use our services." Furthermore, he noted that "we have a solid core of existing users. We cannot forget to gauge their opinions of how we’re doing."

The assumption here is that BATA has a strong and loyal group of existing users. New financial realities, however, make it difficult for BATA to survive into the future without growing this ridership. The main focus of this community transpor-tation study is to find these potential BATA users, and attempt to ascertain what obstacles stand in the way of their use of BATA as a transportation choice.

With the assistance of BATA staff, local business leaders, and government agencies, Krios Consulting designed a process to accomplish the following goals:

➡Find and communicate with existing riders.➡Find and communicate with those not currently using BATA services.

➡Ascertain basic demographic information for profiling purposes.

➡Discover common commuting vectors for existing BATA riders and non-riders.

➡Record data that suggests current perceptions of BATA for both riders and non-riders.➡Gather open-ended feedback on how BATA can better serve the needs of the communities it serves.

To accomplish these goals, questions were broken down into two mirror-image sections, one for non-riders and one for existing ridership. This allowed us to customize the questions for each group while still gaining comparative insights.

A subset of questions mirrored a portion of the original BATA Community Transportation Study completed by the Cor-radino Group in 1998. This was done so that comparative data could be used showcasing this 11-year gap in public feed-back. These comparisons are noted in italics within the text.

Results:

Krios Consulting chose to use a broadcast style of deployment as the survey methodology, rather than a prescribed statis-tically valid random sample. This decision was made to save money, and to prioritize getting personalized open-ended responses to questions. A total of 1037 completed surveys were returned to BATA prior to the final deadline on November 24th, 2009. Six hundred surveys were filled out and returned using the printed version that appeared in area newspapers. The remaining 437 surveys were completed online using a web-based survey tool.

With over 1000 validated responses from individuals spanning six counties, the survey results should provide a high level of confidence as a reference tool for BATA and other community planners to use far into the future.


5

Key Learnings from the results:

The report contained within the following pages presents in great detail responses to the thirty three questions asked in the survey. Most of the questions were presented as multiple choice, several provide a question with no suggested re-sponse. These open-ended questions provided respondents with an opportunity to give BATA concise, personalized, feedback.

Demographics:

There were several key identifiers within the survey: Age, BATA ridership, and TC Chamber of Commerce membership. We have made every attempt to separate results for these groups where this information may prove to be most valuable. Of the 1037 responses to the survey, here are some of the significant baseline demographic findings:

• 31% claim to be BATA users - 69% claim to not use BATA.

• 57% of respondents were female, 43% male.• 40% were over the age 61, 23% between the ages of 51 and 60.

• 43% claim to have household incomes below $40,000/year, with 11% making $100,000 or more.

The bulk of the questions were designed to gauge the opinion of respondents on how to build BATA ridership. Major threads represented in the results include:

• A clear need for BATA to provide communications to the public that are:

• More clear

• More frequent• Available at every bus stop

• A need for in-city bus routes that are designed from the user point of view, versus from an implied 30 minute schedule.

• More frequent routes for all service types, and extending routes to weekend service.

• Continued support for the special needs community.• A board of directors that represents a wider cross-section of the community.

• Buses that are clean, quiet, smell good, and are full.• Better relationships between BATA, local units of government, non-profit organizations and especially the busi-

ness community.

In short, BATA should consider every opportunity to create mechanisms to: increase public awareness and interaction, streamline decision-making processes for route changes, change the public perception of BATA to one which serves the entire community rather than only special needs, make the case in the region for the system’s inherent ability to provide cost savings and convenience to individuals and businesses, become a change-ready organization that can more readily respond to the trending needs of the communities it serves.

BATA is at the threshold of becoming a leader in the region for providing well-thought, practical, approaches to public transportation. The results of the 2010 BATA survey should help to provide a clear path for BATA to realize this goal.


6

SURVEYS: "They depend on subjects’ motivation, honesty, memory, and ability to respond. Subjects may not be aware of their reasons for any given action. They may have forgotten their reasons. They may not be motivated to give accurate answers, in fact, they may be motivated to give answers that present themselves in a favorable light." ~WikiPedia

A Word About Surveys

Even with over a thousand responses to this BATA survey, we provide this data with the knowledge that the sample was not truly random. Many people will choose to fill out a survey because of some pre-existing connection to the issue. This tends to skew the outcomes somewhat. We recognize this.

The effort here was to involve as many people as possible. Our final response number, (1037 returned surveys,) provides us with some level of confidence regarding how the community feels about the questions within the survey. We under-stand the results aren’t perfect. They are, nonetheless, powerful indicators of the community’s voice.

More Than Simply Asking Questions

Public Canvassing

Krios Consulting also set up tables at area businesses encouraging customers to fill out the survey (either online or on paper) and provide direct feedback. This included postponing the survey close date to allow visitors to the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo a chance to participate. Acting as our Data Input Coordinator, Forest Rebecca Olsen helped to host the canvassing and also managed data entry for the 600 paper-based responses.

Focus Groups

Two focus groups were held to allow more in-depth conversations about public transportation in the region. These were led by Krios Consulting’s strategic advisor Jonathan Pool, an experienced and well respected meeting facilitator. One session was hosted by Bob Sutherland owner of Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, Michigan. The other was hosted by Doug DeYoung with the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce at its Grandview Parkway headquarters in Traverse City.

The emphasis within the focus groups was to engage participants in a positive conversation on the subject of public transportation. Each host provided a space and invited the 15 - 20 guests. The guests were provided with dinner and an opportunity to share ideas, concerns, and comments regarding BATA in a casual atmosphere.

Jonathan Pool Leading the

TC Chamber Focus GroupTC Chamber members providing feedback to

Jonathan Pool


7

How the focus groups worked

Once settled into the room, guests were introduced and provided with the context for the discussions to ensue. An effort was made to ensure there were people representing both the existing BATA user experience, and the non-BATA user ex-perience.

There was an emphasis on the casual nature of the conversations. De-emphasizing formality is a key to providing people a comfortable and safe environment to freely provide feedback.

As the facilitator, Pool took care to hear all people’s comments, and record key ideas on chart paper. The conversations tended to be separated into sections of structured brainstorming. In general, the focus was on two key questions: "Why don’t you ride BATA now?" and "What would it take for more people to use BATA in the future?"

Some of the other questions asked as part of the focus group sessions:

• "What works with BATA?" , • "What opportunities do you see for BATA?"

• "What questions might you have for BATA to answer?"• "What ideas do you have to improve in-city service?"• "What ideas do you have for improving village-connector service?"

• "How far would you walk, to catch a BATA bus?"• "What are some general 'perceptions' of BATA in your community?"

Many of the focus group conversations were designed to mirror questions from the BATA survey. This was done to help correlate the group feedback with individual survey results. It’s important to note that while the emphasis was placed on ways to improve BATA, many participants made it clear that their experiences with BATA were already very positive.

Speaking of BATA - some selected comments from the focus groupsWHY DON"T YOU RIDE BATA NOW? WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR MORE PEOPLE TO RIDE BATA IN THE FUTURE?

"Lack of connectivity – University Center." "Increased runs for The Village at GT Commons"

connectors.""Buses don’t wait long enough at stops." "Increased routes in summer and seasonal."

"No weather protection at stops." "Increased reliability, timeliness"

"Lack of understanding of the routes." "Driver asks if you need a taxi, and calls request ahead."

"No service to the Airport!" "Weekend village connector

service.""No designated parking for bus travelers at stops?" "Dinner and a movie bus."

"Seat belts were not user friendly, not in place." "Be consistent with bus signage."

"Information isn’t readily available – at stops." "Use technology better, web, online route-finder, SMS, etc."

"Not easy to figure out routes and times." "Add the gateway rides to help change image."

"Pick up and drop off are not clear. "Make it cool!"

"Glen arbor is on the wrong side of the street." "An east west route? Munson to NMC or Tom’s East Bay?"

"A BEACH bus!"

Speaking of BATA

"BATA contract services are good. They are timely,

knowledgeable, safe, and move 125 riders a day for my organization."

~ Steve Perdue - GT Industries


8

METHODOLOGY

Speaking of BATA

"BATA seems to have a decent limited fixed route system. But, I live downtown TC, 2 blocks from the BATA station on Hall St. and cannot easily, within a reasonable time get to work, which is 1/2 mile south of the

BATA garage on Cass. If I could, I would ride everyday. I know 3 - 4 others in my office in the same situation." Anonymous Survey Response to Question #33


9

Photo © Copyright 2010 Gary L. Howe - All Rights Reserved

Survey Design

The decision was made early in the survey planning process to emphasize numbers of survey responses over statistically valid random sample data. The cost factors associated with gathering random sample data, combined with the desire to offer several open-ended feedback questions, helped us decide to move in this direction. The priority focus for the BATA survey was to put it in the hands of as many people as possible. Two methods were employed:

Electronic

A web survey tool, Zoomerang® was used as the online deployment method. A major effort ensued to create a web pres-ence for the survey, including website, email, Twitter®updates, and a Facebook® account.

Print

The survey was also made available to the public in paper form. This was distributed to public as an insert in the Traverse City Record Eagle (21,000 copies) and the Leelanau Enterprise (6,000 copies). Another 1,000 copies were withheld from these efforts and distributed by BATA drivers, used in focus groups, handed out at community events, and mailed to those re-questing copies.

Several Surveys for Several Audiences

To have the greatest impact for the community, the BATA Survey used several customized versions of the instrument to recognize several distinct audiences. A baseline survey was developed, which became the "General Public Survey." Two versions of this this were deployed: a primary online version, accessible from www.batasurvey.com (launched on Monday October 5, 2009) and a printed version. Most of the marketing efforts were focused at directing respondents to the online version. For those unable or unlikely to find the online survey, a print version was distributed to 28,000 people in the northwest Michigan region by way of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, and by the Leelanau Enterprise. Each newspaper included the survey as an insert. Launch dates were selected to provide an ongoing punctuated presence of the survey in the public eye.

Separate versions of the online survey were created that included all the same questions from the original with the addi-tion of several questions designed to gather data from the following subset audiences: Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce members, Cadillac/Wexford Transit Authority users, and Benzie County Transportation Authority (Benzie Bus) users. Website visitors self-selected the online survey that best suited them. Each of these survey instruments also separated the questions into "Existing BATA Riders" and "Non-BATA Riders." It’s important to note for statistical pur-poses that the first 33 questions for each survey were identical, and were presented in precisely the same order.

Emphasis was put on directing individuals to the online survey because of the recognition of technology’s role in today’s society. Recent advancements in web capabilities allowed us to create the multiple survey variants at little or no extra cost. Surprisingly, more than 57% of all respondents chose to mail in their surveys, rather than take the online version. This is especially heartening as this method required several purposeful acts including: filling out the survey, folding and sealing it properly, and posting it with a 44-cent stamp of their own, then dropping it in a post box. Some people chose to fill out the surveys and leave them at prearranged locations including: the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, BATA administrative offices, the BATA transfer station, BATA buses, and the Michigan Land Use Institute.


10

http://www.batasurvey.com

http://www.batasurvey.com

This report will reference the BATA survey, but will not necessarily track it exactly question by question. We will attempt to tell a story about regional public transportation using the data collected from the BATA Survey. This requires the free-dom to reference and insert survey responses where they are needed.

In 1998, the Corradino Group conducted a similar transportation survey for northwest Michigan. It was presented as part of a larger study titled "Public Transportation Study for Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties." The 1998 survey was much smaller in scope and quantity of responses, but yielded some interesting results. On occasion in this report we will reference the Corradino study. Several questions in the 2009 survey were worded to match questions in the 1998 study, so that we can show any significant correlation. The 1998 survey had a total of 255 responses. Its main purpose was to gauge interest in property tax millages to support BATA.

Marketing Efforts

A multi-level strategy was employed to encourage responses to the printed and electronic versions of the survey:

• Press releases were delivered to area media outlets on September 15, 2009.

• Ads were taken out in the electronic version of the Traverse City Business News and appeared on October 7th and October 23rd, 2009.

• Public service announcements were aired on several local radio and TV stations, including one recorded by Krios Consulting and played on Interlochen Public Radio.

• Tom Menzel and Krios Consulting's principal consultant,Bill Palladino, appeared on several local radio, televi-sion and newspaper interviews regarding the survey.

• Posters were distributed around the community.

• Business-card sized information was distributed to area businesses and through canvassing.

• A Twitter account (www.twitter.com/batasurvey) was created and updated several times each week.• A Facebook page was created for the survey and updated once a week.

• A website was created (www.batasurvey.com) that provided visitors with several self-selected links to different versions of the survey. It also served as the clearinghouse for information about the survey, including: up-to-the-minute updates on the responses to selected survey questions.

• Aforementioned focus groups held in Glen Arbor and Traverse City.


11

http://www.twitter.com/batasurvey

http://www.twitter.com/batasurvey

http://www.batasurvey.com/

http://www.batasurvey.com/

SURVEY RESULTS

Speaking of BATA

"More frequent pickups at set locations for more park & rides. At times that would allow people to get to work between 7:00 - 9:00 am and home again after 5:00 to 10:00 pm. Weekend travel would be great, I would use

the bus for shopping trips to the mall if I knew the schedules and was sure I would have a ride back to my car at a park & ride." Anonymous Response to Question #33


12


Demographic Profiles

The first section of the BATA Survey sought to determine baseline information about respondents, including: age, sex, home location, work location, whether they hold a valid driver license, vehicle usage, and the cost of fuel for automobiles.

Question #1 asked for personal contact information and those responses are not included here. Questions #2 and #3 asked for respondents to write in the community they call home, and the community where they work. It’s important to note that these were open-response questions and no suggestions for the locales were provided. Here are the top 25 com-munities from each category.

Survey Question #2 Survey Question #3

RANK HOME COMMUNITY MENTIONS RANK WORK COMMUNITY MENTIONS

1 TRAVERSE CITY 376 1 TRAVERSE CITY 385

2 SUTTONS BAY 47 2 RETIRED 194

3 GRAND TRAVERSE CTY 47 3 N/A 150

4 EMPIRE 35 4 GRAND TRAVERSE CTY 45

5 GARFIELD TWP 32 5 SUTTONS BAY 26

6 LONG LAKE 31 6 UNEMPLOYED 17

7 CEDAR 29 7 EMPIRE 15

8 NORTHPORT 28 8 LEELANAU CTY 14

9 LEELANAU CTY 28 9 GARFIELD TWP 12

10 EASTBAY TWP 27 10 GLEN ARBOR 12

11 PENINSULA TWP 25 11 INTERLOCHEN 12

12 N/A 24 12 DOWNTOWN TC 12

13 GRAWN TWP 19 13 LELAND 10

14 KINGSLEY 19 14 EASTBAY TWP 9

15 MAPLE CITY 18 15 DISABLED 7

16 LAKE LEELANAU 18 16 LAKE LEELANAU 7

17 LELAND 17 17 MUNSON 7

18 INTERLOCHEN 16 18 NORTHPORT 7

19 WILLIAMSBURG 16 19 PESHAWBESTOWN 6

20 GLEN ARBOR 15 20 CEDAR 5

21 BINGHAM 14 21 ACME 4

22 ELMWOOD 12 22 CENTER 4

23 ACME 10 23 HOME 4

24 BLAIR TWP 9 24 MALL 4

25 SOLON TWP 9 25 MAPLE CITY 4

The "home" section of the chart above holds few surprises. Traverse City ranks the highest as home location, with Suttons Bay, Grand Traverse County, and Empire finishing close behind. The most interesting results come in the second set of


13

data for "work community." Again, Traverse City finishes on top. That’s no surprise. Following right behind Traverse City, however, a trend begins to appear.

If you look at the work communities ranking #2, #3, #6, & #15, these are not communities at all. They all suggest life-styles that do not include "work" as part of the definition: retired, n/a, unemployed, and disabled. The bulk of these in-stances came from the print version of the survey. This method of response showed a significantly higher prevalence for people 61 years and older. Further down the list, ranked #23, is "home." Recent U.S. Census1 data suggest that this is a trend on the rise. (Actually, it is a trend that is being revisited.) People working from home, telecommuting, or in small businesses of their own will continue to be a growing segment of the workforce.

Questions #3, #4, and #5 all asked for basic demographic information; respectively, Age, Sex, and Approximate House-hold Income.

Survey Question #4Survey Question #4Survey Question #4 Survey Question #5Survey Question #5 Survey Question #6:Survey Question #6:

Age # % Female Male Approximate Income

Percent of Total

18 – 24: 29 2.8% 53% 47% $Zero - $39,999 43%

25 – 35: 127 12.3% $40k - $59,999 13%

36 – 45: 130 12.6% $60k - $79,999 17%

46 – 50: 85 8.3% $80k - $99,999 11%

51 – 60: 243 23.5% $100k and above 11%

61 – 70: 193 18.7%

71 and over:

224 21.6%

How Do We Commute?

The reasons why individuals travel around and through communities in the region are important indicators that may provide BATA with direction for future route changes, additions, and other service improvements.

Several of the questions were designed to disregard existing assumptions about the communities where we live and the reasons people choose the transportation options they do.

As a regional transportation provider, BATA is required to provide service spanning the counties of Grand Traverse and Leelanau. One of the goals of the survey was to take this assumption away so that we could measure need without those geographic boundaries in place. The suggestion is that people using BATA to commute to work don’t ask which county they work in when deciding to use public transportation. They simply have a transportation need, with a starting point and an ending point. Keeping this in mind, the survey provided a long list of communities, towns, and village centers; many of which are located beyond the boundaries of our county lines.


14

1 Source: US Census Data via http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t35/tables/tab01-1.xls


http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t35/tables/tab01-1.xls

http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t35/tables/tab01-1.xls

Question # 16 asked respondents to: "Please choose the locations to which you have traveled over the past six months: (Select all that apply.)" The top fourteen responses to this question appear in this graph.

0% 23% 45% 68% 90%

89%

57%38%

43%34%

48%39%

34%38%

42%36%37%

43%37%

Traverse City Suttons Bay

Leland Lake Leelanau

Kingsley InterlochenGreilickville Grawn

Glen Arbor Garfield Empire Elmwood East Bay Cedar

Where in the region do we travel?Survey Question #16

There were 38 choices listed, plus an "other" option. All of the top 14 listed above exist within the current statutory boundaries within which BATA serves. Of special note is the town that rated #11, Kalkaska, with 30%. This town is in a county not currently served by BATA. Please see the appendix for an entire list of locales provided in the survey.

0 100 200 300 400

Live ThereWork

EntertainmentHealth/Dental Appointment

MeetingsShopping

Driving through it to other placesOther, please specify

What is the main reason you visit these village centers?

38%34%

52%34%25%

48%42%12%

Percentage of Respondents Choosing Item

Survey Question #17

Other notable towns referenced were Frankfort (Benzie County) with 27% and Mancelona (Antrim County) with 14%. These may be communities that BATA seeks to better serve in the future, either with expanded service or with better part-nerships with adjacent transportation agencies.


