Central Coast Origin-Destination Survey

Primary GoalGather information on the travel behavior of people makingregional and inter-regional trips on US 101 in and betweenVentura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Central Coast Origin-Destination Survey

Key QuestionWhat are the commute patterns along US 101?

Primary PurposeCreate a data set of observed travel behavior to supportimprovements to regional rail and transit services.

1) Vehicle Classification Counts

2) License Plate Analysis

3) Survey of US 101 Users

4) Mobile Device Data

Analyzed and Combined Results from Four Data Collection Methods

Focus: Five Commute Patterns

Central• North Santa Barbara County to

South Santa Barbara County

North• San Luis Obispo County

to Santa Maria Valley• Santa Maria Valley to

San Luis Obispo County

South• Santa Barbara to Ventura County• Ventura County to Santa Barbara

24-hour vehicle classification countsWith 12-hour license plate collection, both directionsWith 12-hour license plate collection, peak directionsWith 6-hour license plate collection, peak directions

Data collection took place Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Data Collection Locations

What is the Overall Traffic Pattern on US 101?

8,532 8,2156,560

5,180

11,556

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

San Luis ObispoCounty to Santa Maria

Valley

Santa Maria Valley toSan Luis Obispo

County

North Santa BarbaraCounty to Santa

Barbara

Santa Barbara toVentura County

Ventura County toSanta Barbara

AM Peak Period (4-Hour) Traffic Counts

North Central South

Focused on the AM peak period because the commute pattern is more pronounced in the morning.

Symmetrical Pattern Asymmetrical Pattern

Vehicle Classification Counts

Vehicle Classification Counts

Hourly Traffic Pattern in the South Region

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

12AM 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM

US 101 at Santa Barbara/Ventura County Line

Westbound Eastbound

AM Peak Period PM Peak Period

Vehicle Classification Counts

Hourly Traffic Pattern in the Central Region

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

12AM 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM

US 101 South of SR 1

Southbound Northbound

AM Peak Period PM Peak Period

Vehicle Classification Counts

Traffic Pattern in the Central Region

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

12AM 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM

SR 154 South of SR 246

Eastbound Westbound

AM Peak Period PM Peak Period

Vehicle Classification Counts

Traffic Pattern in the North Region

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

12AM 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM

US 101 at Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo County Line

Southbound Northbound

AM Peak Period PM Peak Period

391

3,755

Vehicle Classification Counts

Truck Traffic on US 101 and SR 154Number of trucks counted over 24-hour period in both directions.

Car76%

Truck 13%

Other 11%

• Captured/translated 101,177 license plates through optical recognition

• 57,767 unique license plates observed—many plates observed more than once

• 37,419 license plates with a valid California DMV address

Vehicle classification counts indicate trucks comprise 9% of vehicles.1 Observation

51%

2+ Observations

49%

License Plate Analysis

License Plate Data Collection

56,655 observations used in the analysis

Two types of analysis: license plate matching and address analysis

Registered Vehicle Address from DMV

Observed at 5 PM

Observed at 7 AM

License Plate Analysis

License Plate Analysis

With 12-hour license plate collection, both directions

With 12-hour license plate collection, peak directions

With 6-hour license plate collection, peak directions

Five license plate data collection locations.

• 3.5% of trips pass through Santa Barbara county

4,110 4,073 4,987 4,4746,015

7,380 7,8232,899

2,247

8,072

1,101 896

1,1011,101

896

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

San Luis Obispo County toSanta Maria Valley

Santa Maria Valley to SanLuis Obispo County

North Santa Barbara Countyto Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara to VenturaCounty

Ventura County to SantaBarbara

Peak Period (5-11 AM, 2-8 PM) Work Trips vs. Non-Work Trips

Work Trips Non-Work Trips Santa Barbara County Pass-Through Trips

North Central South

32% work trips

46% work trips

55% work trips

License Plate Analysis

What Percentage of Vehicles are Commuters? How many are passing through the region?

