The pros and cons of creating online research panels for transit Making waves The pros and cons of creating online research panels for transit
What is an online research panel? An online research panel is a community of pre-screened respondents who have expressed a willingness to undertake ongoing market research.
Why use a research panel? Your football team will win the Super Bowl! Go Seahawks! Super Bowl Champions!
Why use a research panel if you don’t have a football team? They are flexible You can collect survey results quickly and cheaply They show your agency is listening
Limitations Building and maintaining a panel can be costly Not necessarily quantitative results Can attract panel members with agendas
The budget Development: $37,000 Passive recruitment: $3,500 Active recruitment:$20,000 Monthly maintenance: $8,500
Passive recruiting On board posters Social media Rider materials
Active recruiting We approached riders at stops, stations and on-board to join the panel
Incentives We offered two airline tickets as an incentive to sign up for Sound Waves (Yes, our lawyers approved it.)
Where we are today The panel currently has 1,450 members The panel includes large groups representing nearly all bus routes and rail.
Obligatory charts & graphs (You are not obligated to pay attention)
Demographics
Modes of transit
Where the panelist come from
How did they hear about the panel?
End of obligatory charts & graphs (You can now pay attention again)
Panel web site: Soundwavespanel.org
SoundOff SoundOff’s are one-question surveys offered every other week to help keep the panel engaged.
Survey topics Rider attitudes. Customer satisfaction. Message development Awareness of transit issues Input on planning Evaluation of agency actions
Panel research goals Engage panel members with regular surveys and/or SoundOffs every couple of weeks. Focus on content which provides recommendations that can be acted on. Make members feel that they are helping make important service decisions that improve their rider experience
Questions?