Almost 45% of Commuters Likely to Use Mass Transit : Transportation: Survey found riders are sensitive to ticket prices and will use service for longer distances.

About 45% of Orange County’s commuters say they are likely to use mass transit in the future, according to a new market research study.

That number is high, transportation officials said, especially compared to current use of mass transit by only 3% of commuters.

“It’s encouraging, because that’s nearly half,” said Elaine Beno, spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which paid for the telephone survey of 5,353 residents contacted at home from June 6 to July 16. The results of the survey were released Wednesday.

People over 64 are least likely to be using mass transit in the future, while commuters between age 18 and 29 are the most likely to go to work by bus or train in the future.

The results, which will be reviewed Monday by the OCTA board of directors, also show that the less affluent and longer-distance commuters would be more likely to use mass transit if it is available.

The study also showed that people who already use mass transit, including commuter trains, have the longest average travel times--more than 80 minutes.

The survey was conducted in part to assess the feasibility of a proposed, $2-billion elevated urban rail connection between South Coast Plaza and Disneyland.

The results also highlighted one of the biggest obstacles to the use of mass transit and car-pooling: the need to take care of children or shop en route. About 35% say they stopped on the way either to or from work on their most recent workday, with more than 45% of these saying they did so to shop. Another 16% said they dropped off children at day care or school.

The survey showed that members of ethnic minorities are more likely to use mass transit.

And it found that the price of a ticket can greatly affect consumer choice.

For example, almost two-thirds of commuters with low family incomes say they would use mass transit if the one-way fare were 75 cents, but only one-tenth of this group would do so if the price were $2.

The same price sensitivity was noted among younger commuters.

“The cost of fares must be carefully considered in planning for future mass transit services,” states the OCTA report on the survey.

People cited inconvenient locations, their need to have a car handy and infrequent service as the primary reasons for not saying they would use mass transit.

The results will be combined with other market research data from surveys of people contacted at work. A final report is due in January.

Why Not Mass Transit?

Presented with a list of reasons why people choose not to use mass transit, Orange County commuters say it’s mostly due to inconvenient locations of bus and train stops.

Percent who cited one or more of “major reasons” for not using mass transit: Inconvenient location: 48% Need car at work: 44% Infrequent service: 40% Too time consuming: 36% Commute too short: 34% Inconvenient hours: 30% Unsafe: 14% Fares too high: 8%

35% of commuters said that on their most recent day of work they made stops on the way to or from their jobs. Reasons for stops: Shopping, groceries: 16% Banking: 7% Pick up, deliver children: 5% Cleaners, laundry: 4% Post office: 3% Restaurant, fast food: 2% Other: 9% Note: Reasons total more than 35% because of multiple responses Source: Orange County Transportation Authority