Increasing Student Ridership for Citibus

Submitted to: John Scovell, Finance and Administration Chair, Board Of Regents, Texas Tech University

Submitted by: Hilary Miller, Texas Tech undergraduateTori Santos, Texas Tech undergraduateAlejandro Huerta, Texas Tech undergraduate

December 1st, 2009

Executive Summary

Currently, the number of on-campus buses is inadequate. Routes are outdated, and they do not cater to students’ convenience.

We propose Citibus conduct research to increase ridership. This report will detail specific ways Citibus could research the issue. We propose research to examine student attitudes toward Citibus. Student riders could provide insight.

An increase in student fees may be necessary to supplement more buses. A questionnaire could identify how receptive students would be to such an increase. A focus group could reveal improvements to make the service better. The findings of such research could show how Citibus could increase student ridership.

This research will require funding. We want you to approach the city council to petition for the funding. Beyond research, we propose increasing the number of buses on campus. Buses are often filled to capacity. We propose examining the number of riders throughout the day. This examination will identify the most high traffic times. More buses can be sent out during the most high traffic times.

More buses will serve students better. Students will no longer have to wait for the next bus because one was full. Citibus could benefit from a greater presence on campus. Texas Tech is central to the Lubbock economy. An investment in Texas Tech equals stability for Citibus. We would like you to discuss an increase in student fees with your committee.

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Table of Contents

Figures.........................................................................................................................................................4

Figures.........................................................................................................................................................5

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................6

Background..................................................................................................................................................6

Affected Parties...........................................................................................................................................6

Texas Tech students............................................................................................................................6

Citibus..................................................................................................................................................7

City Council..........................................................................................................................................7

Board of Regents.................................................................................................................................7

Benefits of Increasing Transportation Fee...................................................................................................8

Summarization............................................................................................................................................8

Recommendation........................................................................................................................................9

Focus Group..............................................................................................................................................10

Student Survey..........................................................................................................................................11

Experience: Tori Santos............................................................................................................................12

Experience: Hilary Miller...........................................................................................................................13

Experience: Alejandro Huerta....................................................................................................................15

Resources..................................................................................................................................................16

Appendix...................................................................................................................................................17

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Figures

Source: http://citibus.com/events.html

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Source: http://citibus.com/events.html

Introduction

We are proposing an increase in the Texas Tech University students’ transportation fees. Our research considered factors like demographics, students’ economic status, student opinion, and environmental impact. This proposal includes our group’s research, illustrations, ideas for conducting focus groups, and a survey. Finally, we recommend an increase in the Texas Tech student transportation fee.

Background

Since 1932, Citibus is the only public transportation provider for Lubbock, Texas. Citibus’ mission is “to provide quality, efficient, safe, and economical public transportation services” (City of Lubbock, anonymous, 2009).

Originally, Citibus only offered three services. They offered fixed route transportation, pare-transit transportation, and the Texas Tech sub system. Currently, they offer seven services. Additional services include special services, the United super-markets shopper program, and Medicaid subscriptions services.

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Citibus’ operation depends on funding. Citibus is funded by 10 grants. These grants come from the federal, state, and city level. Federal Grant 5307 is one of the two largest contributions. Citibus is also funded by a city transfer grant.

Aside from grants, Citibus gets funding from eight other sources of revenue. Of these eight sources, the Texas Tech sub system contributes the most money. Texas Tech allocates $2,550,000 to Citibus. Citibus uses this money to provide bus transportation to Texas Tech students. Texas Tech also contributes $86,000 to Citibus for advertising. The sub system gets a federal grant for $610,000 to cover bus maintenance.

There are not enough buses for all students to ride. Bus routes offer are inconvenient for students. Citibus has created additional bus routes. These routes cater to new apartment complexes in Lubbock. Citibus is making progress. However, there is still room for improvement.

Affected Parties

Texas Tech studentsOver 30,000 students are enrolled at Texas Tech University. The university wants to enroll 10,000 more by 2020. From 2008 to 2009, Tech experienced a six percent increase in enrollment. Citibus responded by adding a few additional routes.

More apartments are being constructed farther away from campus. This will make commuting to school costly. This could discourage private driving. Students will consider alternative transportation methods. Student will need reliable public transportation. Out of necessity, students with financial hardships will be the most likely to elect public transportation. Citibus must consistently improve routes to keep pace with Texas Tech’s growing student population.

Citibus An article in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal discussed Citibus, the lone bus provider in Lubbock. The article reported “possible competition could force Citibus to improve service” (Lubbock Avalanche Journal, Martell, 2009).

