One Red Barracuda
Investigation Summary
Synthesis of Secondary Research:
We have discovered that Chattanooga does have a good infrastructure for active and alternative transportation. The city is currently initiatingplans to rework some of the bus routes in the city, thus bettering some of the problems that citizens have complained about (Putman, 2015). The bike share and bus systems are established and very comparable to those in places like Washington, DC. Our main focus is that Chattanooga doesn't have any marketing or educational campaigns running for public transportation. This missing link between the knowledge that the system exists and the actual use of the system is the knowledge of how to use the system. This is evidenced by mostChattanoogansreporting that they have not used the bus routes and is not educated about the busing system (2015 Community Survey Results). However, of theChattanooganswho reported that they used the bus system, only 6% reported that the bus was "bad," or "very bad."By combining this knowledge, it is our understanding that there are preconceived negative perceptions about the busing system, which are dispelled by those who actually use the busing system regularly. Also, the reports of negativity with the busing system should decrease as the city continues it's expansion of busing routes, which was one of the biggest issues facing the Chattanooga busing system (Putman, 2015).
We started our demographic research with Millennials and discovered that they do have an interest in alternative transportation and they are more likely to use it if they have more information about it. Millennialsdrive less than their older generation counterparts, and a study of licensed drivers conducted by KRC Research revealed that 45% of Millennials(ages 18-34) said they had consciously made an effort to reduce how much they drive, and 64 percent would drive less if alternative optionsincluding public transportation, car sharing, or convenient carpooling were made available in their area (Newswire, 2010).Specifically, Millennialswant better options for transportation other than driving in a car, and a large percentage would factor transportation options into choosing a place to live (Transportation for America, 2014). This demographic is vital to implementing the transportation movement within Chattanooga as between 22-40% of Chattanoogans would qualify as Millennials(Chattanooga Community Survey, 2013), and that number is growing with Millennials set to overtake Baby Boomers as the largest living generation (Pew Research, 2015). Our primary research summary appears to support both of our previous findings, suggesting that Millennialsdon't use the bus system much, however they would be interested if they were able be better educated about the system.
While our secondary research has provided us a backgroundof the elderly's (Kostyniuk& Shope, 2003) and minority's (Bhat& Naumann, 2010) uses of active and alternative transportation, our survey ended up being more focused towards the Millennialdemographic. By expanding on our already preexisting knowledge of active and alternative transportation, we will design an education and marketing plan that will further the awareness of active and alternative transportation. We hypothesize that through education and increasing awareness, those who were hesitant to use active and alternative transportation before will be more informed, and thus will be more likely to make use of these systems.
Primary Research Findings:
It appears that our survey has confirmed some of our original beliefs and hypotheses. We had a strong response rate from Millennials (72.5%), and we found some agreement with the secondary literature. While a majority of respondents still mainly use their car, there was a significant minority of Millennials that used active transportation. Around 30% of Mellennials used active transportation regularly. Qualitative data suggests that they are not aware of the incentives offered by the bike share, and that even more Millennials would use the bike share if better educated about the resource. This qualitative suggests that people would use this transportation method if they had more information, with 40% responding that they wanted more information and availability. We discovered an astounding finding related to alternative transportation. Not a single respondent routinely uses the busing system, and only one had used the busing system recently. Qualitative data seems to suggest that this is because of the bus not reaching where they are wanting to go (which is being worked on) or having negative stereotypical opinions about the bus (stinky, don’t know how to use it, etc.). Interestingly, they have these negative opinions but have not used the bus system recently. A final interesting factor of note is that the use of active transportation had an all-or-none effect. They either never used active transportation or used it at a high rate (7+). This seems to suggest that once Millennials start using active transportation they tend to continue to use it.
Relationship to our Group’s Problem:
The combination of secondary literature and our primary literature advance our group’s problem in many ways. We are now able to get a clearer picture of usage of active and alternative transportation in Chattanooga, and we believe that our efforts at an educational and marketing plan are supported by the data. Consistent evidence suggests that public transportation is desired and used by various members of the population, however in Chattanooga, it seems disproportionate amongst Millennials to not use the busing system. This same demographic is also very open to using active methods of transportation, and a significant amount of them already do. While efforts are being made by the city to further the public transportation movement, it seems that the level of awareness has not caught up with the progress. Our group will continue to monitor new ideas and advancements of this issue within the city, but will also make the public more educated and aware of the already preexisting active and alternative transportation opportunities that already exist. The priority of our group will focus on expanding and implementing the “This Way,” campaign that was provided by Administrator Blythe Bailey.
References and Investigation Resources
Scholarly References
Bhat, G., & Naumann, R. B. (2013). Travel-related behaviors, opinions, and concerns of U.S. Adult drivers by race/ethnicity, 2010. Journal Of Safety Research, 4793-97. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2013.09.001
Kostyniuk, L. P., & Shope, J. T. (2003). Driving and alternatives: Older drivers in Michigan. Journal Of Safety Research, 34(4), 407-414. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2003.09.001
Millennials driving less and worried about cost of car ownership. (2010, Nov 22). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/807642008?accountid=14767
The Rockefeller foundation; transportation for America; access to public transportation a top criterion for millennials when deciding where to live, new survey shows. (2014). Journal of Transportation.40. Retrieved from http://search/proquest.com/docview/1519984269?accountid=14767
Transportation Resources
http://www.chattanoogachamber.com/media/downtown.pdf - Chattanooga Demographics
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/sep/28/cartexpects-transportatireport-november/327491/ - News article describing transportation advances in Chattanooga
http://www.chcrpa.org/TPO_reorganized/Plans_and_Programs/Transportation_Improvement_Program_(TIP)/2014-2017_TIP/FY_2014-2017_Final_Approved_TIP_Document_10152013.pdf - Chattanooga Transportation Improvement Program
http://www.chattanooga.gov/internal-audit-files/2015CommunitySurveyReport.pdf - Community Survey Reports
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/16/this-year-millennials-will-overtake-baby-boomers/ - Millennials overtaking Baby Boomers
Also have been using two preexisting (non-academic) surveys on active/alternative transportation provided by Phil Pugliese as references for our work throughout.