2016 Visitor Survey Report

WASHINGTON PARK 2016 Visitor survey report

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Explore Washington Park (EWP) would like to acknowledge the EWP EXPLORE WASHINGTON PARK STAFF Board of Directors for their work in supporting our vision and goals: Heather McCarey, Executive Director Lewis Kelley, Program Manager Eric Vines, Chair, World Forestry Center Jessica Van Raden, Operations Manager Peggie Schwarz, Vice Chair, Hoyt Arboretum Dave Malcolm, Treasurer, Sylvan Highlands Neighborhood Association PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION STAFF Inessa Vitko, Secretary, TriMet Victor Sanders, Program Specialist Mike Abbaté, Portland Parks & Recreation Allison Duncan, Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association Don Moore, Oregon Zoo Cynthia Haruyama, Portland Japanese Garden Ruth Shelly, Portland Children’s Museum Steve Cole, At-Large Board Member

In 2014, PP&R installed a pay-to-park system in Washington Park. All revenue generated from the pay-to-park system is reinvested in and around the park. This revenue has made this report possible. EWP conducts an annual intercept survey throughout the month of August in order to sample Washington Park visitors about their transportation behavior getting to, and around, the Park. In all, 990 visitor surveys were collected in multiple languages inclulding English, Spanish, German, Japanese, and Russian. The data from these surveys, along with 267 employee and 427 volunteer surveys, give us a snapshot of conditions in the Park during the peak season of June, July, and August. This report is intended to provide a high level look at transportation behavior of Washington Park visitors to help the EWP staff and board plan for future transportation needs and programs.

Surveys were conducted with temporary staff across six of the major attractions within the bounds of the Park including:

• Portland Children’s Museum Explore Washington Park (EWP) helps people make decisions about • Hoyt Arboretum how they get to and around the Park, and ensure they have what • Portland Japanese Garden they need for a fun, enjoyable visit. • International Rose Test Garden • World Forestry Center We strive to improve the visitor experience at Washington Park in • Oregon Zoo the following ways: The survey is part of a series of surveys conducted throughout the peak season • By ensuring all visitors have a safe, smooth, and positive that targets visitors, employees, and volunteers in the Park. The surveys seek to experience, identify mode split of how people are traveling to Washington Park along with • By giving visitors access to better information and ways to get several other key indicators including: around the park, • By providing responsive customer support and guidance to our • Where people are visiting from, visitors. • The average number of people in each group and vehicle, • Where people park, EWP was formed in 2013 as a Transportation Management • Washington Park free-shuttle use, Association and operates as a 501(c)3 non-profit with a license • Public transit use, agreement with the City of Portland for transportation management • Customer satisfaction information, in the Park. • Demographic information. VISITOR PROFILE Who’s coming to the Park

DESTINATIONS Where are visitors going? 01

MODES How did they get here? 02

MOVEMENTS 03 How did they get around the park?

TRENDS 04 How are things changing?

OTHER DATA 05 What else is happening in the Park? 06 visitor profiles

Who’s coming to the park Group Makeup: Race & Ethnicity: Peak Season Visitors:

Groups w/ young Caucasian children under 7 77.5% Adults only 33.9% 1.2 M VISITOR 48.3% Hispanic - 6.3% PROFILES

Groups w/ Asian - 7.6% older children 7-17 Regional Origin: 17.8%

African American - 3.7%

Pacific Islander - 2.8% OR & WA Native American - 2.1% 17.3%

Transgender / Gender: Membership: Non-conforming - 1.5% Portland Metro U.S. 48% 29.6%

Member - 25.4%

Male - 43.8% Female - 54.7% International - 5.1% Non-member - 74.6%

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 1 EXPLORE WASHINGTON PARK STAFF Female + Children Large Family / Friends Group

