Metra – Canete Medina Consulting Group Inc

2016 Metra Origin Destination Survey

2019 Metra Origin Destination
Survey

2016 Metra Origin Destination Survey

Northeastern Illinois Railroad Corporation (Metra) hired Canete Medina Consulting Group Inc. to conduct a system-wide origin-destination survey for years 2016 and 2018. Conducting Metra’s system-wide survey with daily ridership of upwards of 300,000, required consistent project management, careful manpower planning, highly-trained and dedicated field crews, and extensive logistical support. The 2016 survey lasted ten weeks involving more than 55 field surveyors and supervisors. Approximately 86,500 surveys were distributed during the survey period and of those, 68,200 valid responses were collected, resulting in a survey cooperation rate of 52% (out of the 132,000 riders surveyed).

The project involved the design of 14 different questionnaires, one for each of the 14 Metra train main and branch lines to be surveyed, and the production of 150,000 questionnaires, including Spanish versions of each questionnaire. The project also included developing the online version of the survey, hiring and training field survey crews, manpower planning for 298 survey assignments, field data collection involving onboard survey for 10 weeks, processing of collected forms, data encoding, checking and auditing of data entry of 68,200 forms, geocoding of the address data, and preparation of the survey methodology report.

Year Completed: 2017

2019 Metra Origin Destination Survey

Northeastern Illinois Railroad Corporation (Metra) hired Canete Medina Consulting Group Inc. to conduct a system-wide origin-destination survey for years 2016 and 2018. The 2018 survey was moved to the Spring of 2019. New demographics questions were added to the updated questionnaire to meet Title VI federal requirements. The mail-in option was also removed to maintain the one-page format of the printed paper forms. The 2019 survey lasted ten weeks involving more than 50 field surveyors and supervisors. Approximately 63,800 surveys were distributed during the survey period and of those, 56,500 valid responses were collected, resulting in a survey cooperation rate of 43% (out of the 130,000 riders surveyed).

The project involved the design of 14 different questionnaires, one for each of the 14 Metra train main and branch lines to be surveyed, and the production of 125,000 questionnaires, including Spanish versions of each questionnaire. The project also included developing the online version of the survey, hiring and training field survey crews, manpower planning for 298 survey assignments, field data collection involving onboard survey for 10 weeks, processing of collected forms, data encoding, checking and auditing of data entry of 56,500 forms, geocoding of the address data, and preparation of the survey methodology report.

Year Completed: 2019

Metra On Off Counts

Metra contracted with Canete Medina to conduct system-wide ridership on/off counts for 2016 and 2018. Metra is one of the largest commuter rail agencies in the United States. Each weekday, it operates over 700 trains, providing approximately 300,000 trips to and from the four downtown Chicago terminals. Metra operates on 11 lines, serving 240 stations.

Canete Medina was the prime consultant for this project with overall responsibility for conducting the counts. The scope of the work involved the hiring and training of more than 250 counters, scheduling 700 train count assignments, and field data collection involving onboard and station platform counts for a period of 10 weeks.

Year Completed: 2018

METRA Access To Work

The objective of this study was to identify market opportunities for providing bus access and egress services to reverse peak and suburb-suburb travelers using the Metra rail services. The methodological approach combined both qualitative and quantitative elements. The quantitative components of the project included analyzing data from various sources including Metra ridership survey, ridership counts, an employer database and Census journey-to-work data. The qualitative elements included in-depth employer interviews designed to evaluate employer and employee interest in a feeder bus service linking suburban-based companies to surrounding Metra stations.

As a sub-consultant to Cambridge Systematics, Canete Medina (formerly cmQue, inc.) was responsible for developing an employer database and geocoding ridership surveys for the study. Canete Medina also created the GIS-based decision support tool that integrated census information, the employer database, and ridership surveys, for use in planning service enhancements and targeting potential rail passengers.

Year Completed: 2002