Student Perceptions of Parking
Parking is a major concern on college campuses. With over half of the students who responded to the survey having parking permits (Figure 19), we asked students questions pertaining to affordability and convenience of parking at MSUM as well as the possibility of using MAT to resolve parking problems.
Figure 19. Students with Parking Permits (n=460)
The highest number of parking permits issued on the MSUM campus was in the A and A1 sections of the Red lot (Figure 20).
Figure 20. Parking Lots Used by Survey Respondents (n=237)
MSUM students are not pleased with on-campus parking convenience (Figure 21). Nearly 44 percent of student respondents rate MSUM's parking convenience as either poor or very poor, while less than 2 percent indicated that the parking convenience was very good.
Figure 21. Student Perception of Parking Convenience (n=361)
When we asked the students about parking affordability, they rated nearly identical to the convenience (Figure 22). Nearly 50 percent of respondent's rate parking affordability at MSUM as either poor or very poor, while below 6 percent rated the parking affordability as good or very good.
Figure 22. Student Perception of Parking Affordability (n=367)
Campus Public Transportation
Students from MSUM may take classes through the Tri-College system of NDSU, Concordia, and MSUM. This section contains questions to determine whether there is sufficient demand for public transportation to be provided between the three colleges. The first question addresses whether or not students plan on taking Tri-College courses with 52 out of 460 indicating that they planned on taking classes. Of those 52, 46 responded that they would be taking Tri-College classes during the daytime. Nearly 54 percent of students indicating they would be taking Tri-College courses indicated that they would consider taking the MAT bus. Only 8 percent of respondents indicated that they would not consider taking the MAT bus, and 38 percent said that they would maybe consider taking the MAT bus for their Tri-College classes (Figure 23).
Figure 23. Tri-College Students Who Would Consider Taking the MAT Bus (n=52)
The last question asked the students if they would use a MAT Circulator bus routed around the MSUM and Concordia campus neighborhoods spaced at15 minute intervals (Figure 24). The higher percentage of students with no responses may be because of the fact that some students have no need to travel between the two campuses.
Figure 24. MAT Circulator Bus between Campuses (n=460)
Campus Transit Accommodation
The final section of the survey asked the respondents whether they think more shelters should be placed around campus and whether or not they would be willing to pay a fee per semester to use the MAT services.
The first questions which asked respondents whether there should be more shelters or more heated shelters changed slightly when compared to 2003 survey results. Nearly 54 percent indicated they would like to see more heated bus shelters and roughly 43 percent indicated they would like to see more bus shelters all together (Figure 25). In the 2003 survey 38 percent of respondents indicated they would like to see more bus shelters on campus, and 43 percent said they would like heated shelters. Those numbers increased by 11 percent on heated shelters and 5 percent on bus shelters.
Figure 25. Desire for More/Heated Shelters (n=460)
One of the main factors that determine the value of service is whether the customer is willing to pay for that service. Students were asked if they would be willing to pay an activity fee for free, unlimited use of the MAT Bus around campus and the Fargo-Moorhead area (Figure 26).
Figure 26. Students Willing to Pay Activity Fee (n=460)
Students were then asked how much they would be willing to pay on a per semester basis for unlimited use of MAT services (Figure 27). Nearly 50 percent of respondents indicated that they would be willing to pay $10 or more. The majority indicated that they would be willing to pay an activity fee of 5 or 10 dollars.
Figure 27. How Much Students are willing to Pay for MAT Service (n=196)
Summary
In summary the survey data collected revealed some key points about MSUM campus transit needs. A comparison of data from MSUM 2002-03 and 2003-04 school year surveys show an increase in MAT ridership of over 14%. Another question shows that the main reason that students use MAT is to get to and from campus. The main reason some do not use the service is because of a preference to drive/walk/bike. Overall value found in public transportation according to the respondents is free service and MAT services the FM area. MAT users have been satisfied with current aspects such as taking them where they need to go, the ease of use, cleanliness of the bus, and on time arrival. Students indicated dissatisfaction with both parking convenience and affordability and at the same time indicated that reducing parking demand was the biggest benefit to riding public transit. A much greater percentage of students live off campus than on campus leading us to believe there is a large need for public transportation. The information and knowledge that is gained by this data will not only help in making transit decisions for today, but also help build a foundation in planning for tomorrow.