Commission staff reviewed the city’s recent resident satisfaction survey results and explained how a custom commuting question added to the poll gives the commission a finer‑grained look at how often residents use different transportation modes.

City staff said American Community Survey (ACS) commute data is limited because it samples a single week and recently combined walking and biking into one response, making it difficult to distinguish modes and to identify casual or occasional users. "The commute data in ACS ... is just a little difficult for us to work with for a couple reasons," staff said, and noted the commission’s custom question asked respondents how often, on average over a year, they commuted by mode using four frequency bands (five times or more; three to four times; one to two times; not at all). The custom data tracked with ACS aggregate results while adding insight on occasional users.

Commissioners asked whether the survey responses could be disaggregated by demographic groups and how the mailing/sample frame worked; staff replied the survey included mailed invitations, an electronic option and statistical weighting by the contractor and said they would explore disaggregation options. Staff also reported they had asked Transit staff to present to the commission and were targeting April or May for a Transit presentation; staff said they would ask commissioners closer to the date if there are specific questions to guide which Transit staff member would be best to present.

Why this matters: the commission said better local commute data could support targeted outreach to increase ridership of fare‑free transit and improve planning for walking and biking programs. Staff said they will share the survey recording and follow‑up notes with commissioners and bring summary findings to a future meeting.

Next steps: staff will circulate the recording of the resident satisfaction survey briefing, share the custom question results, and confirm a Transit presentation date and desired topics with commissioners.