Chapel Hill Transit survey finds riders are happy with its services

Every day, Mario Alston, a cook for Carolina Dining Services, takes the NU to get to work at Ram’s Head Dining Hall.

The bus is his main means of transportation.

“This is a good service, it’s free for us,” said Alston, who has been living in the area for 27 years and riding the bus for 14.

“If you do drive, you have to pay for parking,” he said. “Riding the bus saves money.”

A recent survey showed that most Chapel Hill Transit users echo Alston’s sentiment. Of 1,675 randomly sampled riders, 88 percent rated the overall quality of transit service as excellent or good.

Eighty-six percent of 418 residents surveyed by phone also expressed satisfaction with the service.

Assistant transit director Brian Litchfield said the department needs to take the results and develop service proposals with system partners.

Updates from previous surveys include increased service along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and extending services to Pittsboro.

While there is no specific timeline for implementing suggested improvements, Litchfield said the department will determine priorities and develop a three-to-four-year plan for updates.

The department faces one major obstacle: funding.

The total transit budget for 2010 to 2011 is about $17.5 million, with top expenditures being employee payment and fuel. The department has seen significantly decreased fuel costs as a result of a contract for the past three years.

But money to increase services is still needed.

Results from the May survey of riders and residents revealed that riders value the system’s safety, stop frequency, cleanliness and polite and knowledgeable drivers.

Surveyed Chapel Hill residents said their primary reasons for not using the bus system include limited weekend hours and a lack of early morning and late night services.

The system – which consists of 194 employees, 121 vehicles and 33 routes – serves Chapel Hill, UNC, Carrboro and Pittsboro.

“We are very pleased with the results of the survey,” Litchfield said. “Both the resident and rider (surveys) show Chapel Hill Transit provides a valuable service not only to customers but a valuable service to the community.”

Bus operator Anthony Klein started driving for Chapel Hill Transit a year ago after working for New York City transit system for 10 years.

Klein said the system is hard-pressed for improvements like new buses and more weekend services.

With these, Klein said Chapel Hill Transit could rival bigger systems.

“With the amount of routes we have and the service we provide, we can compete with bigger cities,” he said. “We try to give better services, but there is no money.”

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