3. Survey Results from People that Are Disadvantaged
This chapter reveals results of the transportation survey designed to measure the degree of met and unmet transportation needs of the disadvantaged in North Dakota. The mailed survey was divided into two main parts, the first part for all recipients to complete and the second part for recipients who use or have used public transportation. We will cover the following topics to the extent that they are covered in the survey:
- the demographics of all the survey respondents,
- the special needs of all the disadvantaged,
- assessment of the use of public transportation by the disadvantaged who ride transit, and
- assessment of the quality of services provided by the transportation providers.
3.1 Demographics of All Survey Respondents
Some general demographics of the respondents are important to identify how the survey respondents compare to the disadvantaged in the general population. The statewide disadvantaged population comprises 51.5 percent male and 48.5 percent female.7 The total number of female respondents (58 percent) responding was greater than the number of male respondents (42 percent) (Figure 3.1). For the group who have ridden transit, the percent of females (63.7 percent) over males (36.3 percent) is even greater; they are the group who completed the second part of the survey (Figure 3.2). However, Julia Bommelman, general manager of Metro Area Paratransit, Fargo, ND, said their ridership is very close to even among male and female riders.8
When the respondents are divided by age, the "young" (ages five to 20 years), the "working" class (ages 21 to 64 years) and "seniors" (ages 65 and older), women out numbered men in both the working group class and senior citizens group. However, for the group of five to 20 year olds, men out number women in the survey.
The percent of disadvantaged increases with age. At 75 and older the disadvantaged make up about 50 percent of the population. The working age group had the largest percent of respondents and also covers the largest span of years (Figure 3.3). The age distribution of the survey respondents was close to the same as the age distribution in the North Dakota general population, the largest difference being in the senior group of 9.3 percent (Figure 3.4). The young age group was under-represented and the seniors were over-represented. The senior group was over-represented in the survey by 9.3 percent, while the young was under-represented by 6.6 percent.
The respondents were closely proportionate to the general population, as the survey respondents were Caucasian (91 percent), followed by Native American at 7 percent, and the balance 2 percent. By comparison the general population was 92.4 percent Caucasian, 4.8 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native and the balance was 2.6 percent.9
The respondents were asked to report their income. In the lower two income levels ($0 - $15,000 and $15,000 to $24,000), women outnumbered men. At the second two levels ($24,001 - $ 36,000 and $36,001 - $45,000), men outnumbered woman, (Figure 3.5). The higher income levels did not have enough individuals to establish a pattern.
Individuals located in the counties covered by Options Assisted Living Center (Grand Forks) had the highest percent of respondents in the $24,000 and higher income levels. There were no individuals who had income of more than $24,000 from the counties covered by Independence Living Center. Income information for the disadvantaged group in a state or the nation is not available through the United States Census Bureau. However, through the Harris survey polls, 34 percent of the U.S. population with a disability live in a household whose income is $15,000.00 or less.10
The educational attainment of the disadvantaged is another comparison. High school graduates is the largest group at 42 percent of respondents, 13.5 percent have not completed high school, and 34.5 percent have gone on to additional formal education after high school (Figure 3.6).
There where 12.7 percent who reported "other" training after high school. By the chi test we found no statistical significance between gender and educational attainment. The working class age group had 17 percent who completed college or more education, while the senior age group had 10.8 percent who completed four years of college or more. Most likely, this is the result of a higher percentage of younger people going onto more formal education than generations before.
3.2 Special Needs of All Surveyed Respondents
This section will review some special needs of the disadvantaged, such as whether they can operate a vehicle, if they need lift assistance to enter a vehicle, and their preferred mode of transportation. Some federal funding programs designed to assist the disadvantaged also are reviewed comparing North Dakota to other states for federally assisted dollars for transit support. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they could physically operate a vehicle; 60 percent indicated they could operate a vehicle (Figure 3.7). The ability to operate a vehicle may affect the income potential of the disadvantaged person, as only 2.5 percent of the disadvantaged who cannot operate a vehicle reported earned income over $24,000 per year (Figure 3.8).