VISITOR GROUP PROFILES VISITOR With 3.2 million visitors annually, Washington Park is a PROFILES major attraction for both people that call the Portland Metro their home, and for tourists visiting Portland from around the world. The large number of visitors means that the demographics of the people coming to enjoy the Park are 12% 36.1% varied and represent a large swath of different backgrounds Groups of four or more people come mainly and cultures. Women with young children come mostly from from outside the City of Portland but still the Portland Metro area. within the Metro area. Presented here are five unique visitor profiles revealed MOST VISITED VENUES & MOST VISITED VENUES & through analysis of the survey data. Each of these groups - PROPORTION OF VENUE VISITORS PROPORTION OF VENUE VISITORS women with children, large family and friends groups, park neighbors, friends and couples, and U.S. and international 74% 16.2% 64% 27.2% tourists - make up a significant portion of visitors at specific venues and tend to experience and interact with Children’s Museum Oregon Zoo Oregon Zoo Rose Garden Washington Park in a unique set of ways.

57% are members of the 78% are visiting with Children’s Museum children

32% visit the Park a few times 71% visit just one attraction per month or more

take transit 28% less than take transit 24% less than the average Park visitor the average Park visitor

drive to the Park 18% more drive to the Park 11% more than the average Park visitor than the average Park visitor

2 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report Park Neighbors Couples / Friends us / international tourists

VISITOR PROFILES

13.7% 26.7% 34.7%

Washington Park neighbors live close to Groups of two come mainly from outside Tourists from outside the Portland Metro area the Park in SW and NW Portland. the Portland Metro Area are twice as likely to be first time visitors.

MOST VISITED VENUES & MOST VISITED VENUES & MOST VISITED VENUES & PROPORTION OF VENUE VISITORS PROPORTION OF VENUE VISITORS PROPORTION OF VENUE VISITORS

27.6% 23.1% 55.8% 59.7% 60.2% 61.9%

Japanese Garden Hoyt Arboretum Rose Garden Japanese Garden Rose Garden Japanese Garden

40% use the free Shuttle, 33% are members of a 55% visit almost double the rate of venue with children the average Park visitor

25-34 year olds make up the twice as likely to take 26% are over the age of 55 largest age group visiting car share to the Park without children

visitors without children more than twice as likely take transit 10% more than take transit 25% more than than the average Park visitor the average Park visitor to bike or walk to the Park the average Park visitor

drive to the Park 30% less drive to the Park 13% less drive to the Park 18% less than the average Park visitor than the average Park visitor than the average Park visitor

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 3 destinations

Where are visitors going? Attendance by Venue: PEAK SEASON 6.6% Portland Children’s Museum VISITORS: 9.6% 1.2M Hoyt Arboretum

DESTINATIONS 13.9% 52.9% Portland Japanese Garden Oregon Zoo

16.4% International Rose Test Garden World Forestry Center - .8% Discovery Museum Who is in the group? Groups with children Adults only Average group size: 87.1% 12.9% Children’s Museum 3.74

18.8% 81.2% Hoyt Arboretum 2.42

18.7% 81.3% Japanese Garden 3.17

17.9% 82.1% Rose Garden 3.16

24.1% 75.9% World Forestry Center 2.81

72.6% 27.4% Oregon Zoo 4.43

How frequently do they visit? First Time Infrequently* Frequently** Are they a venue member? Non-member Member 20% 40.7% 39.3% Children’s Museum 59.3% 40.7% 42.7% 31.1% 26.2% Hoyt Arboretum 88.5% 11.5%

68.8% 10.2% 21% Japanese Garden 94.8% 5.2%

64.2% 12.4% 23.4% Rose Garden 93.3% 6.7%

49.4% 15.2% 35.4% World Forestry Center 96.3% 3.7%

34.1% 17.3% 48.6% Oregon Zoo 62.6% 37.4%

*Infrequent visitors are those that visit Washington Park on a few times per year or less. **Frequent visitors are those that visit Washington Park on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis.

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 5 VISITOR DESTINATIONS Where are they coming from?