15

Speaking of Public Transportation:

"We absolutely need better public transportation in southeast Michigan and throughout the state if we have any hope of com-peting with other states and cities for new industry, good-paying, jobs and an influx of young people and new families. Mass

transit brings our communities together." ~ Rep. Marie Donigan

Significance of Older Respondents

The survey’s Question #4 asked respondents to select an age range. In addition to the results gathered from this data, many respondents chose to write-in "retired" or "N/A" in Question #3 when asked to include their work location. In ana-lyzing the demographic data, it becomes very clear that the aging population has a vested interest in public transporta-tion. Over 40% of all respondents to the BATA survey identified themselves as being 61 years or older in age. Separat-ing the types of surveys, respondent age becomes more significant. 56% of all respondents using the printed form re-ported being 61 years or older. Only 21% of online respondents reported being 61 or older. Assumptions here suggest that it is much less likely for people over the age of 60 to have access to, or the skills or desire to use, the Internet. This is an important conclusion for BATA when it moves to a more advanced marketing strategy. Understanding which part of the population uses which media will be critical to getting the results it desires. (See Question #10 on Page 22)

The graph on the left below shows the age breakdown across all respondents. The graph to the right below shows the same data, but cross-tabbed to show age correlated to the type of survey returned. In addition, many of the comments from respondents 61 years and older reflected the potential for them to need BATA if and when it became impossible to drive an automobile by themselves. This was a clear thread in the open-ended responses from survey Question #33. (See a selection of some of those responses on pages 28 & 29 of this document.)

0

63

125

188

250

Num

ber of Respondents29

127 12085

253

193224

18 — 2425 — 35

36 — 4546 — 50

51 — 6061 — 70

More than 70

Age Groups

0

50

100

150

200

Num

ber of Respondents

18 — 2425 — 35

36 — 4546 — 50

51 — 6061 — 70More than 70

General Public Online TC Chamber Online General Public PrintAge Groups vs. Survey Type

Survey Question #4


16

Age and BATA Ridership

We’ve included a further breakdown of people selecting "yes" or "no" to the question, "Do you currently ride the BATA bus system?" It allows us to see declared ages of those selecting each choice. In the chart below, it shows the distribution of those declaring to currently be BATA riders is well balanced. While in the section showing those declaring "no", the distribution is weighted fairly heavily towards the older categories.

There are also some very interesting data from national surveys that can help to inform BATA and the communities it serves on what to expect regarding the transportation needs of the aging population. 2

• 55% of non-institutionalized older persons lived with their spouse.• Nearly 39% of women 65+ live alone• 19% of men 65+ live alone• Half of women 75+ live alone• Health and disability status is stronger predictor of mobility than age.

• Those 85+ in excellent physical condition are more mobile than younger persons in poor condition.• Chronic conditions tend to rise with age.

• Over half of persons age 75+ have 2 – 4 chronic conditions• Over one-fifth of persons age 75+ have 5 or more chronic conditions

• Challenges of Rural Living• Persons age 60 and older account for nearly one-third of rural riders— far more than their 19% share of the

rural population.

• Nearly 75% of households in rural areas do not have access to public transportation.• Medical trips are a particular need.

An emerging demographic opportunity

On the other side of the age curve, it is apparent that Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce members responding very precisely fit the demographic that BATA seeks to fill its empty seats. Forty-one percent of Chamber members re-sponding were between the ages of 36 and 50; another 25% self-selected themselves as being between 18 and 35 years old. This assumption is based on the study of other successful regional transit systems, whose successes are correlated directly to a commuting population. Using this test, BATA’s current core user demographic is necessary, yet cannot be relied upon to sustain BATA into the next decade of new economic challenges. BATA must increase its ridership numbers to support its bottom line, and to fight a lasting perception that its in-city buses are inherently underutilized. Perceptions like this persist in the community and further indicate a need for BATA to generate more effective communications to the public. The most-prevalent theme in the survey responses was regarding a need for better service information from BATA.

Marketing to the commuting population, (those people traveling daily from home to work,) is critical for BATA to remain viable and relevant. This population provides a solid user base that expects to pay a non-subsidized price for the conven-ience and cost-savings of riding public transportation.


17

2 AARP - Hill Briefing June 2009 - Transportation for and Aging America Leo F. Estrada, PhD UCLA School of Public Affairs

0

50

100

150

200

21

5239

28

76

50 42

5

60 6547

158

137

178

18 - 24 25 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 More than 700 200 400 600 800

Number of Respondents

712

325

No

Yes

Num

ber o

f Res

pond

ents

Do you currently ride the BATA bus system?

69%

31%

Age vs. BATA Ridership

Yes No

Survey Question #13 Survey Question #13 &. Question #4

Question #13 asked the basic question, "Do you currently ride the BATA bus system?" Sixty-nine percent of all respon-dents said they do not ride BATA, leaving 31% claiming that they do. Referring back to the discussion of survey method-ologies on page six* of this report, we assume these numbers may be somewhat skewed. Because the survey did not use a random sample device, there may be a larger percentage of people responding to the survey who already have a vested interest in the subject. More directly, these numbers represent an exact value of how people responded to the survey, but they may not be useful to extrapolate general numbers for the community at large. In a recent national study conducted by HNTB Companies, 11% of Americans claim to use buses, light rail, or other forms of public transportation.3 (The March 1998 Corradino study found that 27% of the 255 people surveyed responded "yes" to the question "Do you use BATA Buses?")4

In a more general sense, this chart tells us that we accomplished at least one of our goals. We wanted to gather informa-tion from a cross section of the population with an emphasis on those individuals who claim to not currently ride BATA. We achieved that goal with a ratio of more than 2:1, non-riders, over riders. This gives us a good look at both groups. The sheer number of respondents does give us some level of confidence as to the validity and relevance of the data.

Speaking of Public Transportation:

"Well-designed transit is a catalyst for economic development. According to Federal Transit Administration research, every $10 million invested in transit capital projects yields an estimated $30 million in business sales." ~ Federal Transit Administrator James Simpson (in an interview published in Community Transportation Magazine - Fall 2006.)


18

3 Source: HNTB Companies Transportation Study 2008 - via Edmunds.com

4 Source: Public Transportation Coordination Study for Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties - The Corradino Group with Wade Trim


Income

Income of respondents is an important indicator of the nature of affordable transportation. Followed by a group of ques-tions designed to ascertain how people commute, the cost of automobile ownership, and the cost of fuel. Significant trends include the prevalence of lower income for older residents, and the average cost of fuel for households.

43%19%

17%9%

11%

$ Zero - $39,999 $40,000 - $59,999 $60,000 - $79,999 $80,000 - $99,999 More than $100,000

Zero - $39,999

More than $100,000

$69,000 - $79,999

$40,000 - $59,999

$80,000 - $99,999

Approximate Gross Household Income?Survey Question #6

When we cross tabulate the income characteristics of all respondents, as represented above, with the type of survey re-sponse (print, online, or TC Chamber) we see a very strong correlation between those who returned the print version of the survey with an escalating prevalence for respondents to make less than $39,999 per year

0 75 150 225 300

Number of Respondents Per Category

More than $100,000

$80,000 - $99,999

$60,000 - $79,999

$40,000 - $59,999

$ Zero - $39,999

Inco

me

Leve

l Sel

ecte

d

General Public Print TC Chamber Online General Public Online

Income vs. Survey Type

Driving Choices

A specific series of questions in the BATA Survey were asked in order to understand why people choose to use the trans-portation methods they do. Most importantly, the questions sought to measure how many people ride BATA currently, and how much they rely upon automobiles. In addition, we wanted to see the impact of these choices on respondents for individuals and for the community. One question that sounds very simplistic, actually yields a lot of valuable informa-tion for BATA. Many people in the community take for granted the privilege of having a driver’s license. At first blush


19

the responses, as indicated in the graph on the left, don’t show many surprises. But, when we overlay the same data with BATA ridership data, we begin to see a pattern.

While 86% of respondents overall have a driver’s license, only 55.2% of those claiming to ride BATA have one. This information tends to support popular community perceptions of BATA riders not having a choice in their mode of trans-portation around the community. Because, for whatever reason, they don’t have access to an automobile.

Yes No

0 225 450 675 900

Yes No

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

55.20%

96.40%

44.80%

3.60%

Current Bata Riders

Non Riders

All Respondents Current BATA Riders vs. Non-Riders

Do you have a valid driver’s license?Survey Question #7 And vs. Survey Question #4

86%

14%

0 125 250 375 500

1736

129 405

300

141

Number of responses

Number of insured vehicles per household?Survey Question #8

The majority of respondents surveyed claim to have two cars per household.


20

The Cost of Fuel

When we asked, in Question #9, "How much is spent on automobile fuel for household vehicles?" 14% said they spend no money. This correlates precisely to responses from Questions # 7 & #8. Nineteen percent of respondents spend up to $50 per month. Thirty-two percent claim to pay between $50 and $100 per month. Twenty-one percent spend between $100 and $150 per month, and 14% spend $150 or more each month. This is an important indicator of where transportation dollars are spent in our communities. It does not include other auto related expenses such as; car payments, insurance, vehicle maintenance, parking, taxes, license, and other associated costs.

Survey Question #9

0100200300

400

Num

ber of Respondents

143197

335

213149

Zero Zero - $50.00 $50 - $100.00 $100 - $150.00 $150.00 or More

How much is spent on automobile fuel for household vehicles?

And the national outlook from the same question:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

5%

20%

33%

21%

10% 8%

Under $50 $50 to $100 $101 to $200 $201 to $300 $301 to $400 More than $400

How much do you spend on automobile fuel each month?

More than$400

$301 - $400$201 - $300$101 - $200$50 - $100Under$50.00

This graph of a similar question from a national survey shows that BATA Survey respondents run closely to the national average for fuel usage. 5 Visitor survey based on 18136 responses.


21

5 Source: www.gasbuddy.com and http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/miscellaneous/how-much-do-you-spend-on-gas-each-month/

http://www.gasbuddy.com

http://www.gasbuddy.com

http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/miscellaneous/how-much-do-you-spend-on-gas-each-month/

http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/miscellaneous/how-much-do-you-spend-on-gas-each-month/

The dollar-bill chart below describes where each dollar you spend on gas goes in the economy. This information is from the U.S. Department of Energy. Very little money from gasoline fuel sales stay in the local economy. Most of each dollar, (74 cents,) goes to crude oil costs, 11 cents to federal, state and local taxes, six cents to distribution and marketing, and the last 10 percent to refining. A very small portion (only 3%, out of the distribution and marketing slice) stays directly in the community where the money is spent. 6

Annual costs of car ownership in the U.S. is over $7000. The Bureau of La-bor Statistics gave the breakdown shown in the table at right in 2004. This is for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles, with a cost per mile of $0.517.

"One interesting thing we can do with the car costs is convert the car costs into time. The average American earns about $17/hr., or $14/hr. after fed-eral taxes. So $7,232 in annual car costs takes 517 hours to earn. That's over three full months of work each year. Just to pay for the car."7

This is a valuable message for BATA to provide its potential customers . It is an educational message about the impact public transit can have in a community. By choosing to ride public transporta-tion, citizens can potentially save money, and lessen the community’s reliance on fuel derived from elsewhere.


22

6 Source: US Department of Energy http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

7 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov via http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac.html

Principal on car loan $! 3579

Finance charges on car loan

$! 359

Gas & Oil $! 1,279

Insurance $! 819

Maintenance & Repair $! 662

Licenses, Parking, & Misc. $! 534

Total Yearly Costs $! 7,232

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

http://www.bls.gov

http://www.bls.gov

http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac.html

http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac.html

Why We Travel Where We Do

Another question was designed to help us understand why people travel around the region, especially through the re-gion’s hub, Traverse City. This question asked: "What is the main reason you go to / through the Traverse City area?" It’s not surprising that the majority of respondents selected "I live in Traverse City." Second to this response was "work" fol-lowed by "shopping, and then "other." This data supports existing knowledge of Traverse City’s role as the employ-ment magnet for surrounding communities. It also supports Traverse City’s rich retail segment and its broad regional draw. The "other" category included information referencing the active volunteering community in the region, along with mentions of "visiting family" as other reasons respondents go to or through Traverse City. The aging population in par-ticular, (61 years and older,) made frequent comments about volunteering in the community.

Survey Question #15

Respondents were instructed to choose all answers that apply. Significant responses in the "other" category include: "volunteering" and "visiting family."

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

I don’t

I Live in Traverse City

WorkMeetings

ShoppingEntertainment

Health/Dental AppointmentJust driving through

Other, please specify

What is the main reason you go to / through the Traverse City area?


23


Why Would People Choose To Ride BATA?

A large part of the survey was dedicated to getting feedback on how to get more people to ride BATA. For this question we were interested in the opinions of people who currently ride BATA, and those who’ve never ridden BATA.

0%

13%

25%

38%

50%

1More frequent routes. Better information about BATA services.More “fixed” routes connecting outlying villages and Traverse City. Other, please specifyMore “fixed” routes within Traverse City “Flex” routes that allow fixed route buses to make minor detours.A “fixed” route to Cherry Capital Airport More bus stops.More semi-enclosed shelters Better marked bus stopsRoutes that went beyond BATA’s current purview of Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties Sliding scale fares for differing ride lengths.Cheaper fares.

Percent of Respondents Choosing Selection

Which of the following would help to encourage your use of BATA? (Choose all that apply.)

Survey Question #19

The chart above shows the cumulative rating across riders and non-riders. In it, respondents overall selected "more fre-quent routes" as the number one thing (46%) to help encourage them to ride BATA. Following closely behind were, "more information" with 42%, and "more fixed routes connecting outlying villages and Traverse City," with 38%.

When digging a little deeper into the data, it becomes evident that the most significant responses here indicate that:

• Non-Bata riders claim the main issue encouraging more BATA use is "more information" (47%) while…

• BATA users chose "more frequent routes" as their #1 response (58%)

If you look at the bottom of the scale, at the grey colored column, another story becomes visible. The lowest rating for this question was for "cheaper fares." So it would seem fair that price is not a significant factor in people deciding whether to ride BATA.

To support this assumption, another question went right to the point:


24

What would you consider a reasonable fare to ride BATA?

23%

7%

10%

20%

33%

8%

Sliding Scale based

$2.50 - $3.00

$2.00 - $2.50

$1.50 - $2.00

$1.00 - $1.50

Less than $1.00

Survey Question #23

While 33% support $1.00 - $1.50, and 20% support $1.50 - $2.00, it’s the combination that is so impressive. A total of 53% of respondents believe that a reasonable fare for riding BATA would be between $1.00 and $2.00. Again, when we cross-tabulate the above data with existing BATA riders vs. Non-riders, there are some interesting points that come to the surface. Twice as many non-riders selected "sliding scale" than did riders. BATA riders were twice as likely to choose $2.50 - $3.00 as a reasonable fare over non-riders. This seems to indicate that once people ride BATA, they are more likely to support the existing fare structure, and may be more likely to support potential increases in the future.

Speaking of Public Transportation

"Commuters are the largest potential market for increasing bus ridership, and evidence suggests commuters will only use fixed route bus service that offers a fast, efficient, reliable transportation choice." ~ Executive Summary from

Expanding Transportation Choices in the Grand Traverse Region - Michigan Land Use Institute October 2009

If you were to use BATA to commute, what is the maximum distance you would walk

10%

43%

33%

13%

Zero blocks

2 blocks ( approx. 1/8 mile)

6 blocks ( approx. 1/2 mile)

10 blocks ( approx. 3/4 mile) or more

Survey Question #20

In order to get a picture of how far respondents would walk to get to a BATA bus stop, the survey provided several choices from which to choose. Combining all survey respondents shows that the majority chose "two blocks," with the next highest ranking being "six blocks." The numbers for both BATA riders and Non-BATA riders were similar. This question speaks to convenience, which is also a focus of the results of Question #22, on the next page.


25

What are the reasons you might choose to ride BATA buses?

0%15%30%

45%60%

52%

23%31%

41%20%

33% 28% 20%

Cost savingsLack of reliable automobile

Not able to driveConvenience

Medical appointmentsReasonably priced fareExpansion of BATA service area beyond existing constraints


Survey Question #22

We also asked respondents to tell us why they might choose to ride BATA. Cost Savings with 53%, and Convenience with 41%, are the clear leaders for this question. Our current economic environment might obviate the "cost savings" selection, but it is assumed this trend will hold up over time especially if gas prices continue to rise. Convenience, (the orange column - fourth from the left,) also rated fairly highly. Convenience is a difficult condition to define for a mostly rural community. How does a relatively small service such as BATA present its services as convenient when it covers such a large region? The second (green), and third (yellow) columns from the left both refer to reasons for riding BATA that are related to a lack of choice. These people cannot drive a vehicle, and must find other methods of commuting. This same question was asked in the 1998 Corradino study with very different results. Highlights of that study included: Cost Savings (16%), much lower than the 2010 study. Respondents from 1998 rated convenience at 21%, about half of the rating from current respondents.

A true test of any public transportation system is the commitment of its ridership. In Question #25, the BATA Survey asked respondents to tell us how often they would ride the bus if conditions were right for them. Current BATA riders are twice as likely to say they’ll ride the bus three to five days a week. Current BATA riders are also seven times more likely than non-riders to say they’d ride the bus six or seven days a week.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

7%

22%25%

33%

13%

NeverLess than one time per month

2 days a week3 — 5 days a week

6 — 7 days a week

How often would you or others in your household ride BATA buses if service conditions were right?

Survey Question #25


26

BATA currently offers several distinct types of services. Respondents were asked to select the type of service they would most likely use. They were instructed to select only one choice.

Survey Question #24Which BATA service would you be most likely to use for your needs?

34%

29%

25%6%5%

Fixed route (Village Connectors)

Cherriot (Inter-city routes around Traverse City)

Dial-a-Ride (At will pick up and drop off)

Health or disability transportation


Overall, fixed routes (village connectors) were the most likely to serve respondent needs. Breaking the responses down between current BATA riders and non-BATA riders, non-riders are twice as likely to suggest "dial-a-ride" as being the service they would most likely use for their needs. Riders are twice as likely to choose the Cherriot.

Recognizing that BATA currently serves many people who are disabled, or otherwise have some difficulty with their transportation needs, Question #26 asked "Do you or others in your household have problems meeting transportation needs?" The two pie charts below show that non-BATA riders are not very likely to have problems meeting transporta-tion needs, at 14%. On the other hand, current BATA riders are three time more likely (47%) to answer ‘Yes" than non-BATA riders. (In the 1998 Corradino Study 19% of respondents answered "yes" to a question with exactly the same wording.8)

Survey Question #26

14%

86%

47%53%

Do you or others in your household have problems meeting transportation needs?

Non-BATA Riders Current BATA Riders

No

No

Yes

Yes


27

8 Source: Public Transportation Coordination Study for Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties - The Corradino Group with Wade Trim

The next series of questions pushed a little deeper regarding potential transportation limitations of respondents. The 14% of overall respondents answering "yes" to the above question were then asked "What do the transportation limitations keep you from doing?" And also "What are the transportation limitations?" Looking at the left-hand graph below, it is clear the number one thing that transportation limitations prevent respondents from doing is "Working or seeking employment," (24%), followed closely by "Social or recreational activities" (22%).

