BATA – Community-wide Transportation Study           

BATA Information:

The Bay Area Transportation Authority, (BATA,) was established in 1985 through the merger of Leelanau County Transit and Traverse City Dial-a-Ride. BATA is a two-county authority, serving Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties 365 days a year, providing mobility throughout the area and to Grand Traverse County’s regional center for employment, education, services and retailing. BATA is funded through state and federal transportation programs, an authority-wide millage, and fare-box revenues. BATA operates a fleet of 60 buses and vans and employs 110 people. BATA provides in excess of 530,000 rides annually.

In 2009 a new executive director was hired to help BATA transform itself into a regional transportation leader.  Tom Menzel, who has had great success with a similar transformation at the National Cherry Festival, hired Krios Consulting to conduct a Community-wide Transportation Survey.  The focus of the survey is to ascertain public opinion of people who don’t currently use BATA services, and to see how BATA might better serve their transportation needs.  The survey will also gather similar information from existing BATA ridership.

The survey will be deployed using several methods:

1. Paper survey forms will be printed and inserted into area newspapers.

2. Electronic surveys will be made available to the public at large via the Internet

3. Target areas outside BATA’s current operating zones will be covered by community canvassers.

4. Several focus groups will be held to gather information from other targeted populations.

Once the data gathering is complete at the end of October, a report will be generated that compiles all of the data and provides cross-references across the targeted groups. Data will also be compared to a previous survey conducted in 1998.

SURVEY FAQ:

· What is the survey designed to accomplish?

The survey is mainly focused at finding people who don’t currently use BATA services, and ascertaining the changes that might be necessary to allow them to choose BATA as their primary or secondary form of transportation throughout the region.  It will also ask a similar set of questions to those people currently using the BATA system.

 

· How many surveys will be completed?

Over 20,000 printed surveys will be distributed throughout BATA communities.  Web-enabled survey links will also be provided to a much broader audience.  The consultants expect to see at least 1000 total respondents to the survey.

 

· What types of questions will be asked in the survey?

Several general question types will be asked to get the following results: basic demographic information, current ridership data and opinion, and potential ridership data and opinion.

 

· What do you hope to accomplish with the focus groups?

Each participant in a focus group will fill out the survey.  They will also have an opportunity to discuss their opinions of regional transportation in a small group setting.  This open, informal, process will provide a forum for rich and in-depth feedback from those present.

 

· Will the survey be “statistically valid?”

The survey will not use random sampling data.  So, in this sense it will not have “random sample” statistical validity.  However, the sheer amount of data collected for the size of the community should provide a powerful story about the community’s feelings regarding public transportation in the region.

 

· What is the time frame for completing the survey project?

The consultants expect that data gathering will take the entire month of October, with results available towards the end of November 2009.

 

· Will the results be made public?

Yes.  The results will be presented at public meetings around the community and made available as printed matter.

 

· Who is Krios Consulting?

Krios Consulting is the firm hired by BATA to conduct this community transportation survey. They provide business consulting services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, and governments agencies around the world.  Krios Consulting offices are in Traverse City.

 

· How do I find out more about BATA, and the community-wide transportation study?

Contact BATA at info@bata.net, or the consultants at info@BATAsurvey.com.

The BATA survey was created and deployed by Krios Consulting. This Traverse City, Michigan based firm provides strategic planning, meeting facilitation, and change management services to businesses around the globe.