Portland Metro OR / WA U.S.A International Each venue draws a unique demographic of visitors into Children’s Museum 71.4% 15.8% 9% 3.8% Washington Park and some of these details are brought to Hoyt Arboretum 51.6% 6.9% 35.2% 6.3% DESTINATIONS the surface here. Japanese Garden 26.6% 11.4% 54.4% 7.6%

The largest draw for visitors within Washington Park is Rose Garden 29.8% 10% 52.6% 7.6% by far the Oregon Zoo, drawing approximately 1.6 million World Forestry Center 43.2% 13.5% 35.1% 8.1% visitors annually. The Oregon Zoo and Portland Children’s Oregon Zoo 55.4% 23.2% 17.5% 3.6% Museum have very similar visitor profiles; consisting of mainly larger groups with children coming from the Portland Metro area and visiting a single venue. These two venues also feature the largest portion of visitors that are annual members and that visit the Washington Park on a Survey respondent age: frequent basis compared with the Park as a whole. 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Children’s Museum 7.7% 37.9% 35.6% 7.7% 7.7% 3.1%

The remaining venues, Hoyt Arboretum, Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum 11.7% 23.4% 22.7% 13.6% 16.2% 12.3% Rose Garden, and World Forestry Center also share similar Japanese Garden 12.9% 26.2% 20.7% 15.4% 17.3% 7.4% visitor profiles, predominately consisting of slightly smaller, Rose Garden 14.5% 29.3% 16.8% 16.5% 15.9% 6.8% adults only groups that visit less frequently and more likely to be visiting from outside the Portland Metro area. World Forestry Center 16.2% 29.7% 27% 13.5% 5.4% 8.1% Oregon Zoo 12% 37.7% 31.8% 9% 6.9% 2.6%

6 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 100% Visitors attending multiple venues: CROSS VENUE ATTENDANCE

80% 81.4% 79.1% The numerous attractions inside Visitors choosing to visit more than one Washington Park provide visitors with venue do so in a fairly predictable way, the opportunity to curate their experience as there is a strong correlation between 60% 100% in a number of ways depending on the people visiting certain venues. The Oregon 53.8% unique combination of attractions they Zoo and Portland Children’s Museum share 46.3% choose to visit. Overall, the Portland many visitors thanks to their proximity 40% 80% Japanese Gardens and the Rose Garden and similar appeal to family oriented DESTINATIONS 33.5% have the highest portion of people that entertainment and education. We see this 60% visit multiple venues while the Oregon Zoo as well among Portland Japanese Garden 20% 22.2% and the Portland Children’s Museum have and Rose Garden visitors, many of whom the largest number of visitors attending a visit the two gardens in a single trip to 40% single venue. Washington Park. 0% Children’s Hoyt Japanese Rose World Oregon Museum 20%Arboretum Garden Garden Forestry Zoo Center

Cross venue attendance: Children’s Museum Hoyt Arboretum Japanese Garden Rose Garden World Forestry Center Oregon Zoo Children’s Museum 8.6% 17.2% 27.6% 6.9% 39.7%

Hoyt Arboretum 3.4% 35.4% 43.5% 10.9% 6.8%

Japanese Garden 2.6% 13.4% 65.6% 79.1% 12.6%

Rose Garden 3.9% 15.6% 62% 79.1% 12.7%

World Forestry Center 5% 20% 28.8% 30% 16.3%

Oregon Zoo 15.6% 6.8% 33.3% 35.4% 8.8%

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 7 modes

How did they get here? 80%Mode80% split: PARK VISITOR MODE SPLITS

66.4% The automobile is the predominate mode The Portland Children’s Museum and 60% 60% of transportation for people getting to Oregon Zoo have the highest proportion Washington Park followed by transit, car of visitors traveling by car, most likely share, and finally active modes such as due to the predominately child and

40% 40% walking and biking. Each of the venues young family focus of the two venues. exhibits their own unique mode split In fact, the Portland Children’s Museum based on the venue’s visitor demographic was the only venue where not a single MODES and where visitors are coming from. The survey respondent indicated they took 20% 20% Oregon Zoo has a significant influence on transit. Conversely, the Portland Japanese 17.4% the overall mode split of the Park seeing Gardens and Rose Garden have the lowest 8.5% 7.7% as it attracts the largest number of visitors automobile mode split thanks to the 0% 0% each year. prevelance of tourist and higher percent of 80 80 adult only visitors.