24%5%

11%18%22%21%

Working or seeking employmentAttending training or school

ShoppingMedical or dental visits

Social or recreational activitiesOther, please specify

548619

1013

643959

Poor healthLimited bus schedules

Need a second carNeed a wheelchair van

Poor eyesightNo License

No automobileOther, please specify

Number of Respondents per question.Percentage of Respondents per question.

If yes, what do your transportation limitations keep you, (or other household members) from doing? What are the transportation limitations?

Survey Question #27 Survey Question #28

In the right-hand graph above, respondents chose from a list of possible transportation limitations. Overwhelmingly, "Limited bus schedules" (86 votes,) sticks out as main contributor to the inability of respondents to accomplish the tasks listed in Question # 27. "Poor health" and "no license" follow close, each with 54 votes. The "other" category also finished high in this test with 59 votes; the main theme represented here was "disabled."

Gaining a richer understanding of current and potential BATA riders is critical if we are to encourage more ridership and provide better service. We learned in question #22 that one of the most important considerations for using BATA is "con-venience." In order to learn more about BATA’s convenience to the public, we asked several questions aimed at finding out how respondents do, or would, get to a BATA bus stop to start their journey, and how they would finish their out-bound trip once stepping off the bus.

Question #29 asked: "If you were to ride BATA, how would you get to your typical bus starting point?" And Question #30 continued the logical progression with: "If you were to ride BATA, how would you complete your typical bus trip?" A vast majority of respondents selected "walk" for both questions. The only other method with any significant re-sponse was "Automobile (i.e., Park & Ride)" Surprisingly, bicycling rated very low on both scales.

7%

5%

63%

70%

5%

6%

19%

12%

8%

7%

A non-BATA busWalkBike

Automobile (i.e., Park & Ride)Other, please specify

A non-BATA busWalkBike

Automobile (i.e., Park & Ride)Other, please specify

If you were to ride BATA, how would you get to your typical bus starting point?

If you were to ride BATA, how would you complete your typical bus trip?

Survey Question #29

Survey Question #30


28

How to Connect with Current and Potential Riders

Question #10 changed direction to discover what media sources respondents use. It asked respondents to provide their favorite source of news and information. This required an open-ended response where there were no suggested sources provided. The responses were collated by hand and parsed for accuracy.

Survey Question #10Name your most oft-used source of local/regional news and information.

0 150 300 450 600

507350

149103

87706253

3630281717108

Record-Eagle

TVTV 7&4

Leelanau EnterpriseIPR - Interlochen Radio

TV 9&10RadioOnlineWTCM

Northern ExpressNews

NATelevisionGT Insider

TC Business News

It’s important to note a few things about the above graph. Since the survey was distributed using both the Traverse City Record-Eagle and the Leelanau Enterprise, there may be an obvious correlation between the media source within which respondents received the survey, and their selections for this question. These numbers should not be used to estimate the general public’s actual usage of these media sources. This graph is, however, an accurate representation of the media sources preferred by the over 1000 people who responded to the BATA Survey. These results then can be used as a good reference point for how to best communicate with individuals in the region interested in information about

BATA.

Speaking of BATA

"I'm so glad you're doing this survey. I can't wait for this region to get a better public transportation system!

We need to have a more European attitude towards getting around our cities. transportation choice." Anonymous comment from Question #33


29

Perceptions of BATA

Public perception is something that can be difficult to gauge. Some of the most valuable information resulting from the BATA survey came in the form or perceptions of BATA in the community. Question #31 above provided a grid asking respondents to rate BATA services either from experience (those who have ridden BATA), or for those who have not used the system, from their perceived notions of BATA. This information gives us a start to understanding how existing BATA riders and non-riders differ in their opinions about the organization and its place in the community. The green area in each graph indicates the perception of the given service as "Excellent," the yellow as "Good," the red as "Poor," and the grey area as "N/A."

These charts tell a story of divergent perceptions of key BATA services, dependent upon whether respondents have or have not ridden BATA buses.

Survey Question #31

17%

32%32%

10%10%6%7%11%

46%

30%

58%43%

36%36%39%

53%

3%

6%

10%24%

16%17%

26%

11%

34%

32%

0%

22%

38%

40%

29%25%

Interior CleanlinessDriver Courtesy

Overall SafetyService Information

Buses On-TimeService Freqency

Places ServedService In General

Based on your existing knowledge of BATA, please rate your current perception of the following: Totals are combined from all survey sources.

39%

68%52%

29%36%

25%

58%35%

52%

29%42%

49%

49%51%

2%

60%

7%

2%

4%19%

15%20%

33%

4%

2%

1%

2%3%1%4%7%2%

Interior CleanlinessDriver Courtesy

Overall SafetyService Information

Buses On-TimeService Freqency

Places ServedService In General

Non-B

ATA Riders

Current B

ATA-R

iders

Excellent Average Poor N/A


30

On average, current BATA riders rank every item in Question #31 higher than do non-BATA riders. BATA riders are more than twice as likely to choose "excellent" as a choice when describing BATA services, as are non-BATA riders. BATA riders (35%) are three times as likely than their non-riding counterparts (11%) to say that BATA’s "service in general" is excellent.

Sixty-eight percent of existing riders say driver courtesy is "excellent." And existing riders (58%) are more than eight times as likely to consider the places served by BATA to be excellent over non-riders (7%). When looking at "Average" and "Poor" scores, BATA riders and non-riders track very closely. You can also see that many more non-riders chose "N/A " as a choice. This is not a surprise, as some people may not have many perceptions of BATA if they don’t use the system or don’t see it in action where they live or work. When separating results from the Traverse City Area Chamber of Com-merce members in this question, chamber members on average line up precisely with the non-rider graph.

An obvious correlation is that respondents who are familiar with BATA, and who may already have some vested in-terest in the system, have a much higher perception overall than do those who do not use it. This suggests a challenge for BATA. If positive perceptions of BATA in the community are linked to people first using or being familiar with its services, then BATA must find ways to get more people on the bus. Any strategy to sway public opinion about the qual-ity and viability of BATA services must begin with getting many more people familiar with its service offerings.

Question #32 had a similar format to the preceding one. It asked respondents to provide their opinion of what things might facilitate others to use BATA. "In your opinion, how important are the following in influencing more people to use BATA transit services?"

62%

50%

61%

42%

47%

37%

56%19%

33%

43%

33%

40%

38%

42%

35%41%

5%

7%

6%

18%

15%

22%

9%

40%

67%

49%

59%

66%

65%33%

55%23%

28%

43%

36%

25%

25%

41%

37%43%

5%

8%

5%

8%

11%

25%

8%

34%

More Frequent Service

More Information

Better Connections

More Weekend Service

More Evening ServiceMore Seasonally Specific Service

Service to More PlacesLower Fares

Very Important Important Not Very Important

In your opinion, how important are the following in influencing more people to use BATA transit services?

Non-BATA Riders Current BATA Riders

Survey Question #32

Non-BATA riders and current riders agree that "more frequent service" ranks highest in importance. Riders differ in their much stronger opinion of the importance of more weekend and evening service.


31

Tell Us What You Think

The last question in the BATA Survey was a wide-open invitation. It asked respondents to tell us the one thing that could make BATA a better service. Here is a list of some randomly selected responses from this question. For the purpose of this report, we don’t have the room to show them all. The list spans over 50 typewritten pages and 13,000 words. The image below is a word cloud created from all the comments. It uses an algorithm to count the frequency of words in the document. It then displays the top 300 or so words using font size to indicate how often each word is found. As an ex-ample, in the image below, the following words rank fairly highly: routes, BATA, bus, and service.

Survey Question #33:

In your opinion, what is the single most important change or improvement that BATA can make to ensure a better transit system for this region?

Word Cloud image created using Wordle - www.wordle.net

The entire list of more than 800 unedited comments can be found online at www.BATAsurvey.com .

It is interesting to note that many respondents wrote long and detailed answers to this question. Especially those re-sponding to the web-based online survey. This version of the survey had no limit to the space respondents could use to write their answers. Those responding to the print version of the survey had some limitation. Many of these people sim-ply chose to write their responses on separate pieces of paper and attach them to the mailed-in survey form. The consult-ants paid careful attention to getting all the information transcribed from these documents as accurately as possible.


32

http://www.wordle.com

http://www.wordle.com

http://www.BATAsurvey.com

http://www.BATAsurvey.com

Survey Question #33

The following are unedited comments from survey respondents in Question #33. We have provided them in two col-umns, the left side lists comments from people identifying themselves as non-BATA riders, and the right side lists com-ments from those identifying themselves as current BATA riders.

GENERAL PUBLIC NON-BATA RIDERS GENERAL PUBLIC BATA RIDERS

Earlier pick up times so I could be at work at 6 a.m.

Information to local residences - various services are confusing.

Better maintenance of buses. Loud and stinky.

More frequent routes at peak times for school and work.

Being on time, later-drop off times.

More bus stops and easier to use.

More rides to Suttons Bay, Glen Arbor and Inter-lochen - rides in the evening for social functions.

Granddaughter takes BATA home from TC schools to Kingsley. We always vote for monies, not sure but we think and hear Mr. Menzel is doing a good job. Keep it up.

More routes, more often.

Better availability of information on routes and times.

Publicize the package service.

More information to public.

Home drop off and pick up.

More convenient times.

On M-22.

Fixed routes outside TC.

Availability every hour at house and pick up one hour after drop off. Need cooler to keep food cold. I can't afford a car. Don't want to be all day.

Lots of dial-a-ride.

Better publicity of how to ride, how to connect, where routes go, good timing.

I think it's great but have not used service yet.

Provide better information and assistance on how to complete trips.

Have a couple small, fuel-economic cars for non-scheduled work.

GPS information.

Dependable, on-time route stops

Easier to get info - expand website info.

More direct routes to cross Traverse City.

Better adherence to the Cherriot time table so that the bus doesn't arrive more than five minutes before the printed time. I've only had this happen one to two percent of the time but it is a great inconvenience when it occurs on the last run of the day.

Work with surrounding counties to create a system so that a person can cover large distances without driv-ing. I work 50 miles from home I would love to be able to ride a bus to work rather than drive.

I really can't think of anything. I ride Zone 1 four days a week and really enjoy the drivers! They are treas-ures!

I use Cherriot in the winter-time. I really wish BATA and Cherriot drivers would slow down. They drive quite fast. Overall, I like the service. The most impor-tant thing BATA can do is promote themselves all they can and get the word out. Maybe BATA (and Cherriot) could offer a free round trip to first time users, I know they already have free rides during Smart Commute Week, but I recommend doing more.

More route buses per day.

More village connectors.

Get rid of the old buses.

Pay attention to the customer if they are a reliable regular rider. Allow the drivers to make decisions. Do not tell your riders, "we can't do that!"

Improved routes to busy (in terms of workers, shop-pers, commuters, etc.) sectors of the community. One example would be along South Airport Road.

More times to come in on the zones so if I work after-noons I can ride the bus to get to work, and later at night to the zones. Thank you.

More frequent village connectors

I like the idea of smaller buses/vans. I think the scheduling process needs work for BATA. We had experienced many no-shows or buses showing when cancelled.

BATA would do well to try to change the perceived image of the people who ride it. Somehow, it needs to be perceived as cool, the right thing, etc. The general public's perception of the BATA rider has to be changed from weird and loser, to hip, smart, practical, winner.


33

Survey Question #33 continued

GENERAL PUBLIC NON-BATA RIDERS GENERAL PUBLIC BATA RIDERS

Publicizing BATA services and changing the percep-tion that BATA is useful mainly to handicapped people, and those who cannot drive a car. Should be more about choice.

Lead and demonstrate a green, acceptable transpor-tation alternative to one car per person.

Increased routes to outlying areas along with better communication on options available. Make it easier to use.

Communication, awareness, promotion.

Better designed routes that deliver faster.

I don't know much about it, so more information. I don't know where the stops are or if there is a stop in my home area.

Reliability.

Better connectivity to provide better service points to encourage more riders. Also BATA needs drop and ride locations. Around the City and county.

Better information about specific routes, make it a viable option to commute to & from work.

For me personally--a quick route from the Logan’s Landing area to downtown.

Scheduled on-time service to many destinations. I would seriously consider utilizing a route from Grawn Corners to Logan's Landing that was on time every time.

More information.

Dependable.

More routes and set schedules and routes.

Consistent service.

More fixed routes and connecting with other bus systems in the area to provide more efficient service.

More information, I guess.

Convenience, convenience and convenience.

More routes to more places, including Benzie county.

Link regionally as a transit system as part of the Grand Vision.

Pickup on time and add more frequent services to areas such as Acme (zone 14) It only goes two times a day which makes it difficult to make connections from other counties especially on the early morning run.

Service places like the adult work center.

More time to go and come from Grawn.

Convenient, efficient fixed routes in TC.

If it smelled better in the buses and allowed eating or at least drinking in the buses.

Have more Cherriot routes.

New busses.

Increase fixed route service (more routes and times) outside of Traverse City with excellent connections to other routes (in Traverse City or in other counties).

More bus stops.

Bus stops at places people need to go, like University Center or Copper Ridge.

I live in East Bay Township and the only way I can take a bus to work is to be into work one hour late which hinders my ability to rely on BATA. I enjoy tak-ing the bus and have for many years. If I could take the bus and get to work on time it would be the way I would travel to work daily. Other than that I have always enjoyed the BATA service.

More stops, obviously marked.

More fixed route options, especially at morning and evening commute times and on weekends.

I'd like to see a marketing campaign to remove the widely-held conception that BATA serves only CMH clients, the homeless and other disenfranchised indi-viduals. Whose idea was it to build BATA transfer next to CMH? BATA needs to be a mainstream trans-port system for people who work in Traverse City.

We don't need more parking structures. I think some mainstream working people are afraid of "those peo-ple" who ride BATA and would never consider using the bus system to commute to work. We need to change that perception just as we need to end the stigma of mental illness. A long row to hoe. Thanks for the opportunity to vent on the subject!


34

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA - TC CHAMBER MEMBERS

Speaking of BATA

"Focus your service on an area and cover it well: give the Traverse area reliable service with expanded hours and 15-minute frequency. I can't take the bus if I am going to stay late at work." Anonymous comment

from a TC Chamber survey respondent.


35


Public Transportation and the Business Community

The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce played a key role in promoting and supporting the BATA Survey during the design and deployment phases. Because of recent technological advances in online survey tools, we were able to eas-ily create a separate survey for TC Chamber members to complete. Working with Doug DeYoung, the Chamber’s VP for Governmental Affairs, Krios Consulting constructed several additional questions that were added to the end of the origi-nal survey. Survey respondents going to the online survey could self-select whether they filled out the General Public Survey or the TC Chamber Member Survey. In total there were 58 respondents who selected this choice. That is a small number for statistical purposes. We can, however, learn a great deal about the general opinions of these respondents and how their results may correlate to Chamber members in general.

Throughout the main body of this report, TC Chamber member survey results were included within the general public data and highlighted in areas of significance. The following data is representative of only the additional questions pro-vided to TC Chamber members. Of the 58 TC Chamber respondents, 86% do not use the BATA system, and 14% do. That’s about half the ridership level of the general public respondents.

Our main goal in these questions was to learn how the regional business community views public transportation, and the use of transportation methods by its employees and staff.

Question #34 for Chamber members (the general public survey ended at #33) asked respondents to rate a series of condi-tions for their potential impact on businesses. Once again, we separated responses from those respondents claiming not to ride BATA, and those claiming to be current or past BATA users.

The first graph shows how Non-BATA riders responded to the question. In the graph the color blue indicates that re-spondents believe the issue "Greatly affects business", green - "Somewhat affects business," yellow - has "no affect" on the business, and red - they just "don’t know." In the case of Non-BATA Riders, the leading issue is the unavailability of safe bike/pedestrian trails with 19% rating that issue as greatly affecting their business. Another 25% rated it as somewhat affecting their business. Parking, for both employees and customers, rated fairly low, with 65% and 61% respectively, rat-ing the issue has having no affect.

To what extent do the following transportation issues affect your business?

Non-B

ATA Riders

TC Chamber Question #34

Traffic congestion

Poor road conditions

Lack of nearby public transit route(s)

Unavailability of employee parking

Unavailability of customer parking

Unavailability of safe bike/pedestrian routes

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

12%

6%

6%

17%

12%

10%

44%

61%

65%

38%

46%

48%

25%

21%

27%

31%

31%

31%

19%

12%

2%

15%

10%

10%

Greatly affects business Somewhat affects business No affect Don't Know


36

When we show the results of the same question from those indicating they use BATA, there are significant differences. Here, the bike/pedestrian path question rates much higher in importance with 50% of BATA riders selecting it as greatly affecting their business. Traffic congestion and poor road conditions rated much higher in importance, as well.

To what extent do the following transportation issues affect your business?

Traffic congestion

Poor road conditions

Lack of nearby public transit route(s)

Unavailability of employee parking

Unavailability of customer parking

Unavailability of safe bike/pedestrian routes

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

0%

0%

0%

0%

12%

25%

38%

50%

50%

38%

12%

12%

12%

38%

38%

38%

76%

63%

50%

12%

12%

25%

0%

0%

Greatly affects business Somewhat affects business No affect Don't Know

Chamber Question #34C

urrent Riders

Chamber Question #35 looked at how chamber members and their companies commute to work. Not surprisingly, 69% of respondents indicate that "more than 75%" of their staff use automobiles to get to work.

What is your estimate of the percentage of your businesses’ employees/staff who drive a vehicle to work?

11%

13%

8%69%

25% or Less Between 25% & 50% Between 50% & 75% More than 75%

Chamber Question #35


37

Question #36 in the Chamber Survey asked about the type of parking provided for employees at their businesses. Clearly most businesses provide some type of free parking for their employees in a lot that is either owned or leased (83%). A much smaller percentage of responses indicate some use of both fee-based parking lots (17%) and on-street un-metered spots (16%). The point of this question was to see if there were attributable costs associated with the prevalence of em-ployees driving their cars to work

What type of vehicle parking does your business use for its employees?

0% 23% 45% 68% 90%

83%17%

3%

16%

4%

3%

Parking Lot Free

Parking Lot Fee-based

On-Street Metered

On-Street Un-metered

Municpal Garage

Other


Knowing the answers to the previous three questions, the BATA Survey also sought to find the impact alternatives to automobile commuting might have on businesses and individuals. Chamber Question #37 asked: "to what extent could your business benefit from encouraging employees and staff to use forms of transportation other than their own vehicles to get to and from work?"