Only 18 percent of respondents reported they need a lift for vehicle access (Figure 3.9). The need for a lift to get into a vehicle was not a major deterrent to operating a vehicle. The majority of people who cannot operate a vehicle do not need a lift to access a vehicle (Figure 3.10).
Disadvantaged people have various sources for transportation; the respondents chose from among five types of transportation including: personal auto with a driver, driving themselves, public transportation, ride with friends, ride with family members, and an "other" choice was given (Figure 3.11). Driving themselves (50.5 percent) or riding with a family member (43.7 percent) were the two most common means of commuting. Public transportation seems to be the third choice for mode of travel and is used by 31.6 percent of the respondents.
North Dakota has an extensive public assistance transit system partially funded by the Federal Transit Agency through various grants, such as section 5311 (Non-urbanized Area Formula Program) and 5310 (Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Program). Section 5311 funds can be used for capital, operating, state administration, and the Rural Transit Assistance Program, while section 5310 only is available for capital expenditures.11 Also available are funds from sections 5309 (Capital Program) and 3037 (Job Access and Reverse Commute Program, JARC). Appendix 1 has a table identifying the transportation providers who receive 5311 funding assistance and the counties they serve in North Dakota, through federal grant funding programs, has subsidized transportation for senior citizens and other disadvantaged citizens who ride buses, paratransit, or taxi service throughout the state. For 5311 (Non-urbanized Area Formula Program) apportionment, North Dakota received $1,072,653.00, which is 43rd in the nation, during 2002, and $1,096,729.00, which is 44th in the nation, during 2003.12 For 5310 (Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Program) apportionment, North Dakota received $330,309, ranking 46th in the nation for the year 2002. In 2003, North Dakota received $309,647, which lowered its rank to 47th among the states. Both years, Puerto Rico, which is not a state, received more funding than North Dakota. The reason for federal support and a strong North Dakota state effort in mobility to the disadvantaged is that mobility is crucial to employment, good health, and general life satisfaction.
3.3 Assessment of the Utilization of Public Transit from Users
This section explores the extent to which public transportation is used in North Dakota, how long the disadvantaged have been using it, and the time and distance riders travel. North Dakota has subsidized public transportation available in every county, but in some counties it may be limited, especially in rural areas. There were 170 respondents (62 percent) from the survey who reported they had public transportation currently available to them (Figure 3.12). Fewer people responded to the question, "Do you have transit available to you?" One hundred forty-eight of the 213 respondents (69.4 percent) who responded reported they would use public transportation if available (Figure 3.13). Almost 15 percent of the respondents who reported they would use public transportation also reported that public transportation is not available to them.
Survey respondents who did not have any experience in riding public transit were asked not to complete the balance of the survey dealing with the extent to which they use transit and the quality of service from transit.
Public transportation is used daily and weekly by 59 percent of the 98 survey respondents. A majority (60 percent) use public transit at least daily or weekly and almost 22.5 percent use it daily (Figure 3.14).
The amount of time people have been using public transit ranges between less than one year to over 11 years, with the smallest group (11 percent) being less than a year, (Figure 3.15). However, the trend line seems to be decreasing meaning a lower percent of newcomers are using public transit (except the group riding for one to two years is outside the trend line).
Most of the respondents (88 percent) have a short distance to travel via transit, five miles or less, to a community where they conduct most of their business (Figure 3.16). This may imply there is limited public transit available to the survey respondents who live in the rural areas.
When analyzing the time and distance for the people using public transportation, 40 percent claimed they traveled less than a mile in less than 15 minutes, while 30 percent claimed they traveled one to five miles in less than 15 minutes; 20 percent claimed they traveled six to 10 miles in the same time (Figure 3.17). There are factors that contribute to the varying times for given distances traveled, such as number of times the bus stops during the trip, condition of the roads, and weather. For some disadvantaged it may be difficult to spend extended periods of time on the bus.