License Plate Analysis

San Luis Obispo

65%

Santa Barbara

35%

Lompoc36%

Santa Maria

18%

Solvang12%

Santa Ynez11%

Buellton5%

Ventura45%

Oxnard27%

Camarillo6%

Ojai4%

Where do Santa Maria residents commute to?

Where are North Santa Barbara commuters coming from?

Where are Ventura County commuters coming from?

• Mailed a survey to the address of 16,000 observed commuters• What are their demographics and trip making characteristics?

101,177 collected license plates

57,767 unique LPs

37,419 with valid address

16,009 commuters to survey

5,826

3,940

6,247

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

North Central South

Surveys Mailed to Each Region

3,459

1,9491,514 1,355 1,172 1,170

521 444 443 429 422 2830

5001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000

Surveys Mailed to Top 12 Cities

Mail Survey

Higher response rate in the south

7.2%

8.5%

6.6%

5.0%

5.9%

0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0% 9.0%

Ventura County to Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara to Ventura County

North Santa Barbara to Santa Barbara

Santa Maria Valley to San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo to Santa Maria Valley

Response Rate

Mail Survey

1,355 total responses

80%

80%

64%

20%

20%

36%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

South

Central

North

Trip Purpose

Work Non-Work

Note: only surveyed inferred and probable commuters

67%

55%

47%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

South

Central

North

Household Income Over $75,000

1%

16%

38% 36%

8%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

San LuisObispo County

Santa MariaValley

Lompoc Santa YnezValley

Santa Barbara

Home Location: North Santa Barbara County to South Coast

Mail Survey - Highlights

7%

6%

11%

36%

38%

37%

45%

45%

40%

13%

11%

12%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

South

Central

North

Workers in Household

0 1 2 3+

Note: only surveyed inferred and probable commuters

South Region

• 12% said they changed their travel mode with the

addition of the US 101 HOV lane (Drive Alone to

Carpool)

North Region

• 30% said they were aware of RTA Route 10

Central Region

• 89% said they were aware of the Clean Air Express

611 open ended comments

Mail Survey - Highlights

• INRIX and StreetLight Data are able to collect and analyze locational data from mobile devices such as cell phones and GPS units.

• Use computer algorithms to create a table of trips with origin and destination information.

• Privacy: All mobile device data is anonymizedand amalgamated to protect the user and to ensure no individualized information is released.

Mobile Device Data

Where are commute trips coming from and going to?

• Created 157 zones (based on the SBCAG Travel Model)

• Provides true origin-destination data, rather than “counted at” or vehicle registration location

• Very large sample size, but requires inferencing

• Can be used to help calibrate and validate travel demand models

Mobile Device Data

Graphical representation of Daily Trip Origins.

Casino

Mobile Device Data

Mobile Device Data

Destination of Trips from

UC Santa Barbara

Zone 168

Zone 169

Mobile Device Data

Destination of Trips from

Corporate Park North of Hollister in Goleta

Mobile Device Data

Destination of Trips from

South of Hollister in Goleta

Mobile Device Data

If you work in Downtown Santa Barbara, where do you live?

Note: have information for other areas.

Mobile Device Data

If you work in Goleta, where do you live?

Note: have information for other areas.

Mobile Device Data

If you live in Lompoc, where do you work?

Note: have information for other areas.

• Roughly 41% of peak period trips on US 101 are commute trips

• 3.5% of Santa Barbara inter-county trips are pass-through

• 68% of workers lived and worked in the same geographic area

• Truck traffic is nine times higher on US 101 than SR 154

• Roughly 80% of pass-through trips use US 101 over SR 154

• 12% of survey respondents shifted from drive alone to carpool with the

addition of the US 101 HOV lane

Key Findings

• The Clean Air Express and Coastal Express regional transit services

serve existing regional commute markets

• There is likely a demand for bidirectional express peak hour transit

service between Santa Maria and South San Luis Obispo County

• Awareness of the Clean Air Express is high, but not for RTA Route 10

• The findings of the planning study are generally consistent with the

assumptions of the SBCAG travel model

• Developing technologies like mobile device data collection can be

powerful tools for transit planning

Takeaways

Questions?