To what extent could your business benefit from encouraging employees and staff to use forms of transportation other than their own vehicles to get to and from work?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

25%

21%

32%

23%

43%

30%

19%

9%

38%

33%

18%

12%

4%

16%

6%

74%

Benefit Greatly

Benefit Somewhat

Would Not Benefit

Don’t Know

Carpooling (Ride-share) Public transportation (BATA) Bicycling / Walking Other


The question has three main choices for how the transportation solutions could benefit or not benefit the businesses: "benefit greatly," "benefit somewhat," and "would not benefit." Another choice allowed respondents to select "don’t know" if they weren’t familiar with the issue or unwilling to predict the possible outcomes.K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

38

43% of all Chamber respondents indicate that their businesses’ employees using Public Transportation (BATA) could greatly benefit their businesses, 30% said it would somewhat benefit, and 9% claimed it would not benefit their busi-nesses. Bicycling ranked next with 38% claiming it could greatly benefit their business, while 30% said it would some-what benefit, and 19% saying it would not benefit. Of the three main choices, carpooling showed the least potential im-pact for benefitting the businesses of respondents.

The next question shifted the emphasis from potential benefits for respondent businesses, to the impacts on employees of the business. The two graphs are almost identical. Public transportation (BATA) still finishes highest as having the greatest potential for positively impacting employees. The main shift shows up in the bicycling category (yellow color), where it finishes about the same for "benefit greatly" and a few points higher for "benefit somewhat." Respondents sug-gest that carpooling could have a fairly high positive impact on employees, at least when compared to its benefit for busi-nesses. Carpooling also had a much lower rating for this question in the "would not benefit" category. (For the purposes of this report the large red bar in the graphs for questions #37 & #38 can be ignored. They refer to "other" forms of commuting and the response "don’t know.")

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

31%

34%

17%

19%

43%

39%

12%

6%

37%

39%

14%

11%

3%

18%

4%

75%

Benefit Greatly

Benefit Somewhat

Would Not Benefit

Don’t Know

Carpooling (Ride-share) Public transportation (BATA) Bicycling / Walking Other

To what extent could the employees and staff at your place of work benefit from using forms of transportation other than their own vehicles to get to and from work?


What is striking about the above two graphs is that while there appears to be a reasonable amount of support for public transportation, only 14% of Chamber members responding to the survey claim to use the BATA system. Somewhere there is a gap between the perceived benefit of public transportation such as BATA for businesses (73% saying it could benefit greatly or benefit somewhat,) and the reality of those same businesses using BATA.

This leads to some clear conclusions regarding the relationship that BATA has with mainstream area businesses. BATA can do a much better job of working with local businesses to get over the hurdle of perceived good and actual use. Find-ing ways to partner with key businesses, could go a long way to bringing a new and needed demographic to the BATA rider category.

Going in the opposite direction, it is also evident that businesses currently provide a very low hurdle for employees, staff, and customers to drive their vehicles to work. Combined with relatively low gas prices, (approximately $2.65/ gallon at this writing,) this gives potential BATA riders very little motivation to make the switch. This seems true despite the clear message that using public transportation (BATA) has great potential for benefiting both businesses and their em-ployees.


39

Chamber members also answered the same open-ended question (#33,) as all other respondents. Once again as we read through the comments, a common thread emerges. There is forthright support for the idea of public transportation, and for BATA itself. This consistently comes with several caveats: provide more information to the public, and make it avail-able in many places, clean up the image of BATA, provide more frequent service that more actively coordinates with the schedules of major employers, schools, and other places where people gather.

Here are some selected comments from chamber members responding to the question:

Survey Question #33

In your opinion, what is the single most important change or improvement that BATA can make to ensure a better transit system for this region?

TC CHAMBER NON-BATA RIDERS TC CHAMBER EXISTING BATA RIDERS

Schedules on bus stop signs, better connections in downtown. A person living in downtown neigh-borhoods should have a convenient BATA trip to downtown, Munson hospital or NMC.

Use as school busses.

More information and better marked bus stops.

More wide-spread information.

Engage in community dialogue and listen to folks to allow for the community to help shape the service.

Hire safer drivers. I have been hit by a BATA bus twice this year alone, and cut off countless times. I am a slow, safe, and courteous driver; this should not be happening to someone who is driving pas-sively!?

Image, riding the bus still carries a stigma.

Awareness of routes, costs and benefits of taking public transportation.

Make sure scheduled routes operate on time so rid-ers can plan.

Get more people using so you have more to work with.

Convenience.

Extended Cherriot routes to get from M-Tech to school, and other out of reach areas.

More frequent connectors. During the school year I would have to get my children up at 4:45 to catch the bus in Kingsley in order to make it to school/work on time.

Stay in business.

More exposure. Need signs and shelters in obvious spots. Need times on those spots.

First of all, thank you for asking us.

My challenge is to be able to get to my work between 10am and 11am at the college.

Would it be possible to have the Acme bus pick up at the college going to Acme instead of having to go to the terminal first? The route passes right by the col-lege.

Provide service after 6:00 p.m.

I have been riding since 2000.. Cherriot buses are smelly which will prevent some people from ever rid-ing. Later evening and weekend service is what I really want.

More fixed routes more times a day


40

CONSULTANT RECOMMENDATIONS

Speaking of BATA

"More frequent pickups at set locations for more park & rides. At times that would allow people to get to work between 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. and home again after 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Weekend travel would be great. I would

use the bus for shopping trips to the mall if I knew the schedules and was sure I would have a ride back to my car at a park & ride." Anonymous comment from survey respondent in Question #33.


41


Making Use of Community Feedback

In addition to analyzing the data from over 1,000 completed survey responses, Krios Consulting hosted rich conversations in focus groups in both Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties. Furthermore, Krios lead consultant, Bill Palladino, inter-viewed a variety of community members regarding direct experiences and/or perceptions of BATA services. The follow-ing are a set of recommendations derived from these community input processes.

It is without question that BATA is at a crossroads. Its new executive director, Tom Menzel, was hired by the board to do nothing short of transform the organization from top to bottom. Mr. Menzel’s efforts to restructure BATA’s human re-sources department, its facilities, and its relationship to the public, have not gone unnoticed in the Grand Traverse region in the past year.

There are several clear themes that have emerged from the recent survey and other community assessments regarding how BATA might move forward into the future. This report is informed by at least two other recent studies: the 2010 Eco-nomic Outlook from the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, and Expanding Transportation Choices in the Grand Traverse Region from the Michigan Land Use Institute.

The consultant recommendations are separated into the following categories:

• Communication with the Public• Route Organization• Equipment Maintenance• Community Partnerships• Seasonal Routing• Continued support for special needs communities• Addressing Community Perceptions • Extending the Number of BATA Board Members• General Comments

These areas rise to the top of any discussion or analysis of BATA’s current role as a public service provider in the region.

Communications With The Public

With overwhelming clarity, communities responding to the BATA Survey and other instruments desire more volume and more frequency of basic communications about BATA services. Many people suggest they might choose to ride BATA buses if only they could easily find out when, and where, the services operated.

There is a clear need for more public relations aimed at informing potential riders, employers, and retail businesses how the BATA system might benefit them, and how they can best interface with it.

Many BATA bus stops remain unmarked or unimproved. This is another clear message from within the open-ended sur-vey responses. Even if a route is known, it is often unclear where someone should stand in order to be picked up by buses.

In many instances, including some otherwise marked bus stops, the standing/waiting areas are unimproved or not main-tained. Typical situations describe riders left standing in knee-high grass on the side of a road, or having to negotiate piles of snow where the bus stop is located. Simple maintenance of the areas would greatly assist existing riders in access-ing BATA services in a more efficient and safe manner. This might include regular mowing or shoveling, or even the in-stallation of small concrete pads to delineate waiting areas. BATA could consider partnering with area businesses or non-profit organizations to sponsor bus stops. In this way arrangements could be made for maintenance of bus stops without increasing costs to BATA directly.K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

42

Several respondents noted that on occasion drivers passed by designated bus stops without stopping, leaving riders on the side of the road or just inside the door of a business close to the bus stop. More formal bus shelters are another sug-gested improvement. They would serve the dual purpose of providing minimal shelter, while making it clear from a dis-tance where the proper place to wait for BATA would be. Any consideration of improving bus stops must include a way to provide clear, up to date, bus schedules and contact information.

It is strongly suggested that BATA create some sort of rider ombudsman position. BATA clearly needs to do a better job of connecting to its ridership and citizens at large. This position might be a contracted individual whose job it is to regularly ride all of BATA's bus routes and gauge public opinion and need. The position could also be responsible for collecting ongoing information about ridership, including contact data, so that BATA could more easily communicate with the pub-lic.

Route Reorganization

While some existing riders indicate approval of the existing route system, many riders and non-riders indicate otherwise. The current system of in-town Cherriot buses is based, not on route effectiveness but rather, on an imposed thirty minute clock cycle. This may make it easy to remember route timing and coordinate the synchronization of bus arrivals and de-partures, but it leaves many people feeling the need for more frequency, or for deviations from the 30 minute route limita-tion.

Routes should be designed by including data on vehicular traffic patterns. Find out where cars are traveling and create routes that mirror the highest traffic counts during specific times of the day.

There was a resounding call for longer hours, and weekend routes, especially for the village connector routes.

One respondent even suggested taking the lead from UPS trucks. Their routes are prioritized for taking right-hand turns. This method, used where practical and appropriate, has proven to save time and fuel. Many comments referenced creat-ing routes based upon the needs of businesses, much like BATA has in the past created routes to support pubic service agencies.

Ensure that all route changes are communicated clearly and well in advance to riders on all routes.

Equipment Maintenance

One of the most oft-cited complaints in the open-ended survey responses refers to the perceived poor maintenance of BATA buses. It’s important to note that for those claiming to be existing BATA riders, this complaint was far less frequent than those claiming not to be riders. Making this point clearer: If you ride the bus you are twice as likely to be satisfied with the appearance, safety, and condition of BATA equipment. This is a perception issue that can be addressed with minimal cost by emphasizing frequent washing of buses, repairing fixed or decaying parts immediately, and by distract-ing viewers of buses with high-quality graphics on bus surfaces. The sound of the buses was also a frequent point of con-tention. This seemed to be an especially common issue with older residents of Traverse City neighborhoods. Some thought must be given to the relationships BATA has with the community members residing on routes BATA buses fre-quent.

As a reference for how this issue has affected other communities, the City of New York recently enacted an ordinance that bans the idling of trucks and cars. In many congested places throughout the city there are signs reading "No Idling - $2,000 Fine!" The law is New York City Administrative Code Section 24-169. It provides for a three minute time limit for idling vehicles in any parked place in the city. This came about from the complaints of community members regarding


43

9 New York City Administrative Code via: http://law.onecle.com/new-york/new-york-city-administrative-code/ADC024-163_24-163.html

http://law.onecle.com/new-york/new-york-city-administrative-code/ADC024-163_24-163.html

http://law.onecle.com/new-york/new-york-city-administrative-code/ADC024-163_24-163.html

noise and air pollution. The sound and smell of passing or idling buses was another common thread within the open comments.

BATA should consider prioritizing maintenance on Cherriot buses that spend more time within and near residential areas of the community. Every Cherriot bus should be clean, run quietly, have the least exhaust fumes. They should have strik-ing, friendly, graphics and be the best looking, quietest, most up-to-date vehicles in the fleet as they are seen by many more people and encompass a large part of the BATA brand.

BATA should prioritize updating infrastructure that has a direct effect on public interaction. Items like the phone system, dispatch system, electronic payment options, and on-board video, should not be relegated to after-thoughts of the budget process.

Community Partnerships

Another thread of concern regards BATA’s current record of partnering with other organizations and municipalities in the region. BATA seems to be at a disadvantage in its dealing with local units of government and its ability to serve nonprofit organizations. Examples of this include poor, or no real, relationship with villages that BATA passes through. And the inability to get support for setting aside public property in these communities for BATA bus stops, shelters, and signage.

Furthermore, partnering with local businesses to provide transportation support for employees where creative incentives could be used to encourage ridership and decrease motor vehicle traffic. BATA should consider working much more closely with these businesses to explain and support financial benefits, existing tax incentives, etc.

It is recommended that BATA work closely with the chambers of commerce in the region to develop trusting partnerships that could serve everyone. BATA might consider hiring a community liaison to provide information and education to businesses and to the public.

Efforts such as the free rides on Thanksgiving started in 2009 are good examples of solutions to this problem.

BATA is at a disadvantage in its ability to encourage residents, especially commuters, to use the system because the hur-dles for driving to and from work are very low. Parking is free or cheap for most employees surrounding downtown Traverse City, parking violation fines are token at best and are not much of a deterrent to drivers. It is strongly suggested that BATA work with local units of government, and the Traverse City DDA to develop a public transportation strategy that includes incentives for employees to use means other than a personal vehicle to commute, and to create disincentives for drivers. Without such a strategy, ridership will continue to lag and BATA's place in the community will remain a pe-ripheral rather than a primary mode of transportation for the bulk of the population.

Seasonal Routing

Existing federal non-compete regulations notwithstanding, it is evident that a great many people could benefit from BATA services in a seasonal capacity. Suggestions include: providing summer-only "beach busses" to and around popular Leelanau County tourist destinations, including an extended M-22 route completing the loop connecting Sutton’s Bay, Northport, Leland, and Glen Arbor. Another suggestion was for a winery route that provides regular service connecting Leelanau and Old Mission wineries for tourists and residents alike.

Increased frequency of, and extension of, routes during festivals and major events such as the National Cherry Festival, PolkaFest, and the TC Film Festival were all ideas coming from survey responses and focus groups.

Another example of seasonal or event-based routing was suggested during election days. A suggestion for a "polling place route" proved to get some interest during one of the focus group sessions as well as more opportunities to "park and ride" at perimeter locations around downtown Traverse City.


44

Continued Support for Special Needs Communities

While obviously looking to expand its existing ridership base, BATA needs to ensure that it continues its efforts at serving the region’s special needs communities. This includes providing health rides, dial-a-ride, and rides for disabled individu-als. Educating the community on the true cost of the services should also become a priority. Better marketing, with the intent of diversifying the rider demographic of BATA buses, would also serve to lessen the perceived stigma of current BATA riders being comprised of only the special needs community.

Recognize the burgeoning potential for BATA to serve the aging population. Information gathered from survey respon-dents suggests that many older members of the community are considering alternatives to driving, as they understand they may not be able to drive into the future. BATA should find ways to serve the needs of the growing demographic.

Addressing Community Perceptions

The gap between BATA operational realities and overall public perception is wide. Many people surveyed indicated that BATA services were not on time, inefficient, serving only "handicapped" people, or having a blighting effect on neighbor-hoods. Many of these perceptions are under the control of BATA, and go back to the strong suggestion for a higher level of public engagement and communication. Perception is not the fault of the perceiver. It is the responsibility of BATA to address these perceptions as real obstacles to success whether real or perceived. (See Equipment Maintenance section above.)

Extending the Number of BATA Board Members

While BATA's current board of directors should be commended for their recent focus on organizational transformation, the current board structure may limit its ability to affect lasting change, especially change that reflects the region's public transportation needs. BATA’s board of directors is mandated by its bylaws to include seven people. Four of those mem-bers are to be appointed by the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners, two by the Leelanau County board of commissioners, and one at-large member appointed by the other six. In terms of effectiveness, this size and type of board of directors limits the ability of BATA to respond quickly and make critical decisions for the betterment of public transpor-tation in the Grand Traverse region.

The political nature of these appointments leaves little room for board members to serve the mission of BATA, rather than the mission of a body to whom they owe their appointment. Few board members actually use the BATA system, or have a vested interest in advocating public transportation as a critical solution. The best case would be to modify the bylaws to extend board membership to a larger number (eleven to fifteen members) and to include in this number more at-large members serving by their own accord. BATA, and the communities it serves, should also play a much more active role in board recruitment.

If this solution seems too burdensome, BATA should consider creating a formal advisory board. This volunteer group could be designed to include representation from a diverse field of riders, employers, and other interested members of the public. While it would have no formal decision-making power, it could provide invaluable advice to BATA staff, and feedback to the BATA board of directors. In so doing BATA could create an easy pathway for communication with its community stakeholders.

These options would go a long way to increasing communications with the public, and changing existing negative per-ceptions.

General Comments

The information contained within this report is a great opportunity for BATA to learn from its community. While much of the information could have been assumed, there is a rich thread of positive support from the community expressed. Most K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

45

of the corrective, or critical, comments found in Question #33 are worded in a constructive way. There’s clearly compas-sion in the community for BATA, and a lot of patience.

BATA has spent a considerable amount of time and effort investing in green business practices. These are popular in the community. It is important to note, however, that arguably the "greenest" thing that BATA can do is to fill its buses, and to sustain itself financially.

There is also a feeling that comes from the comments that suggests the community is waiting for BATA to grow up, to become something more than it’s been.

Many of the unapologetic negative comments fall into a genre that indicates the respondents have little patience for sub-sidized public services of any type. Again, there are lessons to be learned from all of these comments, especially regard-ing communicating with this community.

BATA should not look at the suggested changes and improvements as a blueprint for a complete overhaul. It should take its time to examine the data and what it suggests. Many organizations can be overwhelmed by large changes that taken in total could be unwieldy and expensive. BATA must, however, show some type of immediate public response to ensure those who completed the survey their voices have been heard. It could come in small steps, or it could simply be work already planned that BATA connects back to the survey.

The tremendous public response to the survey demonstrates clearly that there is interest in the community regarding pub-lic transportation. This interest can be used as an invitation to continue the conversation. BATA should continually look for ways to maintain these lines of communication, and invite the public to participate increasingly in its processes. This is the key to moving public perception of BATA towards one that is positive. Only then can the new trust built upon that perception help BATA become a true innovator and leader in public transportation for region.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Palladino

Principal Consultant - Krios Consulting

Speaking of Public Transportation

"Properly integrating land use and transportation requires a clear vision and policy framework developed through active citizen participation. Communities must more broadly define the objectives of the

transportation system and how its performance is measured." -- Whit Blanton, "Integrating Land Use and Transportation" (in Planning Commissioners Journal #40)


46

http://www.plannersweb.com/wfiles/w159.html



REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Corradino Group – 1998 Community Transportation Study2010 Economic Outlook – Northwest Michigan Council of GovernmentsExpanding Transportation Choices in Northwest Michigan - Michigan Land Use InstituteAARP Transportation for an Aging America - Hill Briefing Leo F. Estrada, PhD UCLA School of Public Affairs

Thanks to the following individuals and businesses for their support and advice

Doug Luciani - Traverse City Area Chamber of CommerceDoug DeYoung - Traverse City Area Chamber of CommerceLaura Oblinger - Traverse City Area Chamber of CommerceJim Lively – Michigan Land Use InstituteHannah Clark – Michigan Land Use InstituteHans Voss – Michigan Land Use InstituteMathias McCauley – Northwest Michigan Council of GovernmentsMarsha Smith – Rotary Charities and The Grand VisionJennifer Hutchison – The Grand VisionEvan Smith – Cherry Capital Foods and The Grand Vision Transportation Study GroupBob Sutherland – Cherry Republic, Glen Arbor, Mich.Steve Tongue – Munson HospitalsVance Edwards – Cadillac/Wexford Transit AuthoritySue Miller – Benzie Transportation Authority – The Benzie BusKelly Thayer - Benzie Transportation Authority – The Benzie BusKevin Endres– Three West Consulting (past BATA Board Member)Rob Bacigalupi - Downtown Development Authority (BATA Board Member)Janice Wolf – Munson Health Care (BATA Board Member)Melinda Lautner – Leelanau County Commission (BATA Board Member)Julie McNulty – past BATA StaffTom Menzel – BATA Executive DirectorEric Gray- BATA staff

Krios Consulting Staff

Bill Palladino – Principal ConsultantJonathan Pool – Associate Consultant (Focus Groups Leader)Forest Rebecca Olsen – Data Input CoordinatorVictoria Bunn – Database DesignerGary Howe – Photography Christopher Bohnet - XT4, Inc. Survey DesignEmily Bingham - Editor / Proofreader


47

APPENDIX

"It's time to get fixed routes and times in place and make BATA a choice for people who want to use the service but need to have a regular schedule to fit their work life. More busi-ness people and employees riding the buses will help everyone else who rides it now---the elderly and disabled, etc--by increasing revenue and then improving service." Anonymous Survey Response to Question #33


48


Original Print Version of the Survey

This survey is designed to gain input on how BATA, (the Bay Area Transportation Authority,) can better serve its community in northwest Michigan. We are seeking responses from as many individuals as possible, both existing riders, and non-riders of BATA. The entire survey should take you ten minutes or less to complete. When completed, there are four ways to get the survey back to us:

1. First, the survey is also available online for ease of use. Please visit www.batasurvey.com to enter your responses electronically. You can use this form as a reference. 2. If you can’t get online, please fold the survey into thirds, apply a stamp, and drop it in your nearest Post Office box. 3. Hand it to a BATA bus driver. 4. Drop it off at any of the following locations: (BATA downtown Traverse City Depot, BATA service center on Cass Road, Traverse City Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Land Use Institute.)