Automobile Transit Car share Active & Other*

60 60

Mode split by Washington Park Attraction: Automobile Transit Car share & Other Active 1.5% 40 40 Children’s 86.5% 12% Museum

Hoyt Arboretum 61.7% 5.2% 20.1% 12.6% 20 20

Japanese Garden 53.8% 19.7% 11.5% 15% 50% 0 0 Rose Garden 51.1% 21.6% 10.4% 16.9%

World Forestry Center 54.8% 27.4% 9.6% 8.2%

Oregon Zoo 72.9% 18.2% 6%

1.3%

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 9 80% Passengers per private vehicle: Children’s Museum 3.21

Hoyt Arboretum 2.11

Japanese Garden 2.50 80% MODE SPLIT DETAILS 60% Rose Garden 2.66 A visitor’s choice of mode in getting to Washington Park is World Forestry Center 2.02 heavily correlated with several key demographics. People 80% Oregon Zoo 3.27 MODES living in the Portland Metro area are much more likely to 60% drive to Washington Park compared with tourists visiting 40% from outside the Portland Metro, whom are more likely to take transit, car share, or walk. Frequency of visits also 60% plays an important role, with first time and frequent visitors Mode Split based on where they are coming from: 2.9% 40% having a lower automobile mode share compared with Automobile Transit Car share & Other Active 20% infrequent visitors, likely because first time visitors are Portland Metro 71.2% 17.2% 8.8% predominately tourists and frequent visitors come from OR & WA 70.2% 14.5% 9.7% 5.6% neighborhoods closer to Washington Park and understand 40% U.S.A 48.6% 18.8% 18.2% 14.4% transit option the best. 20% International 51% 32.7% 6.1% 10.2% 0% One of the biggest factors in determining the mode of travel80 to the Park is the presence of children. Groups with 20% children are 50% more likely to drive when visiting the Park 0% compared with groups consisting of adults only. A number of factors may be contributing to this fact, such as parents 80 not60 feeling comfortable brining their children on transit, the Mode split based on visitor frequency: added inconvenience of strollers on transit, and the extra 0% Automobile Transit Car share & Other Active time that transit can take. 80 First Time 52.5% 20.3% 15.6% 11.6% 3.5% 60 Infrequently 75.4% 14.9% 6.1% 40 Frequent 48.4% 25.8% 23.7% 2.2% 60 40 20

10 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 40 20 0

20 0

0 Groups with older children, Adult only, mode split: mode split: 80 80% 80 8080 80 80%80%80% 8080 80 77.3%

60 60% 60 6060 60 60%60%60% 6060 60 MODES 52.8%

40 40% 40 4040 40 40%40%40% 4040 40

20 20% 20 2020 20 20%20%20% 2020 20 21.8%

13.9% 13.4% 11.5% 0 4.6%0% 4.6% 0 00 0 0%0% 0% 00 0

Automobile Transit Car share Active Automobile Transit Car share Active & Other* & Other*

Non-member mode split:

60.2% 19.4% 9.8% 10.6%

Member mode split:

