Planning and Operations Initiatives to Support Nighttime Transit Ridership (2025)
Chapter: Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire
APPENDIX A
Survey Questionnaire
Introduction
This survey is part of the research effort TCRP Synthesis J-07/Topic SA-62, “Planning and Operations Initiatives to Support Nighttime Off-Peak Transit Ridership” and will help us understand the state-of-the-practice of planning for and supporting nighttime transit ridership.
We want to know about your agencyʼs initiatives to support nighttime commuting trips for essential, service, and shift workers, as well as non-commuting trips, particularly for social and cultural activities.
Nighttime in this survey refers to the period between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., understanding that some initiatives may be limited to part of the defined period, for example, after midnight or between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.
This survey should take approximately 15 minutes.
Introductory Questions
- What is your organization? (Please note: Agency names are listed as they appear in the National Transit Database.)
Nighttime Economy
- How important is nighttime transit in supporting the groups and industries listed below?
INDUSTRY AND GROUPS |
NOT AT ALL |
LESS |
NEUTRAL |
SLIGHTLY |
VERY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Healthcare |
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Hotel/Hospitality |
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Restaurants/Bars |
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Entertainment |
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Food Preparation/Packaging |
INDUSTRY AND GROUPS |
NOT AT ALL |
LESS |
NEUTRAL |
SLIGHTLY |
VERY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleaning/Maintenance |
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Construction/Maintenance |
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Manufacturing/Industrial |
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Service workers |
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Shift workers |
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Other |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
Planning
- Has your agency implemented or is considering implementing any of the following initiatives to support nighttime transit ridership?
ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES |
NOT |
CONSIDERING |
WORKING TO |
IMPLEMENTED |
NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
My agency has a distinct network of owl-type services. |
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My agency extends service hours on select existing routes on Fridays and Saturday nights. |
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My agency has a network of 24-hour bus routes. |
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My agency has flexible/on-demand microtransit at nighttime. |
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My agency subsidizes transportation network company (TNC) trips (e.g., Lyft, Uber) at nighttime. |
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My agency has bus service replacing rail service at nighttime. |
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Other Initiative |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
- To what extent is your agency considering the following planning activities to support nighttime transit services?
PLANNING ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES |
NOT |
CONSIDERING |
WORKING TO |
IMPLEMENTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
My agency has dedicated staR members or dedicated staR time to plan nighttime services. |
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My agency conducts specific market research or focus groups to identify issues and needs of nighttime transit markets. |
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My agency has service guidelines (e.g., minimum frequencies, bus stop locations) for nighttime services. |
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My agency has schedules that account for shift changes of employers served by nighttime bus routes. |
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My agency conducts analyses and/or surveys to determine where riders will take nighttime transit. |
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Other Activity |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
- What are the main challenges in implementing initiatives to support nighttime transit ridership?
CHALLENGES |
NOT AT ALL |
SLIGHTLY |
IMPORTANT |
FAIRLY |
NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Riders in my service area feel unsafe waiting at transit stops or at transfer locations. |
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Operators at my agency feel unsafe operating transit at night or lack safe locations for layovers. |
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My agency is experiencing a workforce shortage. |
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Nighttime transit is competing with daytime resource needs at my agency. |
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The desired origins and destinations at nighttime in my agencyʼs service area are too diRicult to serve. |
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The design of my agencyʼs nighttime transit network does not allow for convenient transfers between multiple routes or modes. |
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Other |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
Partnerships
- Does your agency maintain partnerships with other organizations to support nighttime ridership?
PARTNERSHIPS |
NOT |
CONSIDERING |
WORKING TO |
IMPLEMENTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
My agency has established partnerships with municipal/county/ regional economic development and employers/business associations to plan nighttime transit services. |
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My agency has established partnerships with municipal/county/ regional economic development to fund nighttime transit services. |
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My agency has established partnerships with employers/business associations to fund nighttime transit services. |
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My agency has established partnerships with a university or higher education institution to plan nighttime transit services. |
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My agency has established partnerships with a university or higher education institution to fund nighttime transit services. |
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My agency has corporate partnerships to train customers on how to use nighttime special services. |
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Other |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
Resources and Fares
- Do you agree with the following affirmations regarding nighttime transit resources and fares?
CHALLENGES |
STRONGLY |
AGREE |
NEITHER |
DISAGREE |
STRONGLY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
My agency prioritizes resources for nighttime transit compared to daytime transit. |
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Operator shortages at my agency are an issue that impacts nighttime transit more than daytime transit. |
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Fare policy enforcement at nighttime is more challenging than at other times of the day. |
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Eliminating cash-on-board would ease fare policy enforcement at nighttime. |
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Other |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
Performance Monitoring
- How important is it to track daytime and nighttime-specific performance metrics separately? Nighttime in this survey refers to the period between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., while daytime refers to the period between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
FOCUS AREA |
MUCH LESS |
SLIGHTLY LESS |
JUST AS |
SLIGHTLY MORE |
MUCH MORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Safety |
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Cleanliness |
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Service availability |
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Ridership and productivity |
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Financial performance |
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Reliability and on-time performance |
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Travel speed |
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Frequency |
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Stop infrastructure (shelters, benches, lighting, signage, etc.) |
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Timed transfers |
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Other |
- Below are the performance metrics you listed as “slightly more important” and “much more important” compared to daytime service. To what extent does your agency track these metrics?
FOCUS AREA |
NOT |
CONSIDERING |
WORKING TO |
TRACKING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[Options from previous question] |
- What methods does your agency use to track those metrics?
FOCUS AREA |
CUSTOMER |
SOFTWARE |
APC DATA |
OTHER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[Options from previous question] |
Safety
- Has your agency seriously considered or implemented any of the following initiatives aimed at improving safety for nighttime riders?
|
NOT |
CONSIDERING |
WORKING TO |
IMPLEMENTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
My agency has nighttime safety procedures for drivers. |
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My agency oRers courtesy stops to increase rider safety. |
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My agency is introducing gender-based safety initiatives. |
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My agency monitors lighting at and around transit facilities. |
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My agency has dedicated on-the- ground staR (e.g., social workers, customer service agents) during nighttime hours. |
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Other |
OTHER DESCRIPTION |
Final Questions
- Please tell us about any successful initiatives, programs, policies, or partnerships related to nighttime transit planning and operations at your agency.
RESPONSE |
- If you have any documents describing successful initiatives, programs, policies, or partnerships related to nighttime transit planning and operations that youʼd like to share with us, you may upload them here.
LINK |
- Is there anything else youʼd like to share with us? It could be about any topic you encountered in this survey or even something we missed.
RESPONSE |
- We would like to follow up with interested respondents for a more in-depth discussion. Would someone at your agency be willing to participate in phone interviews to discuss nighttime transit planning and operations initiatives?
- □ Yes, contact me
- □ Yes, but there is someone better at my agency for you to contact
- □ No
- Please provide the contact information for someone to whom a project team member can reach out regarding follow-up interviews.
- □ Name
- □ Position
- □ Email Address
- □ Phone Number
Thank you for taking the time to fill out our survey. Your participation is much appreciated!
