Mobility of NDSU Faculty and Staff: Transit Survey Results

University campuses have unique transportation requirements that may be characterized with a high concentration of trips during multiple peak periods (i.e., morning, lunch, and afternoon). These campuses are often the largest employers in small-to-medium size cities and it is therefore critical to coordinate campus mobility needs with the overall transportation system. Many colleges and universities recognize transit as an effective mode for meeting campus mobility and have developed transit systems to serve those needs. However, successful campus transit systems include several factors such as careful planning, understanding user preferences, efficient design of system services, and coordination with existing city transit service. Universities are not homogenous (i.e., enrollment levels, campus location, size of community) so they will have different needs. This paper focuses on the mobility needs of NDSU faculty and staff. It is part of a larger study that examines NDSU student mobility needs. In this paper the authors will present the results of an online survey administered in the fall of 2002 with the assistance of President Chapman. The results of this study are based on the responses of 319 faculty and staff. NDSU employs just over 2,000 full-time faculty and staff, most of them living in the Fargo and Moorhead community area (two joint cities). Sixty-six percent of the faculty and staff live less than five miles from campus. Most of the faculty and staff reported driving their automobiles to campus. However, a large number of respondents indicated they would be willing to ride public transit to campus, particularly if it were free. Faculty and staff indicated a lack of information regarding transit so it is imperative that information be made readily available to them concerning route schedules. This report also contains information about faculty and staff experiences using public transportation as well as their expectations of public transportation. Several of the faculty and staff recognize benefits to public transportation and illustrated a genuine openness to utilizing the Metropolitan Area Transit (MAT) system that serves the Fargo-Moorhead area and more specifically the NDSU campus. It may be necessary to recommend route changes to MAT to better serve the NDSU faculty and staff with more direct routes in order to reduce travel time, making riding the bus more convenient.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=490
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/64289
• Corporate Authors:

  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

  North Dakota State University
  1320 Albrecht Boulevard
  Fargo, ND  United States  581052
• Authors:
  • Hough, Jill
  • Hegland, Gary
• Publication Date: 2003-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 16p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Campus transportation; Mobility; Needs assessment; Personnel; Public transit; Ridership; Routes; Schedules; Surveys; Teachers; Universities and colleges
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01091731
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: NTL, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 23 2008 9:26AM