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Overall, surveying commuters via employer e-mail addresses was a success. The use of electronic survey instruments as opposed to paper

instruments saved money as well as time analyzing the results. Survey Monkey offers multiple analysis tools including the ability to create and apply filters, cross- tabulate answers, and the option of downloading the survey responses in several different file formats. Nonetheless, there were some drawbacks to the selected survey methodology. Some disadvantages were obvious from the beginning while others were uncovered throughout the survey process.

Electronic survey instruments make it difficult to incentivize the potential respondents to complete the survey by including some form of monetary

compensation. An issue with using employer e-mail addresses is that it is difficult to get an accurate count of survey instrument recipients. Also, each organization had to go through some form of internal approval process in order to allow RTA to send the instrument to their employees. This is not necessarily a disadvantage but any future outreach performed this way should factor extra time into the process to compensate. There were several issues with the survey instrument itself, some of which were identified by the survey respondents.

Since the survey instruments filtered the respondents as they answered questions and all the questions were optional, this made it possible for a

As an example, if a respondent skipped question #4 which asks, In which

community do you currently live?, it is possible for that person to answer some of the questions meant only for Paso Robles residents regardless of where they actually live. The simple fix to this issue is to make key questions on the survey instrument required instead of optional.

One respondent also noted that the first question, What time do you typically commute to work and what time do you typically commute home from work?, is ambiguous. It is possible for respondents to misinterpret the question in two ways: (1) what time do you leave your home and begin your commute or (2) what time do you begin work. It is unknown how many respondents had an issue with this question.

Another issue with electronic survey instruments is the maps that were included in order to answer questions #5 and #10 would have been more

effective in paper form. The respondents would have had the opportunity to mark directly on the map instead of simply using it as a point of reference.

Nevertheless, the information collected through the survey instruments yield valuable insight into non-riders especially those that live in the North County but work in the city of San Luis Obispo.

References

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Appendices

(See attached CD for Appendices)

Appendix A: Non-Rider Survey Instruments Appendix B: Complete Consolidated Data Sheet Appendix C: Rideshare E-newsletter for March 2013 Appendix D: Rideshare Survey Results Summary

Appendix E: Cal Poly Employee Survey Results Summary

Appendix F: City and County Employee Survey Results Summary Appendix G: RTA Route 9 Schedule

Appendix H: Rideshare E-newsletter Survey Response Analysis Appendix I: RTA Route 9 Rider Survey Data Sheet, April 2010 Appendix J: Service Option Evaluation Data Sheet

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