Transportation Survey Results

Sustainable Community Project; Transportation Element

Antithesis Research has recently finished the transportation element of the Sustainable Community Project.  Over the past few months you may have seen us outside of the Trading Post, Clinic or in the Administration Building distributing surveys and listening to the community to find out what transportation concerns or needs there are.  There were also two display boards in the Administration Building where community members could respond to where they would like to see pedestrian paths and another about where automobile crashes have occurred in the community. 

What we heard in our transportation survey was: 

Q1: Are you transportation needs being met?  If not, why and how can they be met?

Of the 149 responses we received from the community, 56% of the community stated that their transportation needs were being met, 16% stated that their needs were not being met, and 28% said some of their needs are being met but not all of them.  Some of the reasons people’s transportation needs were not being met included needing gas, did not have access to a working automobile, handicap accessibility, wanting extended hours for transportation programs and needing transportation on and off of the reservation. Specific break down of the collected data revealed the following. 6% of 'Yes' respondents are using the Moccasin Express to meet transportation needs. 29% of respondents noted scheduling issues precluding them from using the STOI bus service. 20% of survey respondents also noted a desire to have buses go to town for shopping/medical/other. 8% of respondents noted mechanical fears that might hamper ability to get to work or other desired location. 21% of respondents also noted that high fuel prices impacted them negatively. 2% of responses desired sidewalk or walking-path improvements.

Q2: What type of transportation programs would meet the needs of the community right now? 

We received 168 responses as to what types of programs would meet the transportation needs of the community right now.  30% of the responses commented that continued or expanded bus services would help the community get to work, school, and community events.  20% of the responses said transportation to off reservation destinations would help the community access shopping, medical services, and recreation sites.  8% of responses had concerns about transportation options for the elders.  Other programs that the community identified as being important included sidewalks, bike paths, gas money, taxi services, transportation for youth , and transportation for people with disabilities. 

Q3: What type of transportation programs would meet the needs of the community in the future? 

Of the 155 responses we received we heard the following concerns from the community.  35% of the responses commented that continued and expanded bus services would help the community get to work, school, and community events.  19% of the respondents commented on the need for off reservation destinations to access shopping, medical services, and recreation sites.  10% commented on the need for sidewalks/bike paths in the community.  In General the community identified a need for expanded transportation services that could include taxi/ car/vanpools, specific transportation for elders and education. 

A comparison: Current vs. Preferred Types of Transportation

The other side of the transportation survey was intended to find out what type of transportation the community currently uses and the types of transportation they would prefer to use.  The results show that most of the respondents currently use a car to get around.  However, other transportation options such as walking, bicycling, carpool, vanpool and public transportation increased as potential options.  Below are graphs that show respondents current ways of getting around and their preferred method of getting around.

 

 

The cost of transportation: Miles Traveled Per Day

We also asked how far people traveled for various activities such as shopping, healthcare, work, school, and recreation/kids sports/community events.  Based upon the responses we received community members traveled anywhere from 520 miles per year to 48, 490 miles per year.  The average amount of miles driven a week by community members is 276 miles (14352 miles a year) which is above the national average of 230 miles a week.   The typical U.S. commuter experiences an average fuel economy of approximately 20mi/gallon, the average price for a gallon of gas in 2011 was approximately $3.53 (price varies by source). The typical Spokane Tribal family that traveled less than 14,000 miles in a year, spent approximately $2,500 just on fuel costs. A family that may have traveled approximately 450 miles on average per week (or 23,400 miles a year) would have experienced fuel costs in the neighborhood of $4,100, as an example from our reported results (see Miles Traveled per week graph).Below is a breakdown of the number of respondents and the amount of the total miles they travel in a given week.

Display Boards

The display boards we had up in the Administration Building included one with a map of the reservation where participants were asked to identify automobile crashes and one with maps of the housing areas and participants were asked to identify where they would like to see bicycle and walking paths.  We will be using the information from the map of automobile accidents to look for patterns as to where crashes occur.  Although our display board did not capture all the known crashes, we are continuing to work with DNR and the Police Department to obtain the most up to date information about automobile accidents and animal strikes that occur on the reservation.  The walking and biking path locations that the community identified will be considered in the future development of both housing and STOI Capital Facilities improvements.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out a survey or respond to our display boards.  The winner of the $100 gift certificate to Gamestop was Stephanie.  We would also like to thank Wendy Wynecoop and her class for helping distributing and collecting surveys at the high school basketball games.  The information provided by the community is being used to create goals, objectives, and policies that the Tribe can use in the future when developing transportation programs. 

 

Thank you for your time

Richard Knott;  Antithesis Research.