Citibus could benefit from increasing student fees. Increased enrollment means more students. More students mean more student fees. More student fees mean the necessary revenue to fund improvements to the system. Currently, Citibus is the only public transportation service in Lubbock. A recent article in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal stated this “competition for Citibus could push them to improve service. Competitors could offer what Citibus does not.

Citibus receives grants based on population in urbanized areas. Citibus could use this increased revenue to accommodate the growing student population at Texas Tech.

City Council According to another article from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal “council members question whether Texas Tech is paying its fair share” (Lubbock Avalanche Journal, 2009).Texas Tech

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student riders make up 64% of ridership. Student fees contribute less than 30%. These percentages do not support one another. An increase in the student transportation fee could help resolve this conflict.

The Lubbock city council said “Texas Tech and its partnerships are short changing them” (City of Lubbock, anonymous, 2009). They would like this issue resolved. A resolution to this disagreement could be increasing the student transportation fees.

Board of RegentsThe suggestion would have to be presented to the board of regents. The board of regents would have to approve the increase. Enough support from all four parties could help approve this request.

After research, we need the finance and administration committee to put an increase in student fees on the agenda. The board of regents is ultimately responsible for approving and implementing any increase in student fees.

Benefits of Increasing Transportation Fee

An increase of fees could help buy more buses. Research could help Citibus garner student opinions on improving bus services.

Summarization

Citibus needs funding for research. The Lubbock city council could provide this funding. Funding is necessary to understand student opinion. An increase in student fees affects students. We must know how students feel to understand how receptive students are to a fee increase. Student opinion could also gauge what improvements could be made

There are not enough buses for all students to ride. An increase in student fees could help buy more buses. Our proposed research could reveal student attitudes. All parties must approach the board of regents to consider this request. The Board of Regents must then approve or deny an increase in the student transportation fee.

Texas Tech students, some of whom depend on Citibus as their only means of transportation, deserve help to arriving at their destinations.

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Recommendation

We should write something here.

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Focus Group

Why?

We would like to conduct a focus group to see if students would like having more buses on campus. Additional buses could lead to less time one foot and less time planning your morning.

Recruiting

We can team with professors to discuss classroom incentives. We can discuss offering extra credit to solicit student participation. The focus group should consist of all different types of students. We need a varied demographic to make sure all students are represented. If we stick to one demographic, the results will be too one-sided.

Solicitation help

We need a trusted source to compile all the data we receive from the focus groups. We will use a trusted moderator.

We can solicit help from the Mass Communications department.

We can lower costs by using an internal approach. Soliciting help from the college of mass communications could be more cost effective than hiring an outside agency.

Key points to hit on in focus group

Problems with campus bus service. We will each talk about our negative experiences with the campus bus service.

We want to examine what would make students ride more. We also want to examine if students would give up a parking permit. We want to find out student opinion about the increase

More buses will lead to more campus routes. More routes mean fewer parking permits. We will talk about the cost of permits and gas. We will weigh out the cost and benefits. This could help convince students that riding buses is cheaper.

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Student Survey

1. Have you used campus buses before?

No or Yes

2. Do you like riding the bus?

No or Yes

3. Do you have a campus parking permit? If YES, answer question 4. If NO, skip to question 5.

No or Yes

4. Do you consider the walk from your parking spot to class long?

No or Yes

5. Would you welcome an increase in your student fee to buy more buses?

No or Yes

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Experience: Tori Santos

I was a returning college student last semester. I registered three days before classes started. The only parking spots available were in satellite parking.

Satellite parking is in a lot across the freeway. I would have to get up an hour earlier, to make sure I would arrive to class on time. Once I got to the parking lot, I would have to wait another 10 minutes until have a bus came and got me. The bus would drive across the freeway and make four stops before it dropped me off at my building. I would have to wake up an hour early, for this reason.

The ride back to the car was the worst. I would have to wait longer for the bus. The bus would be packed full of students. Most of the time, I wasn’t able to sit down for the ride back.

I think Tech could benefit from adding more buses. More buses would mean more frequent pickups and drop offs. It would also allow more space on the bus for students.

From a student’s standpoint, I wouldn’t mind an increase in my fees. I would welcome it if it meant a shorter wait time. I also would like to save money. Satellite parking is expensive.

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Experience: Hilary Miller

I came to Texas Tech three years ago. I lived on campus my freshman year. I walked to class often. However, I rode the bus when the weather got bitter. I lived in an apartment complex within four blocks of campus my sophomore year. I rode my bike or walked to school. The apartment complex, and its sister properties, had a bus route. I rode it on several cold mornings. It was convenient and warm.

I noticed overcrowding. That is understandable though. More people will want to ride when weather conditions are not optimal.

I live on Erskine Street now. I am no longer within walking distance to my classes. I do not want to waste gas driving to and from campus. I also do not want to spend money on a parking permit, or risk getting a parking ticket.

