SAMTRANS MARKET SEGMENTATION STUDY SPRING 2018 SUMMARY REPORT Prepared by COREY, CANAPARY & GALANIS RESEARCH 447 Sutter Street – Penthouse North San Francisco, CA 94108 SamTrans Market Segmentation Survey – Spring 2018 | Summary Report Table of Contents INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................. 5 DETAILED RESULTS – TELEPHONE STUDY............................................................................................... 13 Primary Weekday Destination............................................................................................................ 14 Mode Choice....................................................................................................................................... 15 Alternative Mode................................................................................................................................ 16 Travel Patterns.................................................................................................................................... 17 Likelihood of Using SamTrans............................................................................................................. 21 Incentives/Barriers to SamTrans Use (Likely to Use SamTrans)......................................................... 22 Incentives/Barriers to SamTrans Use (Not Likely to Use SamTrans).................................................. 24 Attitudinal Questions.......................................................................................................................... 26 Distance from El Camino Real............................................................................................................. 35 Familiarity with SamTrans Routes ...................................................................................................... 36 Fare Payment and Real Time Bus Information................................................................................... 37 Alternative Public Transit Systems Used - Non and Former Riders ................................................... 38 Non-Riders and Former Riders - Acceptable Trip Time...................................................................... 39 Suggestions......................................................................................................................................... 40 Demographics..................................................................................................................................... 41 DETAILED RESULTS – NOTES FROM FOCUS GROUPS ............................................................................. 44 Focus Group #1 (Riders) ..................................................................................................................... 45 Focus Group #2 (Former Riders)......................................................................................................... 61 Focus Group #3 (Non-Riders) ............................................................................................................. 77 Focus Group #4 (Spanish Language)................................................................................................... 88 APPENDICES.......................................................................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX A – TELEPHONE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE...................................................................... 102 APPENDIX B – FOCUS GROUP SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE ...........................................................114 APPENDIX C – FOCUS GROUP MODERATOR OUTLINE AND PARTICIPANT HANDOUTS...................122 2 SamTrans Market Segmentation Survey – Spring 2018 | Summary Report INTRODUCTION This report details the findings of the SamTrans Market Segmentation Study, conducted for SamTrans by Corey, Canapary & Galanis (CC&G). The Study consisted of two primary components: A qualitative portion, consisting of four focus groups. These groups were conducted December 15-16, 2017, and included one group each of riders, former riders, and non-riders, as well as a group of Spanish-speaking participants (which was a mix of current, former, and non-riders). All four groups were held at San Mateo County Transit District headquarters. Groups were led by professional moderators, and each group consisted of 9-12 participants. The primary goals of this portion of the study were to: o Help in the development of the quantitative questionnaire; and o Obtain input which was best suited for more of an in-depth, directional discussion, with a focus on what might motivate non-riders to try SamTrans, why former riders no longer use SamTrans, and other specialized aspects, such as how SamTrans is perceived within the Hispanic/Spanish-speaking community. A quantitative portion, consisting of a telephone survey of San Mateo County residents, which was conducted from January 30 to March 28, 2018. Of the 664 completed surveys, 625 were conducted in English and 39 were conducted in Spanish. Key objectives of the telephone survey included determining a respondent’s: o Current transportation mode; o Incentives and barriers to SamTrans use; o Rider and non-rider perception of SamTrans and its service; and o Preferred methods of communication. This report includes the following key sections: Executive Overview, Charts/Key Findings and Detailed Results. While the report focuses on the results from the quantitative questionnaire, findings from the focus groups (particularly those not covered in the quantitative questionnaire) are included throughout where relevant. The Appendix of this report includes a copy of the questionnaire, as well as the moderator outline, group notes, and handouts for the qualitative (focus group) portion. Questions regarding this project may be directed to: Julian Jest, SamTrans, 650-508-6245. Key Sub-Groups and Statistically Significant Differences from Telephone Survey For both the telephone survey and focus groups, potential respondents were initially asked about their use of SamTrans and were divided into three groups: Non-riders: those who had not used SamTrans; Former Riders: those who had used SamTrans but not within the past six months; and Riders: those who had used SamTrans in the past six months. 3 SamTrans Market Segmentation Survey – Spring 2018 | Summary Report For the focus groups, one group each was conducted among Non-riders, Former Riders, and Riders. From the telephone survey, 664 completed surveys were conducted. Of these, 280 (42%) were conducted with non-riders, 262 (40%) were conducted with former riders, and 122 (18%) were conducted with regular riders. Respondent Geographic Distribution ZONE TOTAL Non- Former Rider Rider Rider MID 45% 44% 45% 45% NORTH 31% 28% 32% 39% SOUTH 13% 17% 11% 6% COASTSIDE 11% 11% 11% 10% For the total number of respondents in the telephone survey (n = 664) who participated, the margin of error is +/- 3.74% at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for some other key sub-groups which are shown in this report: - Non-Riders (n = 280) +/-5.82% at the 95% confidence level; - Former Riders (n = 262) +/-6.01% at the 95% confidence level; - Riders (n = 122) +/-8.85% at the 95% confidence level. 4 SamTrans Market Segmentation Survey – Spring 2018 | Summary Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Mode Choice and Timing of Primary Weekday Trip Among all respondents, the vast majority (85%) How do you typically get to this destination [primary used some form of car- weekday trip]? based transportation for All Respondents 71% 14% 7% 3% their primary weekday trip, with 71% driving alone, 14% driving with Non-Riders 71% 14% 7% others, and 1% using Uber/Lyft or a similar service. Coastside Former Riders 80% 14% 3% residents were most likely to use some form of car- Riders 48% 12% 14% 16% based transportation (89%), followed by Mid Drive Alone Drive w/Others Other Public Transit County (86%), North SamTrans Walk Bicycle County (83%), and South Other County (82%) residents. Only 10% used some form of public transportation, with 3% using SamTrans and 7% using some other form of public transit. North County residents were most likely to use SamTrans for their primary weekday trip (4%), followed closely by Mid-County residents (3%). Only 1% each of South County and Coastside respondents said they used SamTrans for their primary weekday trip. Only 16% of SamTrans riders use SamTrans for their primary weekday trip. While South County residents were least likely to say they use some form of car-based transportation, as well as the least likely to use any form of transit (SamTrans or otherwise), 10% say they bicycle and 5% say they walk for their primary trip (much higher than 3% of respondents overall who say they walk and 2% of respondents overall who say they bicycle). This coincides with the fact that 77% of South County respondents say their primary weekday trip takes 30 minutes or less. The heavy dependency on car-based transportation is not as surprising given that 96% of respondents indicated they have access to a [personal] car, making nearly every potential rider within San Mateo County a choice rider. 5 SamTrans Market Segmentation Survey – Spring 2018 | Summary Report Use of SamTrans More than half (58%) of respondents said they had used SamTrans at some point. North