RESULTS OF THE 2009 ONBOARD TRANSIT PASSENGER SURVEY FOR THE SAN DIEGO REGION FEBRUARY 2011 401 B Street, Suite 800 • San Diego, CA 92101-4231 • (619) 699-1900 BOARD OF DIRECTORS The 18 cities and county government are SANDAG serving as the forum for regional decision-making. SANDAG builds consensus; plans, engineers, and builds public transit; makes strategic plans; obtains and allocates resources; and provides information on a broad range of topics pertinent to the region’s quality of life. CHAIR FIRST VICE CHAIR SECOND VICE CHAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Hon. Jerome Stocks Hon. Jack Dale Hon. Jim Janney Gary L. Gallegos CITY OF CARLSBAD CITY OF SANTEE Hon. Matt Hall, Mayor Hon. Jack Dale, Councilmember (A) Hon. Ann Kulchin, Mayor Pro Tem (A) Hon. John Minto, Vice Mayor (A) Hon. Farrah Douglas, Councilmember (A) Hon. Rob McNelis, Councilmember CITY OF CHULA VISTA CITY OF SOLANA BEACH Hon. Cheryl Cox, Mayor Hon. Lesa Heebner, Mayor (A) Hon. Rudy Ramirez, Deputy Mayor (A) Hon. Mike Nichols, Councilmember (A) Hon. Steve Castaneda, Councilmember (A) Hon. Dave Roberts, Councilmember CITY OF CORONADO CITY OF VISTA Hon. Carrie Downey, Councilmember Hon. Judy Ritter, Mayor Pro Tem (A) Hon. Al Ovrom, Mayor Pro Tem (A) Hon. Steve Gronke, Councilmember (A) Hon. Michael Woiwode, Councilmember (A) Hon. John Aguilera, Mayor Pro Tem CITY OF DEL MAR COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO Hon. Carl Hilliard, Deputy Mayor Hon. Bill Horn, Chair, Board of Supervisors (A) Hon. Terry Sinnott, Councilmember (A) Hon. Dianne Jacob, Supervisor (A) Hon. Mark Filanc, Councilmember Hon. Ron Roberts, Vice Chair, Board of Supervisors (A) Hon. Greg Cox, Chair Pro Tem, Board of Supervisors CITY OF EL CAJON (A) Hon. Pam Slater-Price, Supervisor Hon. Mark Lewis, Mayor (A) Hon. Jillian Hanson-Cox, Councilmember CITY OF ENCINITAS ADVISORY MEMBERS Hon. Jerome Stocks, Deputy Mayor (A) Hon. Kristin Gaspar, Councilmember IMPERIAL COUNTY (A) Hon. Teresa Barth, Councilmember Hon. Louis Fuentes, Supervisor (A) Vacant CITY OF ESCONDIDO Hon. Sam Abed, Mayor CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (A) Hon. Marie Waldron, Councilmember Cindy McKim, Director (A) Laurie Berman, District 11 Director CITY OF IMPERIAL BEACH Hon. Jim Janney, Mayor METROPOLITAN TRANSIT SYSTEM (A) Hon. Jim King, Councilmember Harry Mathis, Chairman (A) Hon. Lorie Bragg, Councilmember (A) Hon. Al Ovrom (A) Vacant CITY OF LA MESA Hon. Art Madrid, Mayor NORTH COUNTY TRANSIT DISTRICT (A) Hon. Mark Arapostathis, Councilmember Hon. Chris Orlando, Chairman (A) Hon. Ruth Sterling, Vice Mayor (A) Vacant (A) Vacant CITY OF LEMON GROVE Hon. Mary Teresa Sessom, Mayor U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (A) Hon. Jerry Jones, Mayor Pro Tem CAPT Keith Hamilton, USN, CEC, (A) Hon. George Gastil, Councilmember Southwest Division Naval Facilities Engineering Command (A) CAPT James W. Wink, USN, CEC CITY OF NATIONAL CITY Southwest Division Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hon. Ron Morrison, Mayor (A) Vacant SAN DIEGO UNIFIED PORT DISTRICT (A) Hon. Rosalie Zarate, Councilmember Scott Peters, Chairman (A) Vacant CITY OF OCEANSIDE Hon. Jim Wood, Mayor SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY (A) Hon. Jack Feller, Councilmember Mark Muir, Director (A) Hon. Gary Felien, Councilmember (A) Javier Saunders, Director CITY OF POWAY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRIBAL Hon. Don Higginson, Mayor CHAIRMEN’S ASSOCIATION (A) Hon. Jim Cunningham, Councilmember Hon. Edwin 'Thorpe' Romero (A) Hon. John Mullin, Councilmember Barona Band of Mission Indians Hon. Allen Lawson CITY OF SAN DIEGO San Pasqual Band of Dieguieño Indians Hon. Jerry Sanders, Mayor (A) Dennis Turner, SCTCA Executive Director (A) Hon. Lorie Zapf, Councilmember (A) Hon. David Alvarez, Councilmember MEXICO Hon. Anthony Young, Council President Hon. Remedios Gómez-Arnau (A) Hon. Sherri Lightner, Councilmember Cónsul General of Mexico (A) Hon. Todd Gloria, Councilmember Hon. Martha E. Rosas, Deputy Cónsul General of Mexico CITY OF SAN MARCOS Hon. Jim Desmond, Mayor As of January 27, 2011 (A) Hon. Hal Martin, Vice Mayor (A) Hon. Rebecca Jones, Councilmember ABSTRACT TITLE: Results of the Onboard Transit Passenger Survey for the San Diego Region AUTHOR: San Diego Association of Governments DATE: February 2011 SOURCE OF San Diego Association of Governments COPIES: 401 B Street, Suite 800 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 699-1900 NUMBER OF PAGES: 389 ABSTRACT: This report summarizes the findings from a 2009 survey of transit passengers onboard all fixed transit routes in the San Diego region. Analysis includes rider demographics, trip behaviors, and limited comparisons to population demographics. Survey forms, methodology, and detailed tables are included. