METRO Rider Characteristics Survey

Survey reveals METRO rider characteristics:

PHOENIX — Thirty-five percent of METRO riders surveyed are new to transit.  Forty percent use light rail to travel between home and a destination other than work, such as attending special events, enjoying a night out with friends or running errands.

These and other key insights were revealed from a METRO intercept survey conducted to better understand how and why riders use light rail.  The survey was carried out in April 2009 using verbal interviews with more than 3,000 weekday and Saturday passengers ranging from regular commuters, students, seniors and recreational users.  The data will be used to help METRO in its future planning efforts.

Other key survey findings:

Nearly 30 percent of respondents use METRO to commute between home and work exclusively.

Approximately 20 percent of respondents use METRO for trips where neither end of the trip is home (i.e. going to/from lunch during the workday, meeting friends after work or going to school from the workplace).

Forty-five percent of respondents walk, bike or skate to a METRO station to connect with light rail; the other half either drive to a METRO station, usually using a park-and-ride facility (29 percent) or connect from a bus (26 percent).

Sixty-eight percent of respondents have at least one car available for the trip they were making on light rail.