DISCUSSION DRAFT October 12, 2011

WSF CUSTOMER AND HOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHICS DRAFT: October 12, 2011

CUSTOMER INFORMATION

This analysis uses the trip frequency and demographic data in WSTC 2008 winter and summer onboard

surveys. There were over 5,400 responses to the winter survey (conducted in March 2008) and over 7,500

responses to the summer survey (conducted in July 2008).

Frequency of Travel

Exhibit 1

Frequency of Travel by Route – Number of Total Customers (2008)

Even on routes with a higher number of commuters, infrequent riders make up a large proportion of the

customer base. On Bainbridge, Approximately 50% of customers take 3 round trips per month or less.

-

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

20 +

4 - 19

2 - 3

1 or less

Number of Round Trips per Month

JTC WSF Fare Media Study WSF Customer Demographics

October 12, 2011 DISCUSSION DRAFT Page 2

Exhibit 2

Frequency of Travel by Route – Proportion of Total Customers (2008)

Exhibit 3

Frequency of Travel by Route – Proportion of Total Trips (2008)

Although infrequent riders make up a large portion of customers on many routes, they account for a

small portion of the trips. On Edmonds-Kingston, for example, infrequent customers account for 63% of

the total customers but only 16% of the average monthly tips.

32% 30%

42%

25% 29%23% 27%

69% 71%

17%15%

21%

16% 11% 23% 16%

18%20%

28%

25%

23%

36% 38%

37%38%

10%8%

23%30%

14%23% 22%

17% 19%

3% 1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

20 or more

4 - 19

2 - 3

1 or less

Number of Round Trips per Month

3% 3% 6% 5% 3% 3% 2%

27% 30%

6% 4%

10% 10%6% 5% 4%

26%

34%

41%

35%

44% 49%52%

35%

54%

29%

30%50%

59%

39% 37% 38%

57%

41%

18%

6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

20 or more

4 - 19

2 - 3

1 or less

Number of Round Trips per Month

JTC WSF Fare Media Study WSF Customer Demographics

October 12, 2011 DISCUSSION DRAFT Page 3

Trip Purpose

Exhibit 4 TRIP PURPOSE: Proportion of Customers by Route and Frequency of Travel (2008)

Infrequent Customers (0 – 3 Round Trips per Month)

Moderately Frequent Customers (4 – 19 Round Trips per Month)

Daily Commuters (20+ Round Trips per Month)

Of the customers who travel an

average of 4 – 19 round trips

per month, approximately half

cite a commute as their trip

purpose. This is less frequent

than 5 days per week and

might indicate a greater

proportion of customers who

telecommute or work part time

schedules.

On Port Townsend-Coupeville,

and Anacortes-San Juan

Islands, a significant portion of

customers who travel daily do

so for reasons other than work.

4% 5% 3%11%

4% 3% 2% 1%

31% 27%22%

46%

20% 28%31%

18%31%

32%25%

20%

15%

23%

44%20%

24%

37%

21%

21% 42%

17%

36%

25%

36%

34%

21%

13%20%

13% 11% 16%3%

11%21%

9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Other

Social

Personal/ Shopping

Recreation

Commute Trips

n= 691 259 590 46 94 32 419 94 312

46%60%

41% 47%54%

41%26% 27% 32%

25%

21%

23%25%

19%31%

40%

15%

29%

6%

4%

5%

9%

4%

8%

5%

9%8%

16%4% 16%

9% 17%

15%

26%

14% 8%15% 15% 10%

19% 13%

35%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Other

Social

Personal/ Shopping

Recreation

Commute Trips

n= 431 131 265 100 105 32 378 26 38

94% 96%86%

95% 90% 91%85%

71%

4%7%

33%

4%2%

29%

67%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Other

Social

Personal/ Shopping

Recreation

Commute Trips

n= 443 233 211 95 62 23 188 14 9

JTC WSF Fare Media Study WSF Customer Demographics

October 12, 2011 DISCUSSION DRAFT Page 4

Mode of Travel

Exhibit 5 MODE OF TRAVEL: Proportion of Customers by Route and Frequency of Travel (2008)

Infrequent Customers (0 – 3 Round Trips per Month)

Moderately Frequent Customers (4 – 19 Round Trips per Month)

Daily Commuters (20+ Round Trips per Month)

As frequency of travel increases,

there is a greater likelihood that

customers will walk on

Amongst daily commuter

customers, Bainbridge,

Bremerton, and Port Townsend

have the highest proportion of

walk-on customers

Customers who travel an

average of 4 – 19 round trips per

month are more likely to drive

their vehicles on than both

infrequent customers and daily

commuters.