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The San Diego Association of Governments would like to thank the onboard surveyors and data processors who assisted in collecting and preparing this data, and all personnel at the North County Transit District and the Metropolitan Transit System who supported the process of data collection. Action Research of San Diego conducted the data collection. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1: Overview ............................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3 Key Findings ............................................................................................................................... 4 Summary of Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 Organization of the Report ...................................................................................................... 5 Section 2: Population Comparisons .................................................................................................... 9 Ridership Residences, Origins, and Destinations ..................................................................... 10 Income Profile ............................................................................................................................ 11 Ethnic Profile ............................................................................................................................. 12 Age Profile ................................................................................................................................. 13 Section 3: System-Level Results ........................................................................................................... 17 Section 4: Onboard Passenger Survey Results by Key Demographics .............................................. 47 Onboard Passenger Survey Results – by Gender ..................................................................... 48 Onboard Passenger Survey Results – by Ethnicity ................................................................... 54 Onboard Passenger Survey Results – by Age ........................................................................... 62 Onboard Passenger Survey Results – by Income ..................................................................... 69 Section 5: Individual Route Results ..................................................................................................... 83 MTS Bus by Route ...................................................................................................................... 86 MTS Premium Express Bus by Route ........................................................................................ 138 MTS Rail by Route ..................................................................................................................... 145 NCTD BREEZE by Route ............................................................................................................. 151 NCTD COASTER by Route .......................................................................................................... 177 NCTD SPRINTER by Route.......................................................................................................... 181 Section 6: Onboard Passenger Survey Origin and Destination Maps .............................................. 188 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – MTS Bus by Route .................................................................. 190 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – MTS Premium Express Bus by Route ..................................... 280 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – MTS Rail by Route .................................................................. 285 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – NCTD BREEZE by Route ......................................................... 289 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – NCTD COASTER by Route ...................................................... 325 Maps of Passenger Trip Ends – NCTD SPRINTER by Route ...................................................... 327 v Appendices A. Questionnaires ........................................................................................................................ A-3 B. Detailed Methodology ........................................................................................................... B-3 C. Weighting ............................................................................................................................... C-3 D. Pretest Report ......................................................................................................................... D-3 E. Model......................................................................................................................................