Transforming Transportation 2015: Smart Cities for Shared Prosperity is the annual conference co-organized by the World Resources Institute and the World Bank.

1. www.TransformingTransportation.org
Rich Data on the Cheap:
The $73 Transit User Survey
Gwen Kash, PhD Candidate
Presented at Transforming Transportation 2015

2. RICH DATA ON THE CHEAP:
The $73 Transit User Survey
Gwen Kash
PhD Candidate, Department of City and Regional Planning
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
gwenkash@email.unc.edu
Transforming Transportation, January 15, 2015

3. The Problem:

4. Photos by author unless otherwise noted.

6. WHAT WE DID
• 967 Respondents
• Intercept Survey at Transit
Stops
• Day and Night
• Across the City
• Collaborative Design
(Autonomous Municipal
Government of El Alto,
Bolivia and me)

7. • Open and closed
• Stated and revealed
• Opinions
• Experiences
• Perceptions
• Qual and Quant
Range of Topics
Range of Question Types
• Travel Behavior
• Current Problems
• Priorities
• Bad Experiences
• Frequency
• How Distressing
• Bus Sariri
• Knowledge
• Expectations
• Preferences
• Willingness to pay

8. Expectations for Bus Sariri
Benefits
1. Security/Crime (34%)
2. Road Safety (24%)
3. Access for Disabled
(17%)
4. Faster (11%)
Drawbacks
1. Slower (21%)
2. Routes (11%)
3. Big Buses/Small
Streets (7%)
4. Won’t Maintain it
(6%)

9. How much does waiting 10-15 minutes
for the bus bother you?
5%
37%
59%
Not at all A Little A Lot
28% of users who gave up and walked had
waited 15 minutes or less.

10. An unsolveable problem? Maybe not.
According to qualitative results,
it’s not just about the time.
“At night… we
have to wait a
long time, and
if there are
buses, they all
pass full.”

11. Uncertainty, Crime, and Discrimination
“In the La Ceja [market area], there is a lot
of crime and the drivers don’t want to
pick us up when we have bags.”

12. What do you need for a survey?
•1 person who knows how to do a survey
•1-2 people to enter data
•5-15 people willing to learn

13. Paying People to Work for Free
• Find someone who is looking for a project
• PhD or Masters Thesis
• Undergraduate internship
• Summer research experience
• Professor who is teaching a community-focused class
• If inexperienced, good advisor and advance preparation is
important
• Help them get data
• Existing and to be collected
• Make sure to have data use agreement

14. Paying People to Work for Free
• Get someone else to pay them (e.g. provide
support on scholarship/grant applications)
• Save them time (e.g. with worker recruitment)
• Take care of the boring stuff (data entry,
photocopies)
• Support their entire project
• Include parts that don’t benefit you directly
• Access, invitations, contacts
• Save them money using your existing resources

15. Paying People to Work for Free
• Provide goods or services they would
otherwise be paying for
My Expected Expenses:
My Actual Expenses:

16. Organizing Data Collection
2. Determine Roles and
Responsibilities
• Questionnaire Design
• Identifying surveyors
• Training surveyors
• Supervising
• Supplies (photocopies,
arranging transport, etc.)
• Data Entry
• Data use agreements
1. Determine Scope
• Topics
• Desired Sample Size
• Available resources
• Timeline
• Draft Survey

17. 3. Train Surveyors
• Office and Field
• Recruitment and
interviewing
• Personally Observe
• Start with extras &
weed if needed
• Identify potential field
team leaders
Organizing Data Collection
4. Make Adjustments
• Get interviewers’
observations
• Make modifications
• Final field testing
5. Collect Data
• Assign field team
leaders/supervisors
• Continue to observe
interviews as needed
• Monitor data as it
arrives

18. WHERE TO SPLURGE:
Questionnaire Design
2%
40%
Reduce Travel Times Traffic Jams
Two problems with public
transit according to users

19. Local Knowledge Is Important.

20. More Best Practices
• Make Sure Everybody
benefits
• Use proactive quality
control
• Vary types of questions
• Listen to your surveyors
• Prepare for future surveys
• Train staff members
• Build in flexibility

21. Thank You
Special thanks to:
Secretaría Municipal de
Movilidad Urbana y Transporte
del Gobierno Autónomo
Municipal de El Alto
El Comité Bi-Municipal SITM
de La Paz y El Alto
The UNC Van Huyck
Fellowship
The Carolina Center for
Public Service Community
Engagement Fellowship