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3385 S. 119th
St., West Allis, Wisconsin 53227
June 18, 2002
More
than three out of four Wisconsin residents support a nationwide train network
with increased routes, frequencies and shorter travel times, according to
results of a major statewide transportation alternatives survey.
As
many respondents also said they would use the expanded, fast train service now
being planned by nine Midwestern states including Wisconsin, according to the
Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers (WisARP).
A
majority of those surveyed also favored the use of federal funds to improve
inter-city rail passenger service, according to the group.
Highlights
were released today at WisARP news conferences in Madison and
Milwaukee which also were attended by representatives of the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation and the Environmental Law and Policy Center of
Chicago.
“We
were simply overwhelmed by the strong support shown in the survey for more
train service,” said John Parkyn, Stoddard, WI, WisARP president. “These are amazing numbers, and are evidence
that the state’s efforts to improve passenger rail service in Wisconsin are
consistent with what the public wants.
“The
public is saying it wants more trains and faster trains, and is willing to help
pay for them.
“It’s
no longer ‘if you build it, they will come’.
They’re here. Let’s build it.”
Parkyn
said the survey, which was conducted over a week-and-a-half ending in
mid-February, took place as the future of Amtrak and the need for a nationwide
rail passenger service was being debated by Congress, and as Wisconsin state
government wrestled with its most serious financial crisis ever. Neither issue is yet resolved.
“Our
concern was that one or both of those factors might depress support for
passenger train expansion in the survey,” said Parkyn. “That concern appears to have been
groundless.”
Parkyn
said support for both a national and regional passenger train network was
strong throughout the state. Overall,
77% statewide favored a national network, with only 15.8% opposed. (The rest either said they didn’t know or
refused to answer.)
The
strongest support for a national network came in responses from those in
southwestern Wisconsin, with nearly 88% of those surveyed indicating they
favored such service. “Even the lowest
support, in the Fox Valley area, still came in at 69.9%,” Parkyn said.
Other
key findings:
76.6% said they would use the trains if the
planned nine-state Midwest Regional Rail network becomes available to them.
“This means they see
passenger rail as not just something good to do or for others to use; it’s
something they will use themselves,” Parkyn said.
Support ranged from 70.9% in northeastern
Wisconsin to a high of 91.7% in the Madison area.
63.6% of those surveyed favor state
government’s involvement in efforts to expand inter-city rail passenger
service, with over half that group expressing strong support. Another 20.3% are neutral, with only 14%
against.
“The message we take from this is that a
large segment of the public supports the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation’s rail passenger leadership,” Parkyn said.
54.3% favor the use of federal funds to
improve inter-city rail passenger service in the state. Another 21.2% said they hadn’t made up their
minds yet, leaving only 21.1% actually opposing the use of federal funds. And a third of the latter said they are only
“somewhat opposed.”
“This question drew
the highest number of neutral responses of any in the survey. This tells us we need to do a better job of
explaining why this funding support is justified. But we also have a great existing base from which to build, and
see no reason why we can’t pick up at least a majority of the undecided. If we do, that pushes the support to around
the 65% mark.”
To reduce current highway congestion, 59%
favor alternatives to highways, with rail getting the most support of the three
main alternatives (the others are air and bus). Only
33.5% favor building more highways as their preferred response to
congestion.
“We keep being told
that American’s won’t give up their cars, and that sometimes is interpreted as
meaning Americans want to only travel by car.
We know that’s faulty thinking, and the survey confirms that. A lot of
them want a choice when they travel, and their first choice after the car is
the train.”
Among
other findings:
Age made little difference in the responses,
with support for rail passenger service among those age 18-24 and 45-54 both
above 80%. No age group fell below 71%
in support.
“We sometimes hear from opponents that
only senior citizens want to ride the trains, for reasons of nostalgia and a
yearning for the ‘old days’. The survey
demonstrates just what a myth that is.
In fact, retirees ranked near the bottom of the groups in support of
train service -- but the bottom still was a strong 73.5% support rate.”
White-collar, blue-collar and professionals
all showed strong support, and within a narrow range of 77-79%.
“The survey shows trains
are not going to be used for land cruises, or a service only for the rich or
only for the poor as critics often allege.
We’re going to see a wide range of income levels aboard when this
service begins.”
The
survey was conducted by Chamberlain Research Consultants, an international,
full-service marketing and opinion research firm located in Madison, as part of
its quarterly Wisconsin Trends survey.
The
rail-related questions were drafted by Chamberlain in consultation with WisARP,
which contracted for its portion of the study.
Chamberlain determined the sample size -- 600 -- and selected
individuals at random in proportion to the county’s share of the state’s
population (2000 census). Questions
were asked by phone. The survey had a
margin of error of 4.0%.
WisARP
is a statewide organization of about 800 individuals who favor expanded
passenger train service in Wisconsin and the U.S. Members finance their own activities and all its work is done by
volunteers.
Others
making financial contributions to the rail-related portions of the survey in
addition WisARP were ProRail, the state group’s regional chapter based in
Madison, HNTB Consulting, Milwaukee, and the Environmental Law & Policy
Center, Chicago. The WisARP Board of
Officers and Directors would like to thank all of the financial contributors to
this very important survey.
Here
are all seven questions and answers included in the transportation alternatives
portion of the Wisconsin Trends survey.
They are listed here in the order they were asked.
1. To avoid highway congestion, would you
prefer to travel by air, bus, rail, or would you prefer that more highways be
built?
Prefer alternatives (355), 59.1%. Build more highways (201 responses), 33.5%. Don’t know/refused (44), 7.3%
Alternatives
preferred, in order of popularity: rail (161), 26.8%; air (119), 19.8%, bus
(75), 12.5%.
2.
Because of congestion and delays at airports, should Wisconsin (various options
listed)?
