4/29/03: Electric Shuttle Demand Analysis Survey

The electric shuttle demand analysis project team: The Electric Power Research Institute; U.C. Berkeley Transportation Planning Professors; Palo Alto design firms IDEO, Mindtribe, and Velocity 11; Palo Alto transportation non-profit Cities21 (part of the San Francisco Foundation); national transportation non-profit the Advanced Transit Association; geographic information systems experts GreenInfo Network; and the Anthony-Maymudes Foundation.

Survey protocol:

• Participant signs up for a 15 minute session by the employee cafeteria on 4/30. A shared/simultaneous access Excel spreadsheet controls the schedule information. It is stored on the corporate file server, with read/write access for all employees - or, a sign-up sheet is provided by the cafeteria.
• On April 30, participant is greeted near the cafeteria and taken through some intensive concept education.
• Participant home address (zero out last 2 digits), current commute mode split, current driving time, and current driving distance are collected.
• The best commute alternative is prepared (see carpool example below) and provided to the participant.
• Given the custom alternative, participant takes a SurveyMonkey web survey. The text of the survey, without the pleasant SurveyMonkey user interface can be viewed in this MS Word document.
  • Survey design is shown in this GIF file.

Example carpool commute alternative:

• Home address near El Camino Hospital on Grant Road in Mountain View. House is not near enough to El Camino for bus service. House is not near enough to Foothill Expressway for bus service, nor is there any.
• Commute distance: 6 miles.
• Drive alone commute time: 16 minutes leaving at 8:30AM.
• Best Alternative: Two person carpool (with workers at different companies), drive to Veterans Hospital at the Southern edge of SRP and park. Take electric shuttle to work. This alternative takes 22 minutes. The two people live 10 blocks away. Pickup and drop-off occur at the appropriate residence.

Example Caltrain commute alternative:

• Home in San Carlos, 2 miles from Caltrain station.
• Commute Distance: 13 miles
• Drive alone commute time: 25 minutes leaving at 8:15AM. Hwy 280 to Page Mill. Cost is 13 miles * $0.35 per mile * 2 = about $8.
• ALTERNATIVE: Commuter drives 2 miles and parks at the Caltrain station (7 minutes). Wait at the Caltrain station 3 minutes. Then takes a 20 minute Caltrain ride. Then takes electric shuttle to work, 1 minute walk, 4 minute trip. Total time: 35 minutes. Caltrain parking charge is $1.50. Caltrain rountrip costs $4.50, or use a $58 monthly pass.

Example Bus alternative:

• Home in Sunnyvale,1 block from El Camino Real.
• Commute Distance: 7 miles
• Drive alone commute time: 15 minutes leaving at 7:30AM.
• ALTERNATIVE: Walk to VTA bus stop (2 minutes), bus ride to Page Mill & El Camino (line 22 bus preference service) - 20 minutes, 5 minute electric shuttle ride. 27 minute total commute.

Example bike/walk commute alternative:

• Home address in the Crescent Park area of Palo Alto.
• Commute distance: 4.6 miles.
• Commute time: 15 minutes leaving at 8:30AM. Two-way cost: 4.6 miles * $0.35/mile * 2 = about $5.
• ALTERNATIVE: Bike distance: 2.1 miles to CA Ave bike lockers & electric shuttle station. 15 minute bike ride. 1 minute to lock bike. 5 minute electric shuttle ride. 22 minutes. Cost: $0.75 eshuttle ride * 2 + $1.00 bike locker = about $2.50.