METRO Mystery Rider Survey
VRA was contracted by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) to conduct a mystery rider survey throughout its service area. The survey was originally developed with a focus on the condition of METRO’s assets, such as bus stops and buses; safety protocols; the behavior and attitudes of bus operators; and the effectiveness of operations from a public perspective.
VRA put together a team of five surveyors that performed surveys seven days a week with hours ranging from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. VRA was responsible for developing the surveyor’s schedules to ensure METRO’s high priority routes were the main focus for data collection. VRA reviewed the data collected on a daily basis for accuracy and synthesized the data into weekly reports delivered to METRO.
Six months into the project, Houston, just like the rest of the U.S., experienced the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The mystery rider program was paused for four months to evaluate next steps. A new survey was developed with a heightened focus on the safety and cleaning protocols that were put into place by METRO to combat COVID-19. VRA was given a more restrictive list of high priority routes that became the focus of schedule development.
VRA’s original project goal was 2,500 completed surveys in 12 months. Due to the Coronavirus, the project was paused for four months.
VRA completed 2,363 surveys between the two phases.
VRA put together a team of five surveyors that performed surveys seven days a week with hours ranging from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. VRA was responsible for developing the surveyor’s schedules to ensure METRO’s high priority routes were the main focus for data collection. VRA reviewed the data collected on a daily basis for accuracy and synthesized the data into weekly reports delivered to METRO.
Six months into the project, Houston, just like the rest of the U.S., experienced the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The mystery rider program was paused for four months to evaluate next steps. A new survey was developed with a heightened focus on the safety and cleaning protocols that were put into place by METRO to combat COVID-19. VRA was given a more restrictive list of high priority routes that became the focus of schedule development.
VRA’s original project goal was 2,500 completed surveys in 12 months. Due to the Coronavirus, the project was paused for four months.
VRA completed 2,363 surveys between the two phases.
Project Structure
Prime: Vesta Rea & Associates, LLC
Scope of Work
- Survey instrument development
- Ridership Survey
- Data analysis