Fargo-Moorhead Universities Transit Research

Our last newsletter identified some of the research being conducted with NDSU transit and Metropolitan Area Transit (MAT) in terms of what can be done to improve services. As the results of that research became known, SURTC was asked to expand the project to include Minnesota State University-Moorhead (MSUM) and Concordia College.

The population of the Fargo Moorhead area is approximately 174,367. The total enrollment for the four major colleges of NDSU, MSUM, Concordia, and Northwest Technical College for the 2003-2004 year is 23,137; including faculty and staff increases the numbers to 26,548. These students, faculty, and staff could have a significant impact on MAT's ridership.

SURTC has now completed surveys of both MSUM and Concordia for transit and also Concordia for a night taxi service similar to the "Deuce" that covers students on the NDSU campus. These surveys revealed a lot of information about student behavior, desires, and perceptions of the current services on the three campuses. It turns out that significant numbers of students on the Concordia campus are envious of the night taxi now available at both the NDSU and MSUM campuses.

MAT is now better able to respond to student needs on the F-M campuses because they are more aware of students' travel patterns, such as: what time of day most students are moving, how many students live certain distances from respective campuses, services that students indicate they would use, and the amount students are willing to pay for services offered by MAT. Call (701)231-7767 if you would like a copy of the final report of the University Campus Transit Study.