As a thank you for completing the survey, your name will be entered in a drawing to win one of the following: one of five 30-punch passes for BATA, a new bicycle, and a custom built bike rack for your home or business. So please, include your name, and take the survey only once. Multiple entries will be disqualified. (We’ll be watching!)

2. Please tell us the name of the community where you live:

1. Your Name: ____________________________________________ Phone: (______) ____________________________________

Email: ________________________________________________ Company (if applicable):_____________________________

General Information:

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

3. Please tell us the name of the community where you work:

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

4. Your Age:

< 18 25 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 More than 70

8. How many insured vehicles (cars or trucks) are owned by household members

5. Your Sex:

Male Female

7. Do you have a valid driver’s license?

This survey is © Copyright Krios Consulting & BATA 2009 – All rights reserved. For information or questions, please contact [email protected] or call us 231.590.1685

Yes No

6. Approximate gross annual household income:

0 - $39,999 $40,000 - $59,999 $60,000 - $79,999 $80,000 - $99,999 More than $100,000

0 1 2

3 4 5 or more

9. How much is spent on automobile fuel for your household’s vehicles each month?

Zero Up to $50.00 Up to $100.00 Up to $150.00 More than $150.00

10. Name your most oft-used source of local/regional news and information:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. On average, how often have you driven a car in the past six months?

Never Less than one time per month 2 days a week 3 – 5 days a week 6 – 7 days a week

OPEN TONEXTPAGE

A non-BATA Bus (Route #_____) Walk (How many blocks? _____) Automobile (Park & Ride)

Bike Other: __________________

________________________


Bike Other: __________________

________________________


Bike Other: __________________

________________________


Bike Other: __________________

________________________

12. Do you use or participate in any of the following transportation methods to commute from home to work?

Bicycling as a form of commuting Walking to work Using taxi-cabs Drive my own car Using private bus / limousine services Other: ________________________________

Yes No

13. Do you currently ride the BATA bus system?

Non BATA-user Survey Current BATA-user Survey

29. If you were to ride BATA, how would you get to your typical bus starting point?

Interior Cleanliness Driver Courtesy Overall Safety Service Information Buses are On-Time Service Frequency Places Served Service in General

32. Based on your existing knowledge of BATA, please rate your current perception of the following:



Interior Cleanliness Driver Courtesy Overall Safety Service Information Buses are On-Time Service Frequency Places Served Service in General


More Frequent Service More Information Better Connections More Weekend Service More Evening Service More seasonally-specific services Service to More Places Lower Fares Other: _______________________________________________

33. In your judgment, how important are the following in influencing more people to use BATA transit services:

29. When using BATA, how do you get to your typical bus starting point?

30. If you did ride BATA, how would you complete your typical bus trip?

30. When using BATA, how do you complete your typical bus trip?

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

31. In your opinion, what is the single most important change or improvement that BATA can make to ensure a better transit system for this region?

31. In your opinion, what is the single most important change or improvement that BATA can make to ensure a better transit system for this region?

FOLD, CLOSEAND MAIL

32. Based on your existing knowledge of BATA, please rate your current perception of the following:


More Frequent Service More Information Better Connections More Weekend Service More Evening Service More seasonally-specific services Service to More Places Lower Fares Other: _______________________________________________

33. In your judgment, how important are the following in influencing more people to use BATA transit services:

FOLD, CLOSEAND MAIL

PLACESTAMPHERE

Fold In Here

Fold Over Here & Staple/ Tape Closed

BATABay Area Transportation Authority3233 Cass RoadTraverse City, MI 49684

BATAsurveywww.BATAsurvey.com

This survey is © Copyright Krios Consulting & BATA 2009 – All rights reserved. For information or questions, please contact [email protected] or call us 231.590.1685This survey is © Copyright Krios Consulting & BATA 2009 – All rights reserved. For information or questions, please contact [email protected] or call us 231.590.1685

If you are NOT currently a BATA user, please answer the questions to the left below. If you ARE currently a BATA user,please answer the questions in the right hand column. For the rest of the survey please answer only the questions onone side or the other.

Current BATA-user Survey

Acme Alden Bellaire Benzonia Bingham Blair Cadillac Cedar Centerville Cleveland East Bay Elmwood Empire Fife Lake

Frankfort Garfield Glen Arbor Grant Grawn Green Lake Greilickville Honor Interlochen Kalkaska Kasson Kingsley Lake Leelanau Leland

Long Lake Maple City Mancelona Mayfield Northport Omena Paradise Peninsula Township Solon Suttons Bay Traverse City Other:

___________________ ___________________

14. On average how often have you taken a car or truck into or through Traverse City in the past six months.


15. What is the main reason you go to the Traverse City area?

I don’t Live in Traverse City Work Meetings Shopping

Entertainment Health/Dental Appointment Just driving through Other: (Please explain)

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

17 What is the main reason you visit these village centers? (Please select all that apply.)

Live in one Work Entertainment Health/Dental Appointment

Meetings Shopping Driving through to other places Other: (Please explain)

___________________________ ___________________________

19. Which of the following would help encourage youto use BATA more often. (Choose all that apply.).

16. Please choose the locations you have recently traveled to: (Select all that apply.)

18. Would you ever consider using BATA for some of these transportation needs?

Yes No

20. If you were to use BATA to commute, what is the maximum distance you would walk to catch your bus or complete your trip after the bus ride?

Zero blocks 2 blocks ( approx. 1/8 mile) 6 blocks ( approx. 1/2 mile) 10 blocks ( approx. 3/4 mile or more)

21. Other than BATA, which of the following commuting methods methods have you recently used to get to or from work? (Please select all that apply.)

Bicycling Walking to work Car-sharing or car-pooling Using taxi-cabs

Cost savings Lack of reliable automobile Not able to drive Convenience Medical appointments Reasonably priced fare Expansion of BATA service area beyond existing constraints

22. What are the reasons you might consider using BATA buses?

23. What would you consider a reasonable fare to ride a BATA bus?

Driving my own car Using private bus /

limousine services Other: (Please explain)

________________________

Bicycling Walking to work Car-sharing or car-pooling Using taxi-cabs

Driving my own car Using private bus /

limousine services Other: (Please explain)

________________________

Fixed route – (Village Connectors) Cherriot – Inter city routes around Traverse City Dial a ride – At will pick up and drop off Health or disability transportation Other: _______________________________

24. Which BATA service would you be most likely to use for your needs? (Please select only one.)

Less than a $1.00 $1.00 - $1.50 $1.50 - $2.00

26. Do you or others in your household, have problems meeting transportation needs

Yes No

$2.00 - $2.50 $3.00 – or more Sliding scale based upon

distance traveled.

Less than a $1.00 $1.00 - $1.50 $1.50 - $2.00

$2.00 - $2.50 $3.00 – or more Sliding scale based upon

distance traveled.


25. How often would you or others in your household ride BATA buses if service conditions were right?

27. If yes, what do your transportation limitations keep you, (or other household members) from doing?

28. What are the transportation limitations?

20. If you were to use BATA to commute, what is the maximum distance you would walk to catch your bus or complete your trip after the bus ride?

Zero blocks 2 blocks ( approx. 1/8 mile) 6 blocks ( approx. 1/2 mile) 10 blocks ( approx. 3/4 mile or more)

21. Other than BATA, which of the following commuting methods methods have you recently used to get to or from work? (Please select all that apply.)

Cost savings Lack of reliable automobile Not able to drive Convenience Medical appointments Reasonably priced fare Expansion of BATA service area beyond existing constraints

22. What are the reasons you might consider using BATA buses?

23. What would you consider a reasonable fare to ride a BATA bus?

Fixed route – (Village Connectors) Cherriot – Inter city routes around Traverse City Dial a ride – At will pick up and drop off Health or disability transportation Other: _______________________________

24. Which BATA service would you be most likely to use for your needs? (Please select only one.)

26. Do you or others in your household, have problems meeting transportation needs

Yes No


25. How often would you or others in your household ride BATA buses if service conditions were right?

Better information about BATA services

More frequent routes. More “fixed” routes within

Traverse City Better information about

BATA services More frequent routes More “fixed” routes within

Traverse City More “fixed” routes connecting

outlying villages & Traverse City A “fixed” route to Cherry

Capital Airport

Routes that went beyond BATA’s current purview of Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties

More bus stops Better marked bus stops More semi-enclosed shelters Cheaper fares Sliding scale fares for differing

ride lengths “Flex” routes that allow fixed

route buses to make minor detours.

Other: ___________________CONTINUEDTOP OFNEXTPAGE

FLIP TOLASTPAGE

FLIP TOLASTPAGE

Non BATA-user Survey Current BATA-user Survey

None Poor health Bus schedules Limited bus schedules Need a second car

Need a wheelchair van Poor eyesight No License No automobile Other: _____________________

Working or seeking employment

Attending training or school Shopping Limited bus schedules Need a second car

Medical or dental visits Social or recreational activities Other: _____________________

Working or seeking employment Attending training or school Shopping Medical or dental visits Social or recreational activities

27. If yes, what do your transportation limitations keep you, (or other household members) from doing?

28. What are the transportation limitations? None Poor health Bus schedules Limited bus schedules Need a second car

Need a wheelchair van Poor eyesight No License No automobile Other: _____________________

Non BATA-user Survey

14 On average how often have you taken a car or truck into or through Traverse City in the past six months.


15. What is the main reason you go to the Traverse City area?

I don’t Live in Traverse City Work Meetings Shopping

Entertainment Health/Dental Appointment Just driving through Other: (Please explain)

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

17. What is the main reason you visit these village centers? (Please select all that apply.)

Live in one Work Entertainment Health/Dental Appointment

Meetings Shopping Driving through to other places Other: (Please explain)

___________________________ ___________________________

16. Please choose the locations you have recently traveled to: (Select all that apply.)

Acme Alden Bellaire Benzonia Bingham Blair Cadillac Cedar Centerville Cleveland East Bay Elmwood Empire Fife Lake

Frankfort Garfield Glen Arbor Grant Grawn Green Lake Greilickville Honor Interlochen Kalkaska Kasson Kingsley Lake Leelanau Leland

Long Lake Maple City Mancelona Mayfield Northport Omena Paradise Peninsula Township Solon Suttons Bay Traverse City Other:

___________________ ___________________

18. Would you ever consider using BATA for some of these transportation needs?

Yes No

19. Which of the following would help to encourage your use of BATA.

Better information about BATA services

More frequent routes. More “fixed” routes within

Traverse City Better information about

BATA services More frequent routes More “fixed” routes within

Traverse City More “fixed” routes connecting

outlying villages & Traverse City A “fixed” route to Cherry

Capital Airport

Routes that went beyond BATA’s current purview of Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties

More bus stops Better marked bus stops More semi-enclosed shelters Cheaper fares Sliding scale fares for differing

ride lengths “Flex” routes that allow fixed

route buses to make minor detours.

Other: ___________________CONTINUEDTOP OFNEXTPAGE


49

Unabridged Responses to Question #33

(Responses arranged by survey type.)

Paper Survey Non-BATA Riders

1. Buses should travel speed limits or below. Be sure BATA knows if accidents are caused by drivers.2. Make consistent, reliable, low cost transportation available for everyone.

3. Spend your money wisely.

4. There is no route at the industrial park (Aero Park). I would have used bus when working there.

5. Increased bus stops in Garfield township.

6. Regular shuttle service to Interlochen for concerts. Advertise it!

7. Frequent posted bus routes.

8. Stop at horizon mall, bring back Interlochen events bus, attention to handicapped.

9. Safer ride for all.

10. None.

11. Miss metro busses, routes were easily accessible, frequent every 30 min, and widespread12. We live on the Old Mission Peninsula so we need our four cars. An airport run is an interesting idea. Even if you offer

a route on center road I don't know if anyone would use it. Maybe a park and ride system would work with attention to route times.

13. Pick up court-side TC west. Faster drop off station. I'm only 4 miles out of town and would love to ride the bus espe-cially in winter, but I can't afford 6 dollars daily and would need more buses scheduled so I could return.

14. Combine adult with school bus.

15. Make sure bus routes/stops are easily identified with semi-enclosed shelters during inclement weather and on time.

16. Expand routes.

17. More convenient times for fixed routes.

18. More fixed routes i.e. connecting Old Mission Peninsula, I will need to use BATA when I no longer can drive.19. I know nothing about BATA.

20. I believe we need a BATA system and a taxi service.

21. Route info published.

22. Better image.

23. Consistency.

24. We live in Woodcreek on 3 Mile Road. It would be nice if BATA had a route here.

25. Scheduled routes and times.

26. Service to Interlochen (winter).

27. More stops on routes.

28. Non diesel fuel.29. Expanded dial-a-ride area (holiday hills).

30. Would use BATA when I have health limitations.

31. Reliability - I've had issues with dial-a-ride and issues with dispatching for dial-a-ride.

32. Have a stop in Reed City, even if only one departure and arrival a week.

33. Regular route to my area. 2 years ago my grandson used BATA, but had to call a day in advance which sometimes didn't work.

34. Smaller, more cost effective buses.K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

50

35. Expand service and stops.36. Door-to-door service.

37. More bus stops.

38. Better schedule.

39. Better park and ride system.

40. More in-depth info on BATA.

41. Better use of time, more frequent bus routes, better customer service.

42. Expand to include Sundays.

43. If buses stopped more frequently at covered bus stops maybe more people would ride.

44. Pick up at door service, cleanliness, safety, promptness.

45. Dial-a-ride.46. Closer stops.

47. Dispatch gives false info.

48. Make it possible for non-driving teens to get around town.

49. Communicate what is available.

50. Ride to doctor when needed.

51. Dependable dial-a-ride.

52. Run fiscally tight operation.

53. Listen to customers and driver and keep improving.

54. Easy to read information about services, improvement of bus stops.

55. I see BATA all the time with little or no one on the bus. Stop wasting our tax dollars, get organized - buses passing buses.

56. Have bus drivers more friendly and compatible.

57. Meet needs of seniors with mobility problems.

58. Expand fixed routes, go to acme, East Bay area.

59. Swing-shift workers can get to work, but not home.

60. Promote availability, schedule mailings, route information, who to talk to.

61. Designated stops.

62. Be there when I need you.

63. Provide a resource person to resolve issues.

64. Not familiar enough to know what is offered.65. A fixed route from Acme to transfer station and easy transfer to shopping and medical appointments.

66. Better safety straps for wheel chairs.

67. Pick up area and bus stops at King's Court.

68. Fixed route that you can count on. Change look and feel of brand. Don't use crappy Cherriots.

69. We tried BATA for transportation to school for our children. Our daughter was a "regular" and walked to the bus stop in the dark @ 6:30 am. With no notice the route/stop was changed. That morning she walked around alone to find another stop. That was it for us we stopped using BATA.

70. Use smaller buses (mini vans).

71. Park and ride area in Leelanau.

72. Pick up when promised.73. Get copied of all routes and stops in the area.


51

74. Punctual - to keep on time appointments.75. Establish a route between Elk Rapids or Acme to TC.

76. Transportation for people in wheelchairs.

77. Not enough people riding to sustain the service.

78. Standard and timed routes.

79. Reach into outlying areas.

80. More buses w/more routes.

81. Service, wife has had some bad experiences in the past.

82. Convenience.

83. More routes.

84. More info on routes, cost, times pick-up and drop off points. Make this info easily accessible.85. Longer hours of service.

86. Service to Elk Rapids.

87. Condition of buses.

88. I've used BATA a couple of times when my car broke down. It helped a lot to have alternative transportation. Too many stops on way home.

89. More fixed routes.

90. Home site pick up and return for seniors.

91. If I had a transportation map with times at my house. Evening service so you can go into TC for entertainment.

92. More frequent service/ better connections.

93. Fixed and frequent routes from TC to Leland, more frequent connection when in TC.94. Regular and dependable times.

95. Fun for visitors in marinas and camp grounds w/o cars.

96. More extensive route system, but I'm unsure how many people would use it? We are dependent on our cars.

97. May some day depend on BATA due to health.

98. Increase more riders.

99. Love BATA for transportation for my business.

100. More information on times and routes.

101. Better info.

102. More frequent direct routes.

103. Regular airport service both ways.104. Have more routes.

105. Have some provision for elderly rural people who can't walk far or wait outdoors.

106. Environmental concerns.

107. I would like to leave my car at home and ride the bus, but there are no stops near my home.

108. Better public awareness. Try a free trip to encourage usage.

109. More frequent runs from out of town locations.

110. More access in TC.

111. Get more riders to make it fuel-efficient.

112. More routes more times.

113. Enlist a professional logistics company to evaluate routes/needs/ cost effectiveness/suitability of equipment, man-agement structure and benchmark sales and benefits.


52

114. Inform public what BATA is.115. I'm impressed with your efforts to meet area residents needs. Do continue your efforts in these areas.

