2008 Missoula Long-Range Transportation Plan Survey

May 20, 2008

Purpose

• Provide information about citizens’ perceptions of priorities for transportation planning in the Missoula area.

• One of several important information sources that will be used to develop Missoula’s long-range transportation plan.

Methods - 1• How?

– Computer-assisted telephone interview

– Random-digit dial– Kish table within

household selection• Whom?

– Age 18 +– Live in Missoula 2.5

PM area– Households with

landline phones

• When?– 1/22/08 through

2/10/08 (Cold Weather)

• How was it tested?– Full pilot test

• Where do respondents live?– Residences

geo-coded

Methods - 2• How Many?

– 430 completed interviews

• Sampling Error Rate?

– 5% (+/-)

• Response Rate?

– 51.7%

– AAPOR RR3 (2006)

• Weighted Data?

– By 2006 U.S. Census Age and Sex for Missoula County

Methods - 32008 Missoula Survey Respondents (%) 2006 2008 Census BBER Pop. Estimate

Missoula City 64.3 63.2

Outside Missoula City 35.7 36.8

Missoula Urban

Planning Area 90.9 NA

Outside Missoula

Urban Planning

Area 9.1 NA

2008 Missoula Survey Respondents (%)

2008 2006 BBER ACS

Male 49.4 48.5

Female 50.6 51.5Mean Age

(adults 18 +) 42.2 43.52007 HH

income ($000): < 20 21 25.5

20 – 34* 13.9 21.5

35 - 49 18.1 14.8

50 - 74 20 19

75 - 99 13.2 8.7

100 + 13.9 10.5Housing

ownership: Own* 71.6 59.3

Rent* 28.4 40.7

The difference between estimates for Missoula County is significant at the .05 level.

Public’s Transportation Priorities• Top 3

1. Improving safety at known high accident locations,

2. Minimizing the negative impacts of future transportation projects on natural features like rivers and wildlife habitat, and

3. Reducing traffic congestion in corridors that are currently severely congested.

• Near the Bottom– Reducing the number

of miles driven by single-occupant vehicles.

Four Possible System Improvements: A Closer Examination

1. Improve bicycle or pedestrian facilities

2. Increase or improve public transit

3. Expand road capacity

4. Improve safety for drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

What action would improvetransportation in the

Missoula Valley more?

• Rank all four actions• Head-to-head comparisons, example:

1. Would improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities, or

2. Providing more or improved public transit services improve transportation more?

Summary Observations

1. Safety, environmental issues, and traffic congestion are key public opinion factors.

2. Many respondents view expanding road capacity as a way to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety.

3. Many respondents thought of the phrase, “expand road capacity,” in a broad sense.

4. Be very careful when attempting to enforce pre-conceived ideas of logical consistency on citizens’ responses.

Error bars: 95% confidence interval

Questions?