The share of daily commuters

that walk on is high, even on

routes that are typically thought

of as more vehicle-centric (i.e.

Mukilteo, Pt. Defiance,

Southworth, Vashon, and

Edmonds)

31% 30%44%

54% 48% 52%46% 47% 46%

33%

15%

30% 8% 20%

40%

35%43%

33%

37%

55%

26%38%

32%

8%19%

10%21%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Walk-on

Vehicle Passenger

Vehicle Driver

n= 653 253 532 39 66 25 380 89 285

36% 33%

58%66% 63%

70%

51% 46% 49%

16%

4%

18%12%

8%

19%

30%

19%3%

48%

64%

24% 22%29%

11%19%

35%49%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Walk-on

Vehicle Passenger

Vehicle Driver

n= 414 137 251 86 89 27 348 26 35

20% 16%

43% 45% 39%48% 51%

15%25%

9%

3%

18% 11%

6%

13% 11%

23%

75%70%81%

39% 45%56%

39% 39%

62%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Walk-on

Vehicle Passenger

Vehicle Driver

n= 434 230 195 74 54 23 176 13 8

JTC WSF Fare Media Study WSF Customer Demographics

October 12, 2011 DISCUSSION DRAFT Page 5

FERRY RIDING HOUSEHOLDS

In September 2011, the Commission did a quick poll of a subset of the Ferry Riders Opinion Group (FROG)

panel to test possible questions and responses around household use of the ferry system. The following

analysis is based on 273 responses to that poll.

Exhibit 6

Number of Ferry Riders per Household

27% of respondents said

there was only 1 person in

the household who rides

ferries

51% of respondents said

there were 2 people in the

household who ride ferries

22% of respondents said

there were 3 or more

people in the household

who ride ferries

Exhibit 7

Frequency of Travel by Household Member (Trips per Month)

Most households that

responded have only one

very frequent ferry rider (15

round trips per month or

more).

5% of the households have

2 very frequent ferry riders;

2% of households have 3

very frequent riders.

27%

51%

11%

6%4%

Only 1 Ferry Rider

2 Ferry Riders

3 Ferry Riders

4 Ferry Riders

5 or More Ferry Riders

29%

5% 2%

43%

41%37%

28%

10%

20%

38%

33%

36%

30%

9%15%

27%36%

60%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

PrimaryRider

2ndPerson

3rdPerson

4thPerson

5thPerson

1 Roundtrip or less

2 - 3 Roundtrips

4 - 15 Roundtrips

More than 15 Roundtrips

JTC WSF Fare Media Study WSF Customer Demographics

October 12, 2011 DISCUSSION DRAFT Page 6

Exhibit 8

Number of Fare Products Used by Household

The poll asked about the following 8 fare products: (1) passenger full fare tickets, (2) passenger

youth discount tickets, (3) passenger senior discount tickets, (4) passenger multi-ride cards, (5)

passenger monthly passes, (6) vehicle full fare tickets, (7) vehicle senior discount tickets, and (8)

vehicle multi-ride cards.

73% percent of households responding to the poll use one or 2 fare products, with those using two

typically citing a passenger and vehicle product.

27% percent of households use 3 or more different fare products, with 7% responding that they use

eight different fare products in a month.

When the fare products used are analyzed by the household member who uses them, it shows that

the primary riders are more likely to use products that include discounts for frequency of travel

(multi-ride cards and passes). 83% of the trips taken by the primary riders used these products.

The 3rd and 4th ferry riders in a household are more likely to use passenger fare products, particularly

youth passenger tickets.

32%

41%

13%

5%

7%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Number of Fare Products Used Per Household