Figure 3.17 includes only the three shorter distance options and the three shorter time options from the survey. These three options included more than 85 percent of the responses.
The most common reasons for people to use transit for travel was medical (68.9 percent) and shopping (47.6 percent) (Figure 3.18).
When the respondents are broken down by age group the results were similar. Both the working age group and seniors travel mostly for medical reasons (Figure 3.19). The working age group travels more for work than does the senior age group. There are only four in the young age group; two used transit and two did not.
Respondents were asked what the required lead time was for reserving a ride. The majority (57 percent) responded that one to three days was required (Figure 3.20).
Choices and options for the type of public transit (e.g. taxi, paratransit, etc.) available for many North Dakota disadvantaged varies with the location of their residence. The N.D. Department of Transportation (NDDOT), through their public transit program, subsidizes many different types of public transit throughout the state. The county or metropolitan area of residence determines options for subsidized travel. The choice varies by county because different entities in different counties have sought out federal assistance funding. The disadvantaged are eligible, in all counties, for subsidized travel assistance. In some counties, that includes taxi. Taxis are the most frequently used mode of travel (Figure 3.21).
* Volunteer drivers refers to volunteer drivers with personal vehicles.
** Social services refers to reimburse drivers to use own/individual vehicle.
*** N E Ambulance refers to non-emergency ambulance.
Demand response (rather than fixed route) is the most common type of transit throughout the state and may occur as senior center bus, paratransit, county bus, social services and vans, which were identified in this survey. This service has the flexibility to offer curb-to-curb or door-to-door type service.
To determine availability of public transportation, respondents were asked if they had any unmet transportation needs. More than half of the respondents (60.8 percent) indicated they did. The respondents were then given 10 items to select from to identify as a source of unmet needs.
The items include:
- increased service hours (Service)
- spend less time at bus stops (Time)
- more frequent trips per day (Day)
- more frequent trips per week (Week)
- more frequent bus stops (Stops)
- more convenient scheduling (Schedule)
- cheaper fares (Fares)
- door-to-door service (D t D)
- more frequent service from rural areas to large cities for medical, shopping, and visiting (Lge City)
- reduced riding time (Ride)
- other (Other)
The four most requested improvements in services are increased service hours, cheaper fares, more convenient scheduling, and reduced riding time (Figure 3.22).
The Harris Poll found that on the national level, 30 percent of people with disabilities say that inadequate transportation is a problem.13 Our survey revealed the disadvantaged in North Dakota reported a higher percentage (36 percent) than the national average of unmet transportation needs.
A comments section immediately followed this question and the more frequently stated complaints related to timing. For example:
- getting people to work late
- not giving enough time for the elderly to exit their living quarters
- bus starts moving before individuals have an opportunity to sit down
3.4 Assessment of Transportation Provider Services by Users
Rather than a "yes" or "no" answer, the Likert response scale was used to measure the quality of services provided by the local public transportation provider to disadvantaged customers. This scale has five response choices ranging from strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. If a numeric value is given to each choice as 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = neutral, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree, then a numeric mean can be determined for the quality of service. A numeric mean has been determined for each of the measured services. The services are then ranked according to the mean value (Figure 3.23), the higher the mean value the more people wanted to see improvements to the service. The median value for the mean is 2.38, so services that have a mean value greater than 2.38 are services below average in quality and should be investigated for improved quality. Each of the services evaluated will be discussed in detail.
Each of the following figures reflects the response for the quality of a given service. The first measured service was whether public transportation does a good job serving the client's needs. The mean value was 2.42, and more than 63 percent strongly agreed or agreed that transportation providers are serving their needs (Figure 3.24).
Training provided to the drivers of public transit is sufficient to meet the needs of clientele using the system. The mean value is 2.11; nearly 30 percent strongly agreed and 42 percent agreed with this statement, almost the lowest of all services measured (Figure 3.25). This implies that the public services providers are doing a satisfactory job training their drivers to meet the needs of the disadvantaged.