72.5% 14.4% 4.2% 9%

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 11 movement

How did they get around the Park? 50%

20% Mode split of people getting around within the Park: VISITOR MOVEMENT WITHIN THE PARK 44.4% 40% Walking is the predominate mode of travel Approximately one quarter of visitors MOVEMENT 15% within Washington Park to get in-between indicated that they had taken or planned venues followed closely by the automobile on taking the free shuttle to get around and then the free shuttle coming in third. the Park. Shuttle ridership is spread out Venues that are close to each other have throughout the day between 10 am and 7 pm. Ridership grows slowly throughout 30% 10% the most cross-over attendance which is mostly accomplished by Park visitors the morning, finally peaking around 3 walking between the venues, such as pm and then quickly falling off as Park 26.6% between the Oregon Zoo and the Portland venues close around 5 pm and the shuttle 5% Children’s Museum or the Japanese Garden service ends. The busiest shuttle stops 23.6% and the Rose Garden. Travel between are the Washington Park MAX station, 20% the north and south end of the Park, Rose Garden, and Japanese Garden stops, being farther apart and hilly, is mainly indicating a strong flow between the north accomplished via the free shuttle or private and south ends of the Park. 0% automobile.

10%

4.2%

1.5% 0%

Walk Automobile Transit Car share Bike & Other*

2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 13 People Visiting Multiple Attractions:

Multiple Attractions - 46.8% One Attraction - 53.2%

People Using the Shuttle:

Yes- 22.9% No - 77.1%

How Shuttle Riders Get to the Park: MOVEMENT

33.5% 41.8% 13.9% 10.8%

Where Shuttle Riders Came From:

City of Portland- 18.5% Portland Metro - 18% WA / OR - 10.1% United State of America - 47.1% Intl.- 6.3%

VISITOR SHUTTLE USE

Shuttle riders are predominately made up of tourists Shuttle ridership by family type: coming from outside of Washington and Oregon. Since With children 10.2% tourists likely have less foreknowledge of the recreational Adult only 18.8% opportunities within Washington Park, they might be more willing to ride the free shuttle to get the opportunity to fully explore the Park. Two thirds of free shuttle riders arrived at the Park via transit, car share, or by walking or biking. Without access to a vehicle once inside the park, the free Proportion of visitors by mode of travel whom take the Shuttle: shuttle is a convenient option for exploring the Park. Automobile 11.1%

Transit 47.9% Based on group makeup, groups consisting of adults only were the most likely to take the free shuttle. Seeing as Car share & Other 32.5% groups with children predominately visit either the Oregon 21.9% Active Zoo or Portland Children’s Museum and mostly chose to visit only a single venue, it appears that there is relatively low demand from groups with children to use the shuttle service to visit venues within Washington Park. 14 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report Most Popular Shuttle Stops: 128,155 Washington Park MAX Station 40.8% Total Shuttle Boarding International Rose Garden 25.6% MOVEMENT May - September 2016 Portland Japanese Garden 14.3% 50% 50%

Hoyt Arboretum 5.5%

20% 20%

Holocaust Memorial 4.1% 40% 40% 17.1% 15% 15% 15.7% Playground 3.6% 14.7%

13.1% Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1.9% 11.1% 30% 30% 10% 10% 9.9% Lewis & Clark Entrance 1.5% 7.9% 6.5% 5% 5% Reservoir 1.5% 4.1% 20% 20% Archery Range 1.3% 0% 0%

12 PM to 1 PM 1 PM to 2 PM 2 PM to 3 PM 3 PM to 4 PM 4 PM to 5 PM 5 PM to 6 PM 6 PM to 7 PM 10 AM to 11 AM11 AM to 12 PM

10% 10% 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 15

0% 0% trends

How are things changing? 100% 100%

Park visitor mode split 2014 - 2016:

80% 80.7 80% 77

66.5 60% TRANSPORTATION TRENDS SHAPING THE PARK 60%

Car share is an increasingly important mix venues seem to have developed over the of how people are getting to Washington last three years, increasing from 31 to 46%. TRENDS 40% Park. Since there deployment,40% services This trend, in conjunction with increasesed such as Uber and Lyft have quickly grown shuttle ridership numbers, might be partly to capture nearly 10% of the Park’s overall explained by the increase in improved mode split, this is especially true of the branding and visibility of the free shuttle 20% Japanese Garden and Rose Garden. service, resulting in people exploring more 17.3 20% 15.8 13.2 of the Park and attending multiple venues