116. More frequent trips.

117. Better info.

118. Dial a ride is the most needed service or the elderly.

119. Establish credibility ref. Stops and routes.

120. More availability.

121. More frequent Cherriots and expanded outlying service.

122. Drive safe and at the speed limit.

123. You have a good system.

124. BATA is necessary for our poor, elderly and disabled who can not drive.125. Safety, cleanliness and poor schedule.

126. Fixed routes outside of TC.

127. Keep it for college students and seniors who do not drive.

128. Frequency and inter-community destinations.

129. Hours that reflect working people, shelters, commuter routes on weekends.

130. Earlier pick up times so I could be at work at 6 a.m.

131. Information to local residence - various services are confusing.

132. Better maintenance of buses. Loud and stinky.

133. More frequent routes at peak times for school and work.

134. Being on time, later drop off times.135. More bus stops and easier to use.

136. More rides to Suttons Bay, glen arbor and Interlochen - rides in the evening for social functions.

137. N/A

138. I used to work at Munson. The bus never dropped off early enough for me to use the bus.

139. More info on routes, times, drop off spots, etc.

140. Shuttle to airport.

141. Park and ride acme to TC.

142. Promptness for apartment pick ups. Give a beep so a person doesn't have to wait staring out the window 1-4 hrs and can at least read.

143. An affordable price per distance travelled, efficiency in the resources used.144. Smaller buses, fixed bus schedules, senior passes.

145. More routes.

146. Bus information etc.

147. Set up routes to get children to school on time, set up unlimited ride passes per month.

148. Full buses, most buses have no or only a few people on them. Go back to dial a ride. Stop using buses as taxis for a few people and wasting tax payers money.

149. Expanded transportation is needed badly, good transportation throughout northern lower Michigan.

150. Some smaller buses.


152. No opinion.153. Get the bus/van size down to meet demand.


53

154. Rearrange routes to be closer to where people actually live not the museum and college.155. Service till 11p.m. for entertainment.

156. Schedule info.

157. Reconsider metro bus service. If we must have buses make them quiet use electric. We cannot sustain a City bus sys-tem.

158. Consider later hours.

159. Regular schedules - widely publicized.

160. Run more frequently.

161. More information and advertising would help.

162. Stay out of Leelanau County.

163. I think the new director is eliminating waste.164. Fixed routes.

165. I think Munson employees might use a route that goes directly from Leelanau County to Munson campus.

166. Regular service between Suttons Bay and TC with regular feeder routes for shopping.

167. Connections with safe walk-able bike – ride-able sidewalks and lanes.

168. Advertise a reliable messenger service. Having goods delivered from TC to home.

169. Better info.

170. Safety.

171. Park and ride areas, we are too rural for fixed routes.

172. Charge exact cost for each rider.

173. Faster less wait time at transfers. Less stops on route to TC, like package pick up system.174. Good connections.

175. More flexibility

176. Hour of start and stop each day extended, and weekend services.

177. Inform people better. More accessibility.

178. I only rode the bus once. My problem is I don't drive in the winter unless emergency. I am 92 years old and don't feel I should. When I have an appointment in winder, it's hard to get there to make connections. I do like to shop at Meijer's once in a while.

179. Later hours and weekends.

180. Add a beach bus. Provide more displayed information about schedules.

181. Better awareness of services provided to public.182. More connecting routes, more frequency.

183. Schedule definite bus route and definite stops. A place to park car.

184. Increase frequency of village connector runs.

185. Not sure, we live in a rural area and would need dial a ride services to access without a car.

186. More frequent. Better bus stop signs.

187. Fixed routes, then info about BATA services.

188. Do as City buses and have a regular circuit w/ typical times. Reliability/dependability.

189. Pick up disabled/elderly at residence and take to dr. Appointments w/o transfers.

190. Flexible rides.

191. Cover more outlying areas, primarily Williamsburg to Acme and TC and back.192. More established bus routes.


54

193. Gauging a pickup within 30 minutes or so.194. Information to the public about costs and routes available.

195. More information about dial-a-ride.

196. Granddaughter takes BATA home from TC schools to Kingsley. We always vote for monies not sure but we think and hear Mr. Menzel is doing a good job. Keep it up.

197. More routes, more often.

198. Better availability of information on routes and times.

199. Publicize the package service.

200. More information to public.

201. Home drop off and pick up.

202. More convenient times.203. On m-22.

204. Fixed routes outside TC.

205. Availability every hour at house and pick up one hour after drop off. Need cooler to keep food cold. I can't afford a car. Don't want to be all day.

206. Lots of dial-a-ride.

207. Better publicity of how to ride, how to connect, where routes go, good timing.

208. I think its great but have not used service yet.

209. Provide better information and assistance on how to complete trips.

210. Have a couple small, fuel-economic cars for non-scheduled work.

211. GPS information.212. Service.

213. Dependable, on-time route stops.

214. Able to get to doctor without asking neighbors for a ride.

215. Health-ride, dial-a-ride, flex routes.

216. We will use it a lot more when we can no longer drive.

217. Limit dial-a-ride or eliminate it.

218. Increase bus stops.

219. Post schedules at all stops.

220. Weekend and evening services for village connector routes. Focus on fuel reduction/emission reduction. Look at TC 350 program and how they did it.

221. Picking up on time. Making an appointment, dispatch system (improve), calls being dropped.

222. More routes to outlying areas.

223. Routes and scheduled times information. Establish fixed routes from surrounding villages or stops to TC transfer station. Eliminate dial a ride except for handicapped.

224. More direct routes that would shorten travel time.

225. More public awareness, create zones for dial-a-ride buses so riders aren't on the bus forever because passengers live miles and miles and miles apart.

226. Close doors. City service only.

227. Pick up and drop off more often.

228. I do not need to use the system right now, but have friends tell me your service is wonderful.229. Publicity about services in each small area.

230. Fm radio or music on buses.


55

231. I live in long lake township and have been told BATA does not come into the area of cedar run road, past my house.232. More availability of routes to/from Interlochen.

233. More frequent service.

234. I do not understand why BATA operates so far out of town when most of the buses are empty. BATA seems to be a money pit. Could spend tax dollars better elsewhere.

235. Bright shiny, user friendly, looking vehicles and information. It is a great service. I am not a regular user but I have used it.

236. More routes and bus trips.

237. BATA is very necessary. I may need to use it in the near future. This is a good survey.

238. Pick up and drop off at home.

239. Be available when a person needs a ride there and back. This is a great service you do! Keep up the good work!240. More opportunities to ride within Leelanau County.

241. Shorter time between stops.

242. Better brand/public image.

243. More frequent services - people tell me it takes hours to get anywhere on BATA.

Online Non-BATA Rider

244. Needs to be more clear about when service is available and where it can take you. Maybe signs could be posted at bus stops. Perhaps these signs already exist and I am unaware of them; in that case, they could be made more promi-nent.

245. Specific routes for specific occasions - Cherry Festival, Interlochen concerts, Beach Bum express, etc.

246. Make it easy for those people ethically invested in using public transportation. Improve your service to the core cus-tomer.

247. Smaller buses.

248. BATA needs to expand its ridership to include middle and upper-middle class people who want a convenient, envi-ronmentally sound way to get to work and back.

249. Better communication about BATA offerings.

250. Overcome perception that riding the bus has a stigma.251. Making it convenient for those that already have transportation. That's how they will switch.

252. More consistent routes to more places & an easy to use TC connector route.

253. Informing local people about the system, and making it usable for everyone.

254. More frequent reliable service to more places.

255. More fixed routes with more stops.

256. Offer an unlimited ride monthly pass at a fixed (low - say $20) price. The more you ride, the more you save.

257. Fixed routes like many of us were used to on our college campus. E.G. Http://www.Hdg.Muohio.Edu/parkingandtransportation/miamimetro/index.Php

258. Serve part of Kalkaska county.

259. Go to airport!!!260. Regular routes in outlying areas, long lake.

261. Connect to Antrim county, connect to acme.

262. Information on: how to get to church, fares, time/places of pickup/drop-off.

263. More information on services.

264. No opinion.K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

56

Http://www.Hdg.Muohio.Edu/parkingandtransportation/miamimetro/index.Php

Http://www.Hdg.Muohio.Edu/parkingandtransportation/miamimetro/index.Php

265. Offer child seats, or the ability to use my own child seat, so I could consider beta an option.266. Consistency of quality service.

267. Improve customer service and communications.

268. Ability to take people to and from work on time.

269. More bus stops on routes.

270. Align the pickups on the NMC campus to end/start times of NMC classes, this would allow faculty and staff (who are now required to park off site due to lack of parking on campus) to ride BATA, as well as our students. For exam-ple I can not ride the Suttons Bay village connector since at lunch time your bus leaves before the 12:15 NMC classes end, and the next one leaves to late to catch the village connector back to Suttons Bay!!!

271. More bus stops. In the larger cities there are stops much more available both in and out of town.

272. A better image.273. Make the routes work for everyone. Right now NMC classes get out after the bus leaves by a few minute. Poor plan-

ning.

274. Better discipline of unruly riders.

275. Consistent clear offerings: I have used or tried to use BATA 4 times. 1st the weekend schedule reduction wasn't clear & I waited too long & was late for my appt., 2. Not late enough evening hours, 3. No regular, timely service to old mission, 4. One successful trip to Meijer’s.

276. Takes too long to get to a destination- the one time I took BATA it took nearly 2 hrs to get to my destination- in a car it would have taken 10 minutes.

277. More information on routes and times that are accessible on a website and brochures.

278. Please fix the s. Airport route. I work in Logan's Landing and from downtown TC it takes an hour to get to work. I can walk/bike faster. I would rather take the bus than drive, but an entire hour for less than 5 miles is ridiculous. Thank you!

279. Change the public perception of riding the bus. Make it fun and desirable to ride with friends to go to concerts, the beach, out to dinner in Leelanau county etc.

280. City fixed routes.

281. If you want commuters to ride, you need to actually offer service that will deliver them to work on time. More rides from outlying suburbs to TC from 5-9. And then a ride back, of course. :-)

282. Better communication of routes and services.

283. Son rides BATA everyday and bus drive hit a car when making a left hand turn and was ticketed however still driv-ing route concerned with the safety of passengers and lack of discipline from corporate for driver.

284. Be aware of when large amounts of people are making the same trip (i.e.: local elementary school's weekly ski night at Crystal Mountain.) And arrange a paid bus service for these seasonally regular group trips.

285. Getting riders from pt.A to pt.B in a more reasonable amount of time 6 or 7 days a week.

286. "flex" routes.


288. More information.

289. I think more service to the outlying townships for residents to use the bus from those areas. I live in Acme township and the closest bus stop is Tom's East Bay, almost into TC. What is the point if I have to drive that far to get to the bus. I think if there were routes further out, you would have a lot more riders going into town. I currently do home visits for a job, so it wouldn't help me now, but I worked downtown last year and would have loved to ride the bus in in-stead of dealing with the steady stream of cars coming out of my neighborhood, following each other to downtown locations. That seems crazy to me. I think a route out to M-72 would be very well ridden and only imagine that others in the townships would feel the same.

290. Communicate schedules and cost to potential new riders.

291. Providing better services to outlying areas and getting information to more people to get a wider variety of people to ride.

292. Better marketing. People are not aware of what BATA serves. The package delivery service from Traverse City is a hidden gem.


57

293. Operation 24/7 (or much extended); adding connector routes to surrounding counties.294. More frequent service.

295. Straighter, shorter routes.

296. Frequency, more stops and reliability.

297. Whenever I hear people talk about why they don't use the bus it's always the same reason: it's takes much longer to ride the bus than to bike or often walk. For example, it shouldn't take 45 minutes to get to the mall, but it often does. As long as the routes are that inefficient, people won't ride.

298. More stops and reliable service.

299. Add fixed and more frequent scheduling to outlying areas including later evening hours.

300. Expanded and improved fixed routes.

301. Better Benzie County connections.302. It takes too damn long to get anywhere, the system is cool (the way the loops work) but I can just about walk the 3

miles to work as fast as I can take the bus! Why not have a couple more direct routes that run up and down the main drags rather than looping all over town? Speed, time! That is what is limiting me from riding the bus, it takes too long.

303. Expand village connector service.

304. More regular north - south & east - west routes. E.G. Garfield from Peninsula to Hammond and Front/Munson Ave. From Olson West to Toms East.

305. Better buses and better links to systems like Benzie bus. Some of BATA's buses look old, rusty, whitewashed, hulking and are loud.

306. An easy to remember, consistent schedule from outlying communities into TC. 307. Consider multiple departure times within the hours of peak need---- I.E. Every 30 minutes between 7-10am and 4-

9pm.

308. Huge amounts of fuel and resources are used by long single driver commutes into TC for work and entertainment. Shopping-only travelers usually can (and will) work around a known schedule.

309. Better customer service model.

310. Fixed service to outlying communities to/from Traverse City: Elk Rapids, Interlochen, Kingsley, acme, Frankfort etc.

311. Smaller buses, more drivers, more specific routes. To save on fuel, consider using vans or mini-vans as a form of taxi service.

312. Have the buses run where groups of people will use from outside area to save on transportation. Bus service within the City limits on side streets seems very expensive when the buses are always empty.

313. Better fixed routes, seasonal routes.

314. A midnight ride back to Benzonia from TC. Weekends. Buses that arrive at Munson medical center 10-15 minutes prior to shift starts and leave about 1/2 hour after shifts end. Fixed routes. I don't need to use the bus but would use it if it were going there anyway. It would lower my carbon footprint.

315. Make parking available at the TC bus terminal, so I can leave a car in TC and commute to TC from Northport. Also, give an option for leaving TC at 9:30 PM Weekdays and weekend options, especially at night so Northporters can participate more in TC entertainment options.

316. Have the drivers stop pulling out in front of vehicles and stop honking their horns at people.

317. In town routes laid out very poorly, many stops on short sides of blocks. Route buses clockwise (right turns-see ups fuel savings here). Quicker to walk than get across town due to transfer station. Route through part of town with very few users. Route should bisect City area proper. Presently lopsided with 5+ block walks to stops. Quicker to walk to transfer station from most locales on w. Side of town.

318. Rude driver yelling at me on bike at 7 AM. Elmwood route running north. Each of those incidents last a long time in negative column.

319. Drivers aggressive on accelerations (loud) on short side of blocks, full on gas for 10 sec. And then full brake for stop. Repeat. I live on Oak St. And have these behemoths roaring past. Route through town on non-stop signed corners with right turns. Fuel savings and route would bisect area served.


58

320. Lets just take the per cost rider amount, cut it in half buy each rider a car and use the rest for maintenance on car, or bike. Money-wise it's too expensive. We're not San Francisco-were a City of 15k residents.

321. Reduce traffic in TC neighborhoods. Eliminate rude drivers. Reduce the noise and pollution coming from the busses. Reduce the size of the busses to vans. Help save the environment by eliminating BATA.

322. More (or express) routes between outlying points (park & ride) and TC.

323. Safer rides.

324. Possibly more frequent stops on the routes. More frequent pickups.

325. Dial a ride with smaller busses.

326. Get ride of the empty buses and just give subsidized cab rides. You'd safe lots of money and have better service and less fuel consumption.

327. More frequent and regular stops that you can plan your time around. I'm from an area where buses ran every 20 minutes down each major road. It made it easy to leave the car parked.

328. Train dispatch personnel.

329. Better route planning. One bus route that just continually went from tom's west Bay to Munson. Make it a trolley in the summer so tourists would want to ride it.

330. More routes, more often.

331. More information and service to more places.

332. More flexibility on routes. We live 3 miles from our daughters school. The school does not have a transportation sys-tem and the BATA bus does come to the school but it comes from the south and we live to the north. I tried two years ago to have the route extended for just that 3 miles and BATA could not or would not adjust the route.

333. More buses.334. More routes and better communication.

335. More service to the silver lake area.

336. I believe that to improve its role in the region, BATA must provide greater convenience to non-traditional users.

337. New buses, simpler routes, more frequent service.

338. Better service.

339. Get the fixed route Cherriot busses off my neighborhood street!!!

340. Clean interiors and exteriors of the vehicles. More village connections.

341. A bus on 8th street.

342. Service to and from airport.

343. Color coded clearly marked stops with posted set schedules and nearby lots for park and ride.344. Shorter routes.

345. No opinion.

346. N/A.

347. Knowledge of service and routes.

348. I live in the 600 block of fifth street TC and work at the end Traverse Field drive off of Hammond Road, east of Gar-field. It takes too many transfers and takes too long to take the BATA from where I live to where I work even though the distance is only 5 miles. If there was a more direct route, I would use BATA.

349. Service information.

350. Regular fixed route & timing.

351. Evening/weekend service and more routes across town that would make sense for commuting.352. More frequent service.

353. More frequent pickups at set locations for more park & rides. At times that would allow people to get to work be-tween 7:00 - 9:00 am and home again after 5:00 to 10:00 pm. Weekend travel would be great, I would use the bus for shopping trips to the mall if I knew the schedules and was sure I would have a ride back to my car at a park & ride.


59

354. Longer hours. I start work at 2 am and if there was a 12 midnight bus to TC, I would use it.355. Consistency and convenience. For me, there is a pretty short list of reasons to use BATA. Since I live in town and

work in town less than 3 miles from home. My "alternative" transportation is my bike first, getting a ride from a friend. The reality is I won't wait around for 30 minutes for a bus to take a 20 minutes ride. I have a car that gets great gas mileage. Realistically, not a prospective customer, but I support and understand the huge need for the service. Get gas prices up again and you may see more interest in folks riding a bus from Suttons Bay to TC in the AM/PM. For work but mostly I see it as a means of transport for those w/out cars or who can't drive. Otherwise, there just aren't too many reasons other than pure dedication to reducing car usage for someone to use it. It just takes too darn long to get anywhere. This comment comes from a person who rode public transport and lived a carless life in Chicago for seven years, but the BATA and CTA obviously aren't comparable now or ever.

356. Accommodate a greater variety of situations. Many live in long established subdivisions along a connector route, not in the village or center of Township Dial-a-ride is taxi service, basically, and very inefficient use of an entire bus w/driver. Cedar Run Road from 7 - 9 am is a continuous caravan of cars from la to TC weekday mornings, again in the evenings (when everyone is employed.) I imagine it's similar on all the main arteries (N. Long lake rd, silver lake rd, etc..) Leading into TC. It'd be great to have more transfer points that lead to other areas of the TC area, as well. Don't give up; there's got to be a better way! Thanks.

357. I like the idea of a sliding scale.

358. Shut the damn thing down and use the money saved to build the bypass!!!!!

359. Service to/from airport

360. Better route info in the summer. We tend to pick up bus schedules for places we visit so we do not drive in unfamiliar areas, but I would not know where to do that in my community.

361. Better communication

362. No opinion

363. System that would allow people in the outlying

364. Areas of a county to easily connect with a bus.

365. Don't think I should answer #31. Do not as yet, use BATA. Expect to in near future. From what I see in traffic, BATA is doing very well covering the City of Traverse City. Hope you will continue to do so.

366. Thank you

367. Better reputation in the community.

368. Fixed routes.

369. Consistency370. Wuerfel Field service, more weekends.

371. Service to Antrim County.

372. Evening service expansion.

373. Better service. Kept commitments. Newer vehicles. More comfortable ride vehicles.

374. Improved utilization of services.

375. N/A.

376. BATA needs to be as convenient to take as driving a car. I would take the bus more often if it came by my stop every 10 minutes and I could make connections at the terminal every 10 minutes.