Customers are satisfied with the price of one-way trips in North Dakota. The mean value is 2.38; more than 20 percent strongly agreed and almost 40 percent agreed with this statement (Figure 3.26).
Note: 18.36 percent strongly disagreed or disagreed here, and earlier 15.5 percent wanted cheaper fares. This indicated consistency in the survey.
Customers are not satisfied with weekend hours offered from their service providers; 37 percent (disagree or strongly disagree) would like to see improvements. The mean was 3.01 (Figure 3.27).
When evaluating weekend hours satisfaction by age group, a high percentage (75 percent) of the young disagree that weekend hours are satisfactory (Figure 3.28). The seniors age group, on the other hand, may be less active on weekends and are more satisfied with weekend services while more than 40 percent of the working group disagree with the weekend service hours. The differences among these groups are statistically significant at the chi test 10 percent level (Figure 3.28). Knowing which age groups are dissatisfied may help determine the solutions.
Respondents have the same feeling for holiday hours as for weekend hours. The mean was almost the same at 3.0; however, a larger percentage were neutral or agreed at more than 25 percent each (Figure 3.29).
Satisfaction of time spent on one-way trips is high; 85 percent strongly agree, agree or are neutral. This means that the trip length is adequate for most riders. The mean was 2.38. This implies that trip length is close to expectations of riders (Figure 3.30).
The scheduling procedures have nearly 40 percent of recipients approving; however, the mean was 2.57, slightly above the median of 2.38 (Figure 3.31).
It is possible that the disadvantaged do not fully understand all the issues that affect how a transportation provider schedules, or the reason for the scheduling. Many factors may hinder a transportation provider from meeting the exact needs of every client. Development of service schedules is heavily influenced by organizational service standards and policies. Some factors which affect organizational service standards and policies are:
- balance between funding available, cost effectiveness of service, and frequency of service, i.e. funding may not be available for an unlimited number of trips.
- agency policy and management styles.
- routing and traffic patterns for the community.
- communication systems.
The advance time required for passengers to reserve a ride may seem too long. The time required to reserve a ride varies with the transportation service provider. As was discovered earlier (see Figure 3.20), most providers require one to three days, and slightly more than 37.4 percent (Figure 3.32) agree that advance time required to reserve a ride is too long. The mean here was 2.86. Agreeing with this statement meant reservation times are unsatisfactory, so a high mean value may indicate work is needed in this area. For comparative purposes we subtracted the mean from five and use that value, which is 2.14. This gives the mean value the same interpretation as in other questions. This value indicates that the riders are generally satisfied with this service.
It appears many respondents are satisfied with the waiting time at stops. The majority were neutral (45.8 percent) with the statement that bus stops were too long (Figure 3.33). Agreeing with this statement meant time at bus stops are unsatisfactory, so a high mean value may indicate work is not needed in this area. For comparative purposes we subtracted the mean from five and use that value, which is 1.72. This gives the mean value the same meaning as in other questions. This service has the lowest mean, so it indicates it is the most satisfactory of all services measured by this survey.
The group surveyed was satisfied with the number of trips offered by their public transportation providers. The mean response for number of trips was 2.42, just slightly over the median, and more than 40 percent agreed (Figure 3.34). Evaluating this by gender found there was no statistical differences measured between genders as indicated by the high Chi square number of .264.
The final category measured was the general service area of the public transportation provider. Clients were satisfied, meaning the area was not too large for reasonable service. The mean value was 2.34, slightly under the median. Again, more than 40 percent agreed with the statement (Figure 3.35).
In conclusion, the public transportation providers are doing an acceptable job of serving their clients in North Dakota. For seven of the 11 measured services, close to 40 percent of the respondents agreed with the quality of service; for weekend hours and travel on holidays, only about 26 percent agreed; and for time spent at bus stops and reservation procedures, the percent agreed was the lowest (agree for those two meant services needed improvement). The two services that the disadvantaged most desire to see improvements in are hours of service on weekends and holidays.