Tulsa Transit Survey Shows More “Choice Riders”

Tulsa Transit's recent passenger survey shows an increase in choice riders and an increase in college graduates and professional commuters who are riding the bus.  Choice riders are those individuals who have a vehicle available to them but instead choose to ride public transit.

Tulsa Transit distributed surveys on board buses and on the website offering 2 free rides to anyone who completed the survey.  Over 1,500 survey responses were received in October 2005.  The results of this survey are compared to the last on-board survey done in September 2003.

Of the 1,500 respondents, 79% said the most important reason for riding the bus is that they don't own a car; this is down 5% from the 2003 survey when 84% of respondents said they rode because they didn't own a car.  Saving money was the second most important reason for riding the bus with 11% of respondents, up from 7% in 2003.

Cynthia Staab said, "The survey results show how important it is for low income individuals to have public transit available to them in order to survive in our community since the majority of our riders don't have a car.  However, it also shows that more people who have the choice to drive are giving public transit a try to save money; and we welcome them to our service."

The 2005 survey shows more bus riders today have a car available to them when they ride the bus than the riders did in 2003.  In fact 34% of respondents indicated they do have a car available (although they may not own it) at the time they ride the bus, either as a passenger or a driver.  This is up 8% from the 2003 survey.

When asked about their most common trip purpose, 57% checked "Commuting" which is up from 55% in 2003.  The next most common bus trip purpose was for personal business, which made up 20% of the responses.  Trip purposes for school and shopping each came in at just under 10% of responses. 

More Tulsa Transit customers today are college educated and have professional jobs than were reported in the  2003 survey results.  The 2005 survey shows 19% of respondents are college graduates or post graduates and 30% have some college.  In 2003, 14% of respondents had a college or post graduate degree, while 31% had some college.

In 2005 17% of respondents indicated their occupation was "professional", up 3% from 2003.  The number of respondents who indicated they were unemployed dropped 3%, from 9% in 2003 to 6% in 2005.

The gap is narrowing between male and female bus riders, as 56% of 2005 respondents were female and 44% were male.  In 2003, 59% of riders were female and 41% were male.

The average Tulsa Transit customer is a Caucasian female, between the ages of 45 and 54 with a high school education and no children living at home.