377. Provide comprehensive services.

378. Consistent routes on time.379. Safe and affordable rides.

380. Your small ridership forces you to operate as if under a private taxi business model. I believe you are public transpor-tation. Fixed routes, a full cost fair system, park/ride lots, and go ahead and compete with the TCAPS (and other school systems) busing services will ensure a need for BATA buses into the future.

381. Getting all area agencies to work together to support the service and the concept.

382. Get the information out - make the public aware.


60

383. Need a strategic marketing campaign. The reason I don't have any 'perceptions' (Question #31) is that I don't know much about it.

384. Weekend service to outlying areas.

385. More fixed stops.

386. Better connections and info about them.

387. I work in employment services for people with disabilities. They need reliable transportation (timely) in order to get and keep a job.

388. Raise level of awareness.

389. Keep the cost as low as possible.

390. Evening & week-end service.

391. Reliable fixed routes from park and rides to the airport and City center.392. Better connections.

393. Does not serve this area.

394. I believe that more evening and weekend routes are needed. Currently I do not use the BATA system because service ends at 6pm during the week.

395. Don't use the system so it is a bit hard to evaluate or make recommendations for improvement. New equipment, low fares and frequent service would be tops on my list.

396. Education.

397. Frequent fixed routes to specific locations.

398. Like the commons to downtown etc.

399. More routes.400. Don't know enough about it, so more information is needed on services and routes.

401. My son used it to go to Interlochen and it was great, but not reliable on time but he managed, so I guess more routes, specific to areas.

402. Service to peninsula township.

403. To be dependable...People can't be late for work or school.

404. More stops.

405. At this time there are no scheduled times between 12:45 and 4:45 in the out lining areas. This is very important to people who have part time jobs. With the average person only being able to find part-time jobs during these hard times, they now have to sit around town waiting to get home or my be getting to another job opportunity in the out lining areas.

406. Better perception of public transportation.

407. Able to purchase tickets at other locations with a debit card & for me - later weekday hours - I work until 8pm, can get to work on BATA, but I can't get home.

408. BATA is great, but if there were an airport shuttle to and from downtown, specifically Hagerty, you could charge $10-$20 a person and I would be shocked if a single week goes by all year where at least one Hagerty employee isn't fly-ing somewhere. It would be easy to schedule service based on major events. The bulk of our travel schedule is made at least 6 months in advance.

409. More connections especially to outlying areas e.g. Grawn or Buckley.

410. BATA seems to have a decent limited fixed route system. But, I live downtown TC, 2 blocks from the BATA station on Hall St. and cannot easily, within a reasonable time get to work which is 1/2 mile south of the BATA garage on Cass. If I could I would ride everyday. I know 3 - 4 others in my office in the same situation.

411. If the above can be accomplished, I would prefer a monthly or annual subscription/pass so I don't have to deal with change, etc.

412. Flex routes would be great, but I would want to be able to go online, e-mail or twitter my pick-up location and time....Having to call and wait on the phone to schedule a pick-up would be a pain. When a fixed route is close by ability to tell the driver the destination would be fine.


61

413. Alternatively, I have thought for a long time that a flexible hub and spoke system would work great in this area. Have a fixed loop in TC which goes through the college/high school, through downtown, to Munson, the mall, etc. Then have flexible connecting routes: 1 out the peninsula, 1 south, 1 east Bay, 1 west, etc. But with access points near the schools and larger subdivisions.

414. With that type of system, I think the professionals would adopt BATA and I think teenagers would use it also. I would think many college, school and Munson employees would adopt it if they can get to/from work in a reason-able time.

415. Leelanau / Benzie/ Kalkaska counties -- too many issues to serve those areas. Outside of running a fixed route to the towns with a park and ride system, I don't see how BATA can afford to continue to provide a home pick-up and drop off service.

416. Focus on those individuals that require public transportation.417. Number of people riding the bus.

418. Better marketing.

419. Not sure.

420. Less scary riders and more professional people and students of all ages on the bus. My son used to take BATA to the boys and girls club and found it to be a scary thing for a 10 year old to do. I have never ridden BATA due to owning my own car and need to be at work most days by 8:00 or earlier. I need my car for my job so I would consider utiliz-ing BATA during winter months when I am staying in doors.

421. Connectivity to other local mass transportation.

422. More frequent trips to connect villages (like Suttons Bay); later service, so that teenagers can go to TC (mall and mov-ies); quicker connections with village connector and Cherriot. More direct routes on Cherriot. Currently, it takes way too long to use the system from Suttons Bay to Traverse City, unless you're going to go right downtown. Also, the fares are pretty high for an adult. At one point, I had a temp job in TC. It was my highest hope to use BATA, but it just took too long and required transfers and inflexible return times from TC to Suttons Bay.

423. I'm so glad you're doing this survey. I can't wait for this region to get a better public transportation system! We need to have a more European attitude towards getting around our cities.

424. It's time to get fixed routes and times in place and make BATA a choice for people who want to use the service but need to have a regular schedule to fit their work life. More business people and employees riding the buses will help everyone else who rides it now---the elderly and disabled, etc--by increasing revenue and then improving service.

425. More frequent fixed routes to more places; village connectors are good start, but what happens when a passenger gets downtown? If I worked downtown, esp. Front street, I would drive to a place where I could jump on a village con-nector, but I don't work downtown, so there's no way for me to get to work using BATA (especially as it's not safe to bike from the nearest Cherriot route to my work location).

426. No opinion.

427. More weekend and evening service.

428. Encourage drivers to occasionally take BATA.

429. Being able to connect with inter-county without going all the way to transfer station.

430. Cleaner bus stops!

431. Communicate their options in service to the non-user, and listen to the frequent users who have no other options.

432. Fixed routes to encourage more people to ride them.

433. A well established, fixed route, expansive, inter-City transportation system. Run it as a for-profit organization and if can't be self sufficient shut it down. No more public funding.

434. More frequent routes to outlying areas.

435. More regular fixed route to the places I go.

436. I really don't know because I have never ridden in a BATA bus.

437. Expand services in lower income areas where people may have less access to other transportation options.


439. Better information.

440. More bus stops that would people in the outlying areas to get on the bus.


62

441. Being on time.442. Frequency of service.

443. Expanded routes.

444. Offer only daily a ride in Leelanau county. Never see anyone on the BATA bus other than driver.

445. Timely pick-up & delivery.

446. More frequent weekend service.

447. Routes to outlying areas.

448. Dependability and availability.

449. Marketing....It has a bad stigma attached to it. Seems like college students should be using it more, I think it has an image problem though.

450. Increase routes into Traverse City, especially the weekends.451. Availability.

452. Defined routes & schedules.

453. Park & ride for outlying areas.

454. BATA's biggest problem is the automobile! So many trips, especially since retirement, are spur of the moment events.

455. More direct routes in town, reduced travel time.

456. Connect to a point west of TC on top of the big hill (it's a killer on a bike), I.E. M-72 & Bugai Rd.

457. Help the community in it's time of need to find jobs get to school but your program does not work for a lot of people.

458. I don't know enough to answer this meaningfully.

459. Increase frequency of service.

460. I come from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and the bus service in that community seemed to meet my needs. I work in a nursing home and when I needed to reserve a bus for my residents to take a trip to a restaurant or mall, they were always ready and able to meet my needs. When I moved here and asked for services for a similar trip for my resi-dents here I was told that BATA does not provide those types of services. Now, if I have my information incorrect I do apologize, but when I want to take a group of my nursing home residents out, I feel BATA should be there to assist in our transportation needs. I would enjoy the opportunity to discuss this further. I know many nursing homes in the area that would love to work more closely with our local transportation service. Please feel free to email me at [email protected]. Thank you for your time and for the opportunity to discuss this.

461. Public awareness.

462. Expand regular routes to 'close-in' subdivisions, service entire county with regular hourly fixed routes. Target work-ers going to major employers, Sara Lee, hospital, etc. Employer should pay bus fare for employees to leave cars at home. Expand service hours and routes to accommodate 'bar crowd' and college. Don't micro-focus on retail routes - serve community needs not just shoppers & merchants.

463. More presents in outlining areas.

464. I live in cedar and would like to ride BATA to Traverse daily for work, it would be great if you could buy a monthly or yearly pass with discounted rates for frequent users as well as regular routes to villages into Traverse. If this was available I would use BATA daily. Unfortunately now it is more convenient and cheaper for me to drive myself than use the bus.

465. Provide information and scheduling.

466. Be on time.

467. I understand and appreciate that BATA has taken a role in Traverse City to help low income areas and disabled peo-ple, but looking at the routes, the meander and zig zag so much that it makes it impossible for someone ride the bus with a schedule in mind. I am not rich and understand the life of poverty, but if it means that someone has to walk a quarter mile to catch the bus so that the bus can maintain a more sane, linear path that could serve more area in less time I, and others, would be more likely to ride. As it stands right now, BATA serves the poor neighborhoods and the handicapped and acts as if everyone has a car and a license and that is not the case. I love public transportation, but if you ever want to make it a viable option for the general public, the people it panders to now are going to have to make some concessions. How about like a normal bus system where the routes are more or less straight and if you want to go a different direction then get of and wait for the next transfer in that direction. Although BATA would have to commit to having more than one stop per hour and the stops.


63

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

468. Also, it probably costs more than your budget but in Chicago they have a thing called bus-tracker and web-enabled phones can access it and get estimates as to when the next bus will be coming by a particular stop.

469. Better information for the riders. Information doesn't feel readily available.

470. Develop rapid transit alternative for Suttons Bay to Traverse City corridor, Kalkaska to Traverse City corridor and the Frankfort to Traverse City corridor.

471. Design it like Christchurch, New Zealand. Long distance paid buses get people to City center where circulating inner-City bus is free. More people wander/visit/spend in downtown shops! It is great!

472. Research (such as this survey) to determine the level of need for BATA and what would attract more customers.

473. Hmmm... I think many people view BATA as a service for disabled people or poor people. The public idea of public transport needs to change. If buses had Wifi that would be nice for longer commutes. What if had a pr campaign that showed BATA as green, cool, and responsible or something like that?

474. More routes.

475. Buses look old and rundown - I know you are working on improving fleet. I think that is the first step.

476. Full evening / weekend service (until 12 am on weekdays, 2 am on weekends).

477. Service for commuters into Traverse City Monday - Friday.

478. Not living or working in Traverse City, I'm pretty unfamiliar with schedules and bus routes, but I think if there were ways to find out who drives to TC for work from the surrounding areas and make it tangible for them to come in on the bus would be helpful. We're pretty dispersed out here!

479. Make it cool to ride a bus again.

480. Consistent fixed routes.

481. Have posted, fixed routes and the ability to transfer from route to route.482. Get the information out there as to routes, times, and costs.

483. BATA does a good job transporting passengers. Before I retired I spent 4 hours a day in transportation time. !2 hours for a 8 hour work day. The gas savings, white knuckle snow/ ice days, and less wear on my car were worth the long days to me. I liked BATA.

484. Better information about BATA services and fares.

485. Airport shuttle.

486. I have not used BATA, but I probably will in the future and I would want them to be on time.

487. Fill buses -- too many busses are running with 1 or no people on them.

488. More information - more readable bus schedules.

489. BATA should be seen as an way that tourists get around. Seasonal traffic and parking can be a problem. Perhaps BATA could connect downtown to the vineyards, mall and hotels.

490. We have to "market" people out of their cars by offering working commuters a comfortable ride with "professional" drivers in vehicles that are not step-truck conversions by establishing relatively frequent "rush hour" schedules from outlying towns and secure commuting parking lots at main rural intersections for more than you charge now and yet less expensive than driving while relieving traffic...Wow, is that all a "single" most important change in a single sen-tence? I was sure this little response box would limit this but...But...Say good night, Gracie!!

491. More service.

492. I don't know. Since I live on old mission, I could not use BATA to go to work in Kalkaska. It is also not convenient to use BATA to do shopping and make multiple stops around town to do chores on Saturday. It would not be conven-ient to use BATA to go to state theatre or to restaurant in evenings or go to events. I like the concept of BATA. Pro-mote it. Endorse it. If I were a TC City dweller and not living in township, I would use it regularly around town or walk. I wish more people would use it. I just don't see how it is useful to working people living in townships. Per-haps if I were retired, or could not drive, that would be another story.

493. People have to be motivated not to drive so much.

494. Image of BATA system.

495. Gathering commuters to and from their work in downtown Traverse City. How many drivers do not need their cars during their work day? Major employers would subsidize their employees' expense commuting on BATA vans (not


64

the big busses). Set up collection points where downtown workers reside and use pleasing equipment. The drivers could be reassigned following "drive time" to other routes and equipment.

496. Add a stop to the university center.

497. To listen to the riders needs.

498. Evenings.

499. Fixed routes to villages at times that correspond to work schedules.

500. Currently the routes are very confusing and seemingly irregular. I have ridden the transit systems extensively in both Seattle and Portland, or and they were both very easy to use. I am not an expert but it seems those systems were based more on thoroughfares and trunk lines where they ran you right down the center of everything so you never had to walk far or be on the bus for too long. It seems now with the current BATA routes it takes forever to get any-where.

501. Match and expand BATA regional "fixed" and "flex" service linking beyond grand Traverse and Leelanau counties to include Kalkaska, Benzie and Antrim county connections to major village centers (e.g. Elk rapids, Beulah / Benzonia, Frankfort, Kalkaska, Bellaire, Mancelona).

502. Routes to outlying areas.

503. Better website to find information on services and routes.

504. Let people know that you're buses are clean, safe, and frequent.

505. Adding some, even limited, weekend service for commuters in Leelanau township.

506. Flexibility, and more available information, so people can be aware and take advantage of your services. Thank-you.

507. More park and ride options.

508. N/A.509. More stop in the outlying areas of town would promote more people to ride. Schedules around the medical staff that

work at Munson, usually switching shifts at 7am/7pm, would be useful.

510. No opinion.

511. Fixed routes - on time.

512. Get your info out there. I have no idea of what you offer.

513. Getting more information about routes and schedules to more people.

514. If you cannot at least break even make enough cuts to do so. I make it a point to watch every BATA bus I see and the ridership is next to nothing. What does it cost to move one passenger one mile? It has to be astronomical! The other day I was having lunch at the corner of Union & State. Within 15 minutes there was: 2 buses going south on union. 1 bus going north on union. 1 bus going east on State. I think there was one rider total on all these buses!

515. I don't have experience with BATA so I'm not sure.

516. Offer scheduled, fixed routes in the summer (or year-round) connecting downtown to hotels, casinos, etc. i.e. A regu-lar Greilickville to acme route.

TC Chamber Non-Rider

517. Publicizing BATA services and changing the perception that BATA is useful mainly to handicapped people, and those who cannot drive a car. Should be more about choice.

518. Lead and demonstrate a green, acceptable transportation alternative to one car-one person.

519. Increased routes to outlying areas along with better communication on options available. Make it easier to use.

520. Communication, awareness, promotion.

521. Better designed routes that deliver faster.

522. I don't know much about it, so more information. I don't know where the stops are or if there is a stop in my home area.

523. Reliability.


65

524. Better connectivity to provide better service points to encourage more riders. Also BATA needs drop and ride loca-tions. Around the City and county.

525. Better information about specific routes, make it a viable option to commute to & from work.

526. For me personally--a quick route from the Logan’s landing area to downtown.

527. Scheduled on time service to many destinations. I would seriously consider utilizing a route from Grawn Corners to Logan's Landing that was on time every time.

528. More information.

529. Dependable.

530. More routes and set schedules and routes.

531. Consistent service.

532. Fixed routes to more outlying communities.533. More stops.

534. Cut back number of routes and buses. Rarely see more than 2 or 3 people on any bus if that many!

535. Serve more commuter stops outside Traverse City limits.

536. Don't know.

537. More efficient run system; now there are too many units running in 'packs'. When the driver is on break, he should shut the engine off.

538. Convenience/frequency -- if the bus already goes all the places I'm driving it's easier to see it as an option

539. A better fixed route in TC to connect N, S, E and W!

540. Add an east to west route to get folks across town. Current system is circular routs that don’t connect, cannot get across town. This would be very helpful for kids after school activities and would alleviate a lot of parents all driving across town to pickup their kids to then drive them back across town to the activity. If they could ride the bus from near their school to the other side of town that would be very helpful

541. Park and ride for commuting.

542. Focus your service on an area and cover it well: give Traverse area reliable service with expanded hours and 15-minute frequency. I can't take the bus if I am going to stay late at work.

543. Don't know

544. More medically assisted transport - I hear the need from customers/elders all the time. Thank you for asking.

545. Evening & weekend service.

546. Drivers who obey the law.

547. Better information about routes, stops locations, connections.548. More stops.

549. N/A.

550. Schedules on bus stop signs, better connections in downtown. A person living in downtown neighborhoods should have a convenient BATA trip to downtown, Munson hospital or NMC.

551. Use as school busses

552. More information and better marked bus stops.

553. See above.

554. More wide spread information.

555. Engage in community dialogue and listen to folks to allow for the community to help shape the service.

556. Hire safer drivers. I have been hit by a BATA bus twice this year alone, and cut off countless times. I am a slow, safe, and courteous driver; this should not be happening to someone who is driving passively!

557. Image, riding the bus is still carries a stigma.

558. Add access points outside of the prime traffic regions with less advance notice. People cant always plan 24 hours ahead.


66

559. Awareness of routes, costs and benefits of taking public transportation.560. Make sure scheduled routes operate on time so riders can plan.

561. Get more people using so you have more to work with.

562. There need to be more buses and more routes with more stops.

563. Convenience.

Benzie Survey Non-BATA Rider

564. More fixed routes and connecting with other bus systems in the area to provide more efficient service.

565. More information, I guess.

566. Convenience, convenience and convenience.

567. More routes to more places, including Benzie county.

568. Link regionally as a transit system as part of the grand vision.

Cadillac Survey Non-BATA Rider

569. N/A

570. Flexibility for dial-a-ride is fine but people need a reliable bus service if they are going to consider it for commuting. Being on time for work is not optional.

Paper Survey Existing BATA-Riders

571. I think BATA is doing a good job. I have no problems with them.572. A route from Peshawbestown to Lake Leelanau & weekend services for village connectors.

573. Have two buses on the South Airport route.

574. S. Airport consolidated to run.

575. Zones should run on weekends.

576. Heat on bus.

577. Lower fares - they went up when gas was high and never came down. I live 4mi from the City limits which costs me $3.00 each way. Truck that only gets 8mpg is still half the price of BATA.

578. Run village connectors on weekends.

579. Week days start @ 5am-11pm, weekends 7am-11pm.

580. Glad BATA is here especially in the winter.581. The most important thing BATA can do is to get people to work on time and bring back dial-a-ride and health ride.