Make changes (347), 57.8%. Make no changes (174), 29.0%. Don’t know/refused (79), 13.2%.
Changes preferred, in order of popularity: add more runways to existing airports (171), 28.5%; build additional rail systems (120), 20.0%; build new airports (44), 7.3%, and
other (12), 2.0%. (Other responses included: security is the main issue, more
efficient service, better connections at airports, etc.)
3.
Most trips in Wisconsin are made by car. Wisconsin is considering changes that may create more
alternatives to driving. Which one of
the following alternatives to driving would you prefer for making trips 75 to
300 miles away from home? Please select
one.
Still
prefer to drive (344), 57.3%. Prefer
alternatives (253), 42.2%. Don’t
know/refused (3), 0.5%.
Of the alternatives: trains (159), 26.5%; bus
(52), 8.7%; and airplane (42), 7.0%
4.
Wisconsin officials have considering promoting expanded passenger train
services. Do you favor, or oppose, or
neither favor nor oppose state efforts to expand inter-city passenger train
services in Wisconsin. Is that strongly or somewhat favor or
oppose?
Strongly favor (206), 34.3%; somewhat favor
(176), 29.3%; neither favor nor oppose (122), 20.3%; somewhat oppose (33),
5.5%; strongly oppose (51), 8.5%; don’t know/refused (12), 2.0%.
5. If
you were considering taking a trip 75 to 300 miles away from home, and a fast,
modern rail system was available in Wisconsin, how likely would you be to
consider traveling by train? Would you say
you would be very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely
to consider traveling by train?
Very
likely (248), 41.3%; somewhat likely (212), 35.3%; somewhat unlikely (55),
9.2%; very unlikely (74) 12.3%; don’t know/refused (11), 1.8%.
6. If federal funding is available for
improving intercity passenger rail services, Wisconsin may try to attract these
rail improvement funds by pledging to pay for a portion of the project with
state money as we now do with highway and airport projects. Is this something you favor, oppose, or
neither favor nor oppose as a way to raise money to develop passenger rail
services in Wisconsin? Is that strong or somewhat favor or oppose?
Strongly favor (146), 24.3%; somewhat favor
(180), 30.0%; neither favor nor oppose (127), 21.2%; somewhat oppose (47), 7.8%;
strongly oppose (80), 13.3%, don’t know/refused (20), 3.3%.
7. Do you support a nationwide train network
with increased routes, frequencies, and shorter travel time?
Yes (462), 77.0%; no (95), 15.8%; don’t
know/refused (43), 7.2%.
OTHER COMMENTS—John Parkyn, WisARP
President:
“There are several reasons why we believe the
results of this survey should be given careful consideration. It’s a professional poll. Chamberlain Research Consultants is a respected
research firm whose research in other areas often is quoted by the news media
and accorded respect.”
“We told Chamberlain what areas of opinion we
wanted to explore, but they wrote the questions and selected the group to be
included in the sample. WisARP was one
of only several unrelated clients participating in this survey.”
“No one in WisARP has any financial interests
in increased rail passenger service.
We’re all volunteers who work on behalf of more rail service because we
think it’s good public policy. That’s
our only interest.
“Finally, we’re releasing the answers to all
seven questions. The entire report is
available for analysis by others, if they so desire.”
“We believe that many of those responding to
the survey, once they have a train trip or two under their belts, will find they
like the trains more, even though we also believe cars will remain the most
popular transportation choice for years to come. The real question is, what is the most popular second choice? We now know the answer is the train.”
“Given popular perceptions that ‘Americans
will never give up their cars,’ what may be surprising from the survey is that
the percentage still preferring to drive on trips exceeding 75 miles is just
57%. That probably is quite a bit lower
than what many people would have anticipated.”
“This is the first time WisARP has done any
public polling in its existence. As far
as we know, no survey of this type ever has been conducted in Wisconsin before
by anyone else, either. These results
thus provide an excellent benchmark for future studies.”
“The main reason we undertook this survey was
to test our own belief that there’s already widespread public support for
expanded passenger train service and that people will use it. We just didn’t know the actual extent of
support. We believed that information
should be very useful to state and federal policymakers.
“We also didn’t have a good feel before the
survey as to the degree to which the public wanted the state and federal
government involved, particularly given the amount of dollars involved and the
current financial difficulties in both the state and the U.S.
“We also wanted to get
data by age, employment, and area of residence, so we could respond better to
those who think that the only people who will ride trains are the rich, or the
poor, or only senior citizens or students, and so on.”
Graphic representation of some significant statistics in the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passenger / Chamberlain Statewide Survey of 2002
Chart 1. Strong support statewide for the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative. 76% of respondents who expressed and opinion said they would be very or somewhat likely to use the train if it were available; 24% with an opinion were very or somewhat unlikely to use the train.
Chart 2. State government has a key role in passenger train expansion: 64% of those surveyed favor state government’s involvement in efforts to expand inter-city passenger service. Twenty percent were neutral on the issue, only 14% were somewhat or strongly opposed.
Chart 3. Alternatives to driving. Asked about the problem of highway congestion, 41% of respondents with an opinion preferred more highway construction; of the 59% who favored some alternative to more highways, nearly half (46%) favored travel by passenger rail; 34% favored travel by air, 21% by bus.
Chart 4. Support for a nationwide passenger rail system. 77% chose “Yes, I support a nationwide passenger rail system”, 16% chose “no”, 7% had no opinion.
Chart 5. Nationwide passenger rail system support sorted by age: percent of those who responded “yes” to the question “Do you support a nationwide train network with increased routes, frequencies, and shorter travel time?” Note that the responses offer no support for the claim that improving passenger rail is a nostalgic preoccupation of Senior Citizens.
Key (by age group):
