In my previous post, we looked at six unique aspects of Traveler’s survey capability. Now it’s time to break down the incredible potential this survey has to keep getting better. Keep in mind, the features described below are either not yet part of the survey product or may require time to build the data, but they are future possibilities thanks to the technology behind our TransLoc Rider app.
Check out these five ways TransLoc Traveler’s survey capabilities are getting even better:
- Data-enriched survey results
There are so many things about riders that you need to know to make the best use of their survey responses, but asking all these questions makes for long surveys with unverifiable answers. What are the true origins and destinations of their transit trips? What different routes do they ride and how often? What trips do they make where they don’t use transit? The beauty of Traveler-enabled surveys is that we could answer all these questions without having to ask riders, just by using data we’re already collecting. These facts can be anonymously associated with survey responses to provide context for the questions your riders are answering.
- Rider-level insight
Traveler-enabled surveys are incredibly quick and easy—only one question. This might seem like a huge limitation compared to on-board surveys that often ask about many aspects of the transit experience, but over time, one question becomes many. If you rotate through all ten available survey questions, riders will answer multiple types of satisfaction questions over time (overall satisfaction, on-time performance, bus driver courtesy, etc.). We associate all these responses at the individual rider level using device identifiers. This will allow us to answer questions such as “What drives overall satisfaction? Is it correlated with scores for bus driver courtesy and stop amenities, or does only on-time performance really matter?” These insights can help you decide how to allocate limited funds and service options to the things your riders care about most. And since you will get survey results every month, you can be continuously improving.
- Collective learning
Traveler-enabled surveys bring standardization to transit survey data—meaning you can learn from your own survey responses, but also from everyone else’s. Over time, we will discover what lessons generalize across agencies and which are unique. For example, we might find that on-time performance is always the primary driver of overall satisfaction, and that bus driver courtesy matters too, but only if the satisfaction scores are below 4. Or perhaps patterns are different depending on the type of agency, and we can measure this too. This will help the industry as a whole learn in a data-driven way about how to maximize rider satisfaction.
- Targeted follow-up
Since we record survey responses for individual (anonymized) riders, it could be possible to target future surveys based on previous survey responses or based on other information we know about the riders. Perhaps you want to ask about on-time performance for people who have ridden a particular set of routes. Or re-ask the overall satisfaction question specifically to riders who gave poor ratings when previously asked. We have the data and technology to help you intelligently follow-up on what you’ve learned fromTraveler-enabled surveys.
- Custom questions
Currently, our surveys are based on standardized questions developed by transit survey experts. I’ve talked about the huge advantages to this standardization. But sometimes there may be a question that is truly unique to your agency that requires rider input. Many of these questions can be answered without even asking riders! TransLoc Traveler can provide tremendous insight into what riders need without even having to send a survey question. Deciding which direction to move a particular stop? You can use Traveler to see the origins and destinations for riders who use that stop, and that may make the decision clear. If it doesn’t and you really need to ask your riders, a custom survey question about this change might be the solution.
If you have TransLoc Traveler and would like to see some of these potential capabilities added, please send us feedback via your account manager. We’re always trying to improve our software and the public transit industry.
Learn more about how TransLoc Traveler can benefit your agency. Contact us.