582. Run weekends.

583. Punch cards fall apart, better seating, bus driver should sweep and care for their own bus at transfer station.

584. Bus schedule, can I take BATA to the airport?

585. Info on routes at all stops! Keep them updated.

586. To be dropped off at our door.

587. Better heaters.

588. Reliable time schedule.

589. More zone times.

590. Having BATA run on weekends.K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

67

591. Weekend service.592. Unlimited dated cards, swipe cards.

593. Punctuality.

594. Info.

595. Improve and insure driver courtesy and professionalism towards all customers.

596. More fixed routes with published schedule.

597. To get zones to run on Saturday.

598. The connectors should run on weekends.

599. More schedule, run on weekends.

600. Include Wal-Mart as a pickup/drop off.

601. More weekend service especially on Sunday.602. Weekend service that is similar to week service/

603. We need to change the attitude. TC has too many rich snobs that look down on BATA riders. Some how we need to encourage more riders.

604. Better way to cross from TC mall to crossings. 1hr is too long to wait. Clean bus floors, windows and reupholster seats.

605. Current service is not reliable and on-time.

606. Post schedule at each stop, weekend and evening service, park your car and ride stops.

607. Cherriot service on Sundays.

608. More scheduled Cherriots every half hour.

609. More courtesy towards senior citizens, drivers should exercise and leave their anxieties at home.610. New buses.

611. Much improved bus connections needed. Silly to take bus to TC and wait 40 minutes to get a connection to Ford Mo-tors.

612. Clean buses and be on time so I don't have to wait 1 hr.

613. Transfers between several appointments on same day.

614. Go to Kalkaska.

615. Having a stroke encouraged me to ride BATA.

616. Longer hours, more bus stops and stops further out of the City, run 7 days a week 12 hrs a day.

617. Better connections so you don't have to wait 1 hr.

618. Need more bike racks.619. Better drivers.

620. Be punctual so routes meet on time. S. Airport route should stop and not skip them due to lateness!


622. Stay as is.

623. Hourly and 24/7 bus service. Go from Empire to TC without stopping @ Glen Arbor And maple City.

624. Dial a ride in evenings.

625. Keep doing what you are doing.

626. More buses.

627. Fix windows.

628. Use smaller fuel economy buses.629. Buses that are better serviced and do not break down.


68

630. Have riders be 5 min early to their pick up sites. Drivers should not have to wait. If they are running early they might have a wheelchair and it will put them late for the rest of the route.

631. Pick-up anywhere in TC. To home.

632. Pick up on time.

633. Extend some of the routes on the Cherriot so we can get to other areas not on the fixed route.

634. Safe drivers.

635. TC is not big enough to support public transportation.

636. More frequent runs.

637. Regular runs in to town. Night and weekend runs!

638. Reliability.

639. Lack of communication.640. For 2 yrs it has served us well for 2 teens to attend TC. Schools and commute from out of district.

641. On time pick ups and drop offs, love BATA and Ralph on Zone 2.

642. More stops.

643. Dependability. Especially at Tom's East Bay. In 3 years I've been stood up 10 times, no shows, by pass, etc.

644. Dispatch needs to do a better job. I call the night before and several times buses do not show up or are dispatched to another location?

645. Have village connectors connect better so as not to loose work hours waiting.

646. Weekend service to Leelanau.

647. More frequent transportation from in and out of town

648. More stops and further distance649. Route needed from K-mart to GT Mall

650. Warm seats for my buns

651. More frequent zone buses

652. When a driver picks up at a location please wait a few minuets. I've been left behind and have to call again and wait.

653. Weekend schedule into TC.

654. Fewer mistakes in communications from passengers to dispatch to drivers.

655. Put bus stop back at Bay Hill.

656. Its cheaper for me to drive to work than to take the bus. More fixed routes on a commuter schedule say 6a-9p + sat. No schedule past 6pm to Leelanau and the fare hike making it cheaper for me to drive have prevented me from using BATA.

657. Some stops too close to corners - unsafe.

658. Zone buses later and weekends.

659. More frequent buses more widespread service.

660. Drivers should have standards and act alike.

661. Come at a time that we all know like around 7:35 or 7:40am for school.

662. There is no need for changes in the BATA system.

663. Perhaps better partnerships with outlying counties - Antrim and Kalkaska particularly.

664. More frequent routes.

665. More buses, camera on bus, weekends.

666. More buses and routes.667. Soon I will retire and live in empire and not be able to drive. I will want reliable rides.

668. Make south airport route more convenient by having a buses every 1/2 hr instead of 1 bus every hourK r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

69

669. Reliability, cost.670. More frequent service from Northport to TC.

671. Less waiting time between Cherriots and zone buses.

672. More fixed route systems.

673. Longer hours, weekend hours, more frequent zone rides.

674. Doing fine - we appreciate health ride service to Munson.

675. Saturdays every 1/2 hr, Sunday routes.

676. Convenient locations.

677. Cleaner newer buses.

678. Airport bus more frequent and travel to outlet mall.

679. More availability.680. Schedule S. Airport bus to go towards the GT Mall earlier.

681. Earlier pickup, later drop off times outside City limits.

682. That drivers be a lot more courteous and not so ugly to passengers, especially older people.

683. Very happy with the service. I couldn't go to work without it. It's really good.

684. Cherriots need to run later. Cleaner buses on some routes. Using regular dependable scheduled routes and clean buses. Several buses really need to be replaced.

685. Why don't buses go out to/or past Cherry Bend road? Or at least to the City limit sign in Greilickville.

686. Extended hours on weekend buses for worker, especially to outer edges of City limits or beyond.

687. Make the South Airport bus meet up with the K-mart & Grand Traverse Mall buses. Long waits in rain and cold are awful, especially for the disabled.

688. Image is everything to attract and retain riders.

689. The dispatcher.

690. None.

691. Add a bus to the S. Airport route.

692. Show customers the imperative of traveling more sustainably with better social interaction.

693. Must improve image in community.

694. Better buses.

695. None.

696. Courtesy drivers and routes.

697. None.698. Pride. Better bus stops. More routes.

699. More fixed route rides. More frequent rides.

700. More energy efficient vehicles.

701. On time.

702. Better bus - mechanical problems.

703. Fixed route to 3-mile and Business Park Drive

704. Have home pick up and return.

705. Home pick up and return.

706. Wifi connections.

707. Extend S. Airport route from Silver Lake Road to 3 Mile.708. Experiment with weekend zone routes.


70

709. Ensure buses meet to transfer rides, especially South Airport to Cherryland Mall, and South Airport to GT Mall.710. More midday rides on connectors.

711. Cherriot is great. Longer evening hours.

712. Stops closer to home. Shuttle bus downtown. Bus to airport.

713. More direct routes.

714. Extended hours in the zones.

715. Add a second buss to the south airport run and put in an enclosed shelter near the health clinic on south airport.

716. Add weekend zone runs.

717. Later pick up and drop off for zones.

718. You are doing a good job, thank you.

719. More frequent visits out by Chums, Kingsley, also S. Airport across from Cherryland Mall, stops at Kohl's and Hori-zon Outlet.

720. More frequent stops. I personally travel from Manitou Woods to Father Fred. It takes an hour to get ten minutes from home.

721. More stops.

722. Shorter routes with more buses.

723. More bus shelters. Earlier and later pick ups and drop offs. Routes just beyond City limits.

724. More and extended routes and stops within the area region. Cherriot routes.

725. To be closer to tome set for pickup.

726. For dispatcher to be more careful when scheduling a ride.

727. More shelters at target, Wal-Mart, Meijer, Kmart.728. Improve the S. Airport route.

729. Some weekend service in the zones/village connectors

Online Existing BATA-Rider

730. Easier to get info - expand website info.

731. More direct routes to cross Traverse City.

732. Better adherence to the Cherriot time table so that the bus doesn't arrive more than 5 minutes before the printed time. I've only had this happen 1-2% of the time but it is a great inconvenience when it occurs on the last run of the day.

733. Work with surrounding counties to create a system so that a person can cover large distances without driving. I work 50 miles from home I would love to be able to ride a buss to work rather than drive.

734. I really can't think of anything. I ride zone 1 4 days a week and really enjoy the drivers! They are treasures!

735. I use Cherriot in the winter-time. I really wish BATA and Cherriot drivers would slow down. They drive quite fast. Overall, I like the service. The most important thing BATA can do is promote themselves all they can and get the word out. Maybe BATA (and Cherriot) could offer a free round trip to 1st time users, I know they already have free rides during smart commute week, but I recommend doing more.

736. More route buses per day.

737. More village connectors.

738. Get rid of the old buses.

739. Pay attention to the customer if they are a reliable regular rider. Allow the drivers to make decisions. Do not tell your riders we can't do that!

740. Improved routes to busy (in terms of workers, shoppers, commuters, etc.) Sectors of the community. One example would be along south airport road.


71

741. Not having connectors, zone buses, dial-a-ride running on the same schedules, zone connecting with connectors, ADA limitations on the passengers using dial-a-ride. Night connectors with major employers locations, marketing that is planning for the cherry festival, the fair, and ball games, more connection with schools when they are planning their start and stop times. Better tracking of no-show, with consequences for habitual offenders. Phone system that allows for cancel line and information line. Up to date information on the BATA web site. Functions and events that invite the community to join us and get information regarding wheelchair safety, etc. There holidays on the calendar for bus riders, car pooling, bike riding, MADD, etc. Our current ridership is the elderly, disabled, homeless, mental health clients, school children, and persons recovering or not from addictions. It seems to me that we can not expect the general public to "go green" enough to deal with those people on a daily basis if they can still drive their cars. The elderly have appointments and the doctors offices do not understand our schedules, maybe we need to educate them about our services and the constraints scheduling appointments. The plan to make BATA useful and the first choice is not an option, it necessary to continue the services, and millage is not a satisfactory answer. I have a passion to see it work, it is needed in this community and communities around Traverse City, but before we know the needs, and have a plan for budgeting to meet those needs it is not possible to meet them. This survey needs to be publicized in the media, and the media needs to buy in to the effort. No job, no money, no car, no future for John Q. public or BATA.

742. I have been stranded twice this summer on the O.M. Peninsula (zone 10)this is unacceptable! Dependability!

743. More consistent service.

744. More direct lines and connections. I would take BATA more often if route didn't zigzag/stop so often, making a 20 minute trip an hour or more. That adds a lot of time to an 8-hour work day.

745. Later hours.746. More times to come in on the zones so if I work afternoons I can ride the bus to get to work, and later at night to the

zones thank you.

747. More frequent village connectors.

748. I like the idea of smaller buses/vans. I think the scheduling process needs work for BATA. We had experienced many no shows or buses showing when cancelled.

749. Better marketing.

750. Better information availability.

751. Less redundant and more efficient service.

752. Expand fixed routes to Benzie Antrim Kalkaska and Wexford.

753. More and more frequent routes within TC and to nearby outlying areas.754. Later service and a morning bus that gets to TC by 8:30 a.m.

755. Changing the general public's opinion of BATA - good for the environment means good for all people, not just for people who are disadvantaged (for whatever reason).

756. We need more bus service in the community for disabled people, my mother and sister are unable to walk down the hill and it is too far to walk all the way to the other side of our complex. There are no shelters to sit in for pick ups. Two people just recently fell down the hill trying to walk down and the curve is very dangerous, cars are blinded for people walking. There is no sidewalk available.

757. More service to outlying areas.

758. Make it easier for people to know routes, stops and times.

759. Later evening zone bus service more evening service.760. More routes.

761. More public awareness. Send bus route map to bob @ the express and we'll run it as a public service.

762. Making the rider feel that they are important, you know costumer service!!

763. Flexibility with riders. I have been not allowed to ride for 1) "only" calling 45 minutes before route was to arrive to schedule pick up; 2) for walking to another business to be pick up with a friend that was already scheduled to be picked up, because I was not on the log for that location (even though the bus was already stopping there and 3) be-cause after hours was already booked up before noon for ride that evening. In all these cases, BATA refused easy business in an effort to deter possible minor abuses. If any of those incidents had been my first attempt to use BATA or even near the first, I would have quit considering BATA as an option. I hear a lot of people complain about similar instances.

764. Connections to Wexford and Antrim counties. K r i o s C o n s u l t i n g! B ATA S u r v e y F i n a l R e p o r t

72

765. Convenient, reasonable, fast, courteous, clean, easy, pleasant. Thanks766. Regular routes on time with signs at stops detailing schedules. Courteous drivers who actually stop for people stand-

ing at the bus stop signs...I have been "missed" by drivers who go right by. Given the walk to stops, I cannot risk that.

767. BATA would do well to try to change the perceived image of the people who ride it. Somehow, it needs to be per-ceived as cool, the right thing, etc. The general public's perception of the BATA rider has to be changed from weird and loser, to hip, smart, practical, winner...

768. I would like (dispatchers) and front desk to have more communication on incoming and out bound buses. Like what zone bus will be (late). So that other transpiration can be made. When other appointments need to be kept, or when I'm just flat out tired and want to get home.

769. Friendlier drivers.

770. Better connections.771. Add more routes during the day and more stops.

772. More frequent & later service on existing village connector routes.

773. Fixed routes to follow somewhat the same patterns each day for a more consistent time of reaching destinations. Day care with getting home somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 became difficult.

774. Speaking personally for Suttons Bay to TC. Change runs to get to TC by 7:30 or 8 am.

775. Very little. You serve those who don't have cars or money and in these tough times your service is important.

776. More connector buses as opposed to zone buses. Increase frequency on weekdays and include some reduced week-end routes.

777. Pick up after school.

778. Provide better night service. Many times I have been stranded or had to wait over a half hour after work.779. Longer evening hours six days a week and have Sunday hours.

780. Have some limited service in evenings and on weekends.

781. When I move to cedar valley/ravens roost (just off m-72)could I please keep riding the maple City/empire village connector with my bus driver friends and all my bus riding friends?

782. I have to say the system is going fine! I get help and the drivers and other services are great! Only one driver was brutal to a disabled man on dialysis.

783. I would like to see more evening routes and fixed or sorta fixed routes in dial a ride areas.

784. More service to outlying areas. I waste half a day when I have to go in to TC because of the pickup/drop-off times for zone 3.

785. Evening buses from Traverse to villages.786. Better information or more frequent service.

787. Lower fares.

788. I would like to see a Cherriot added at the Salvation Army thrift store so they don't have to cross South Airport.

789. Extending weekday service past 6:00 pm and expanding weekend service.

790. Nights and weekends at least to Maple City.

791. Having in town service from the zones at least 2x a day on sat. It is hard to get to town on the weekends. Have 1 bus run about 10am inbound and outbound at about 4pm. That way we can utilize Cherriots while shopping as well and we still would have a way back to the zone areas.

792. Reliable and timely transportation. BATA has the potential to be a great asset to our community.

793. More frequent connectors to Leelanau County from Traverse City.794. More village connectors.

795. Better communication on services for seniors.

796. Don't know.

797. Specific downtown bus routes all day.


73

798. Pickup on time and add more frequent services to areas such as acme (zone 14) It only goes 2 times a day which makes it difficult to make connections from other counties especially on the early morning run.

799. Service places like the adult work center.

800. More time to go and come from Grawn.

801. Fire Kevin the bus driver.

802. Fire the dispatcher who told me, someone who is physically and mentally disabled, to walk more than a mile in order to have zone 10 pick me up.

803. Convenient, efficient fixed routes in TC.

804. If it smelled better in the buses and allowed eating or at least drinking in the buses.

805. Have more Cherriot routes.

806. New busses.807. Increase fixed route service (more routes and times) outside of Traverse City with excellent connections to other

routes (in Traverse City or in other counties).

808. More bus stops.

809. Bus stops at places people need to go, like university center or copper ridge

810. I live in East Bay Township and the only way I can take a bus to work is to be into work 1 hour late which hinders my ability to rely on BATA. I enjoy taking the bus and have for many years. If I could take the bus and get to work on time it would be the way I would travel to work daily. Other than that I have always enjoy the BATA service.

811. More stops, obviously marked.

812. More fixed route options, especially at morning and evening commute times and on weekends.

813. I'd like to see a marketing campaign to remove the widely-held conception that BATA serves only CMH clients, the homeless and other disenfranchised individuals. Whose idea was it to build BATA transfer next to CMH? BATA needs to be a mainstream transport system for people who work in Traverse City. We don't need more parking struc-tures. I think some mainstream working people are afraid of "those people" who ride BATA and would never con-sider using the bus system to commute to work. We need to change that perception just as we need to end the stigma of mental illness. A long row to hoe. Thanks for the opportunity to vent on the subject!

814. Find out what potential riders need, and provide that service.

815. The BATA bus is amazing. I cannot think of any improvements.

816. With the case of no weekend routes where I live is a problem I have been at least 10 times so far this year alone where a Saturday Zone 8 would have been a blessing and at least 5 Sundays at least a dial a ride to these regions would help.

817. 8am-4pm hourly Cherriot Sunday service.

818. 6pm-10pm hourly Cherriot weekday service.

819. No wheelchairs on Cherriots - always makes busses late or very late.

820. Quieter riding buses with better suspensions!

821. Keeping buses cleaner, run more buses on busier routes and reduce bus service on low ridership routes, improve in-formation about bus service to public (attract more working commuters).

822. More frequent service on connector routes with more park-and-ride areas.

823. New image...Kind of has a stigma now.

824. Evening and weekend service.

825. I am very satisfied with the current system. I use it as an easy alternative to driving to downtown TC. 826. More weekend service....

827. Get people to work, school and appointments on time--with a smile!

828. More frequent service options on village connector, throughout the day.

829. Have more courteous people working and better buses half of them are falling apart.

830. Cheaper bus fare.


74

831. Promote the fantastic sustainability gains that people can make by riding the BATA bus.832. A few more routes to outlying areas

833. I would have to say that more frequent buses on the Cherriot route would be extremely helpful in addition to adding later route times and increasing weekend schedules, possibly adding Sunday’s since I would like to attend church or the kids and I would like to go do something special. I would also have to say that the South Airport route be ad-justed and at minimum another bus be added to the route.

834. More weekend and night time services.

835. Increasing dispatch services at night.

836. I go to Buckley quite often. It would be nice to have a bus go past the county line. Like to either the post office or the car place. It is one and a half miles past the county line. Also I work at eleven on most days at Chums Corners and the bus that I have to catch is at 630 in the morning just to get there and sit for three hours. It would be nice to have a bus leave at like 945 from transfer. I am not the only one that has this issue.

837. Evening and weekend services.

TC Chamber Survey Existing BATA-Rider

838. Extended Cherriot routes to get from M-Tech to school, and other out of reach areas.

839. More frequent connectors. During the school year I would have to get my children up at 4:45 to catch the bus in Kingsley in order to make it to school/work on time.

840. Stay in business.

841. More exposure. Need signs and shelters in obvious spots. Need times on those spots.

842. First of all, thanks you for asking us.

843. My challenge is to be able to get to my work bet. 10am and 11am at the college.

844. Would it be possible to have the Acme bus pick up at the college going to acme instead of having to go to the terminal first? The route passes right by the college.

845. Provide service after 6:00 pm.

846. I have been riding since 2000.. Cherriot buses are smelly which will prevent some people from ever riding. Later eve-ning and weekend service is what I really want.

847. More fixed routes more times a day.


75

Documents

Bata Survey Final Report All