7.7 8.5 Each venue is generally showing a 5.3 3.6 .8 3.5 consistent trend for the three years from Another interesting three-year trend 0% 2014 through 2016 with automobile0% mode appears to be developing in the frequency split falling at each venue100% while transit and of visits as less people appear to be visiting 100% car share increase. The Portland Japanese the park on a frequent basis. While the Automobile Transit Active Car share 100% & Other* Garden and Rose Garden saw the largest proportion of first time visitors held steady decreases in automobile mode split over at around 45%, infrequent visitors have these three years, from approximately 75 to increased from 23 to 38% while frequent Visitors attending multiple venues 2014 - 2016: 80%80% just above 50%. visitors have seen a decrease from 30 to 80% 18%. 2014 31.2% The Visitor Survey has been conducted since 2014, giving us the60% chance to start confidently looking at trends60% now that three years of data exist60% and discern some 2015 43% of the impacts that Explore Washington Park programs are having40% on visitor behavior. A consistent upwards40% trend in 46.8% 2016 the number of visitors40% enjoying multiple 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 20% 20% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 17 20% 0% 0% 0% 100% 100%

80% 80%

60% 60%

40% 40%

20% 20%

0% 0% 100% 100%

80% 80% Employee mode split: 2014 - 2016:

60% 62.2 Venue mode split trend 2014 - 2016: 60% 58 58.1 Car share Automobile Transit Active & other 40% 40% 90%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 24.2 26 25.3 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 20% 80% TRENDS 20% 11 12.2 7.4 3.7 70% 6.8 5.1 0% 0% 100% 60% 2014 100% Automobile Transit Car share Active & Other*

50% Volunteer mode split: 2014 - 2016: 2015 80% 80% 80.9

40% 74 71 2016 60% 30% 60%

20% 40% 40%

10% 20% 20% 0% 14.3 14.5 Children’s Hoyt Japanese Rose Garden World Oregon Zoo 12 Forestry 9.7 Museum Arboretum Garden 8.7 8.6 2 2.5 Center 0% 1.8 0%

Automobile Transit Car share Active & Other* 18 2016 Washington Park Visitor Survey Report 100% 100%

80% 80%

60% 60%

40% 40%

100% 20% 100% 20%

80% 0% 80% 0% 100%

60% 60% Park visitors using the intra-park shuttle: INTRA-PARK TRENDS 80%

40% 8.6% Overall mode split for the park is showing growth over the three years measured. the same40% trends appearing at the venue level, However, one big difference is the fact with automobile mode share decreasing from that more people indicated that they are 60% 21.1% 80 to 67% while transit, car share, walking, choosing to drive within the park, almost 20% and biking take up more of the overall mode doubling from 17 to 35% in three years and 20% split. This shift represents a 18% decrease in that less people are choosing to walk between automobile mode share compared with a 31% destinations within the Park, decreasing from 22.9% 40% TRENDS increase for transit, 45% increase for active 69 to 41%. This could partially be explained 0% modes, and a 962% increase for car share. by more people choosing to visit multiple 0% attractions that are farther apart from each 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 100% Intra100% park mode split are generally20% mirroring other, making walking between these venues the mode split for visitors getting to the park, a less attractive option. with transit and car share seeing consistent

80% Frequency80% of visits 2014 - 2016: Intra-park80% mode split 20140% - 2016:

69.1 60% 60% 60% 56.1 2014 45.9 40% 44 44.4 40% 43.1 40% 37.8 33.3 2015 29.4 26.6 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 20% 23.1 23.2 23.6 20% 21.3 20% 17 18.3 18.4 2016 10.2 4.2 1.3 1.2 1.5 .9 1.2 0% 0% 0% First Time *Infrequent **Frequent 100%*Infrequent visitors are those that visit Washington Park on a few times per year or less. **Frequent visitors are those that visit Washington Park on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis. Walk Automobile Shuttle Bike Car share & Other*