Private Vehicle Availability. Given the focus of the UPA project on traffic congestion reduction and mode shift, a series of questions were asked regarding express bus users’ level of access to a private vehicle. Responses are summarized in Table 26 below. Table 26: Vehicle Availability 2010 UPA Survey 2009 UPA Survey 2008 UPA Survey Had access to a car or motor vehicle for No. of responses 1,146 349 455 Yes 77% 67% 80% surveyed trip No 23% 33% 20% No. of responses 1,000 000 000 Always 74% 65% 79% Level of access to a Most of the time 12% 17% 10% car or motor vehicle Occasionally 8% 10% 5% Never 6% 8% 4% Don’t know - - 2% 95 Express Bus riders were asked two different ways about their access to a personal vehicle. They were asked whether they had access to a personal vehicle for the trip they were making on the day of the survey. They were also asked what their normal level of access to a personal vehicle was. In both instances, it was clear that the majority of 95 Express Bus riders have regular access to a personal vehicle. This was the case before the project began, and it continues to be the case. This indicates that the 95 Express Bus Service has always attracted choice riders.
Private Vehicle Availability. Given the focus of the UPA project on traffic congestion reduction and mode shift, a series of questions were asked regarding 95 Express users’ level of access to a private vehicle. Responses are summarized in Table 16 below, along with the corresponding information from the 2005 MDT system wide survey and the 2008 UPA survey. Table 17 Vehicle Availability Question Category 2009 UPA 95X Survey 2008 UPA 95X Survey 2008 UPA 95X Survey (Northbound) 2005 MDT Survey (286 routes) N. (Population / Sample Size) 349 572 93 26,990 Car/Vehicle Available for this Trip Yes 66.8% 80.0% 70.4% No 33.2% 20.0% 29.6% 0 10.5% 7.6% 11.1% 32% 1 40.6% 35.7% 32.2% 50% Number of household vehicles 2 36.5% 39.7% 38.9% 13% 3 10.5% 12.6% 12.2% 4 1.5% 3.9% 5.6% 5% 5 or more 0.3% 0.6% 0.0% Level of access to a car/motor vehicle for personal use Always 65.3% 79.1% 77.8% Most of the time 16.7% 10.4% 10.0% Occasionally 9.9% 5.3% 3.3% Never 8.0% 3.8% 5.6% Don't know - 1.5% 3.3% With the 2009 survey sample again generally correlated with the 2008 survey sample, Table 17 shows that the majority of riders, 66.8 percent, have access to a car for their northbound trip on the 95 Express. This percentage is somewhat lower than the 80 percent figure observed in the 2008 survey, but correlates closely with the 70.4 percent figure calculated from the northbound sample of 2008 survey respondents. Overall, it appears that private vehicle availability is slightly lower for trips in the northbound direction, though its also possible that the economic recession may have negatively impacted the level of access to private autos.
