METRO Connections 2009
Public Opinion on Transit Improves
Dr. Stephen L. Klineberg, a professor of sociology at Rice University, today released the results of his annual Houston Area Survey. The long-term study – conducted every year since 1982 - tracks how the region’s demographic and economic patterns impact public perception on a variety of topics, including transit.
And the results are good news for METRO, which is actively working to improve and expand its bus and light-rail system to maximize the region’s mobility. The survey says residents' views of public transportation hit an all time high.
Survey highlights on transit:
- 50 percent said “making improvements in public transportation, such as trains, buses and light rail” is the best long-term solution to the city’s traffic problems, up from 42 percent in 2007.
- 62 percent said the “development of a much-improved mass transit system” will be “very important” for the future success of Houston, up from 45 percent in 1993.
- 41.5 percent (up from 38 percent in 2004) disagreed with the suggestion that “even if public transportation were much more efficient than it is today, I would still drive my car to work.”
Klineberg says the survey also signaled a “paradigm shift” on the public’s perception of light-rail as an important component to improving the region’s public transportation.
The Houston Area Survey is the longest-running public opinion survey of its kind, chronicling the region’s public opinion transformations since 1982. Klineberg hopes to expand the work he and his students first started with the creation of an Urban Research Center at Rice University.
For more information on the Houston Area Survey, please visit http://houstonareasurvey.org/