I rely on the bus to get to campus. University Courtyard has a bus route. It circuits several other apartment complexes in the North Indiana village. It is convenient. However, the bus does not accommodate all riders. It is often overcrowded. I have seen people stand outside the doors of the bus unable to enter because there are too many riders. The buses are often filled to capacity.

There are two possible avenues Citibus could explore. First, Citibus could split the route up. This would alleviate the number of people on the bus. More people could be served. No one would have to worry about not having a seat on the bus. Second, Citibus could send multiple buses out along the route. The number of students riding could be split up among multiple buses.

There are pavilions at each bus stop. A route map is posted on each pavilion. These maps are from the 2007-2008 calendar year.

The maps on the on-campus bus pavilions are outdated. They do not reflect the current academic year. Routes have changed. Certain destinations have been switched to other routes. The maps need to be updated to conform to the new routes. Updated maps will service students better.

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Experience: Alejandro Huerta

I returned to Texas Tech this semester. I am a full-time college student. I am familiar with the campus, but not bus routes. I consider using public transportation given my current situation.

I live in South Lubbock. I am not within walking distance to the university. I use my personal vehicle to drive to school. I park near the St. Elizabeth’s parking lot, when I attend class. The parking lot is far away from my classes. I do no utilize the on-campus routes because of the over-crowding.

Every time I rode the bus, there were too many people on board. It was “shoulder to shoulder” crowded. I would rather walk than to ride an over-crowded bus. If Citibus could prevent over-crowding on buses, perhaps I would ride more. I think most students feel the way I do.

During ugly weather, I would like to ride Citibus more. I would like to park my truck. During inclement weather, I hate to walk across campus.

I welcome a raise in the transportation fee. It could encourage a lot of students to ride the bus more. Considering, my current finances, Citibus could help me save money on gas. I could also save on other costs associated with driving my vehicle. The increase is a small price to pay for convenience. I am for it.

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Resources 

City of Lubbock. “2009 -2010 Operating Budget and Capital Program.” 2009. <http://finance.ci.lubbock.tx.us/operatingBudget.aspx>.

"City should step up and fund Citibus." Online Posting. 30 Aug 2009. Lubbock Avalanche Journal. 11 Nov 2009 <http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/090907/edi_090907038.shtml>.

Davis, Todd, and Monica Hale. "Public Transportation's Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Reduction." Public Transportation Takes Us There. Sept. 2007. Science Applications International Corporation. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://www.publictransportation.org/reports/asp/climate_change.asp>.

Glaesar, Edward, L, and Matthew Kahn. "The Greenness of Cities." The Greenness of Cities: Policy Brief. Mar. 2008. Harvard University. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://www.hks.harvard.edu/rappaport/downloads/policybriefs/greencities_final.pdf>.

"Going Green with Citibus." Citibus Events. Citibus. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://citibus.com/events.html>.

Martel, C. “A Review of Citibus Public Transportation.” Online Posting. 1 Sep 2009. Lubbock Avalanche Journal. 11 Nov 2009 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/pop_print.shtml?content_type=article>.

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Appendix Beyond better serving students, increasing bus ridership benefits the environment. Public

transportation alleviates traffic congestion and carbon dioxide emissions. It takes private vehicles off the road. Public transportation compiles dozens of drivers into one vehicle.

Tech students who attend classes 32 weeks in a year could reduce their carbon dioxide emissions annually by 3,200 pounds.

Every gallon of gasoline burned during transportation activities emits 23 pounds of carbon dioxide (Glaesar and Kahn 2008).

Individuals switching a 20 mile commute from private driving to existing public transportation can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 pounds each day (Todd and Hale 2007).

Public transit helps relieve traffic congestion, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by another 3 million metric tons and saving 340 million gallons of gasoline (Todd and Hale 2007).

Public transportation reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 21.8 billion pounds in 2005 (Todd and Hale 2007).

To make this figure more relatable, consider that replacing five incandescent light bulbs with lower-wattage compact fluorescents saves 445 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

This 445-pound savings is only 2% of public transportation’s contribution to carbon dioxide emissions reduction.

More than 245 million light bulbs needed to match public transportation’s carbon dioxide reduction.

Carbon dioxide savings (annually):

Percentage of carbon dioxide savings (relative to public transportation’s contribution):

Number of light bulbs needed to replace to match public transportation’s contribution:

Public Transportation: 21.8 billion pounds

Replacing light bulbs: 445 pounds

445 pounds X 100/ 21.8 billion pounds= 2.03%

21.8 billion pounds /(445 pounds X 5 bulbs)= 245,275,280 light bulbs

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