Introduction
Southern California Rideshare, a department of the Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG), currently produces over 600,000
"Ride Guides" per year. The Ride Guide consists of
a printed brochure that is customized to each recipient, giving
them specific information on ridesharing benefits offered by their
employers, potential rideshare partners, Park & Ride lot locations,
vanpool information, bus and train schedule information, and commuting
tips.
Most Ride Guide recipients receive the Ride Guide through their
employer. Area residents and commuters may also receive a Ride
Guide by contacting Southern California Rideshare via telephone.
Research Objectives
This research project was undertaken to provide Southern California
Rideshare with an evaluation of the Ride Guide geared toward offering
suggestions in improving the content and design of the piece.
Specifically, the research was conducted to get user feedback
on the Ride Guide in terms of:
Interest in the various types of information in the Ride Guide,
Ease of understanding the information,
Perceived usefulness of the information,
How the information is used, and
General satisfaction with the Ride Guide.
This research did not address other means of providing consumers with commute or other traveler information. Use of the internet, i.e. California Smart Traveler, was the subject of other research Pacific/West conducted in the Southern California, San Diego and Sacramento regions.
Methodology
A total of six focus groups were conducted in the Southern California
area: two in Marina Del Rey, two in La Habra and two in Irvine.
Groups were conducted in several areas in order to reduce potential
geographic biases.
Group respondents were separated according to their type of service
contact and level of rideshare interest, as follows:
Employer Services
Employees Interested in Carpooling: These commuters are employees
that received Ride Guides through their company's participation
in Rideshare's employer outreach program. Employees fill out
a questionnaire with their personal commuting data and have indicated
that they are interested in regular or occasional carpooling.
These commuters make up approximately 70% of those responding
to the outreach questionnaire.
Employees Not Interested in Carpooling: These are commuters
who also work at companies participating in Rideshare's outreach
program, but they have that they are not interested in carpooling.
These commuters constitute approximately 30% of those responding
to the outreach survey.
Teleservices
Teleservices Requesters: These are commuters who have called
in to request carpooling and alternate mode information. While
they constitute a small percentage of the Rideshare database (10%),
historically they have a higher placement rate in terms of carpooling.
Focus groups were held with these three types of respondents on
May 23, 27 and 28 in the following locations:
| Employees Interested | ||||
| Employees Not Interested | ||||
| Teleservice Requesters | ||||
| Total | ||||
Personalized copies of the Ride Guide were prepared and provided
to most group members during the discussion.
Group discussions were moderated by Diane Trotta, of Trotta Associates. Each session lasted approximately two hours. A copy of the Outline of Discussion Topics is attached to this report.
Caveat
Readers are cautioned that focus groups can serve as a rich source of qualitative information, but they are not designed to be projectable to the larger population. Therefore, no statistical inferences should be drawn from the findings in this report.
Executive Overview and Recommendations
The purpose of this research was to assess the ability of
the Ride Guide as a means of conveying information about ridesharing
and other alternative modes. As such, it was not directly
compared to other means of obtaining similar information, such
as through the internet, via telephone, or using an automated
real-time ride matching service.
Pacific/West has explored some of these issues and tools, which are addressed in the following reports:
"A Qualitative Study of the Smart Traveler Los Angeles Internet Page," February 1996
"A Qualitative Study of the Smart Traveler San Diego Internet Page," February 1996
"Sacramento Commuter Monitor: Evaluation of the Smart Traveler Promotion," Fall 1995
Commuters who have received Ride Guides have many of the same
attitudes and viewpoints about carpooling and alternative modes
that have been found in other qualitative and quantitative research
conducted throughout California.
These include a general ambivalence about ridesharing, with
few factors motivating enough to get commuters to exchange drive
alone behavior for use of alternative modes at this point in time.
The Ride Guide itself, as a information tool, is generally
effective in communicating its information. However, feedback
from focus groups participants indicates that the following
enhancements may improve it.
Use visuals or icons in the body of the document to distinguish
between the different types of information would offer a quicker,
easier read and add interest.
Leverage the personalized nature of the Ride Guide, which gives
the document its greatest interest and credibility.
Emphasize the benefits of carpooling only once a week, instead
of turning off commuters with the prospect of daily ridesharing.
Explain the security precautions taken in distributing personal information in order to reassure commuters that confidential information is protected.
Executive Overview and Recommendations (continued)
Interest in the various types of information in the Ride Guide
and its perceived usefulness varies by individual. Based on
this research, no recommendations on eliminating any of the topics
can be made.
For example, commuters who are not interested in ridesharing
find value in the section on Smart Commuting tips. Commuters
who are looking primarily for ridesharing partners find the tips
to be extraneous.
The balance of this document, detailing the findings of the focus
groups discussions, was prepared by Trotta Associates.