Survey Results
March 2005 Customer Satisfaction Survey
In an effort to measure the overall level of satisfaction of the University community with Parking & Transportation Services (PTS), we recently conducted a campus-wide customer satisfaction survey. Over 4,400 people responded to the online survey. PTS staff, along with the UK chapter of the American Marketing Association, wrote the survey, which was distributed via a global e-mail.
The survey results will help us pinpoint customers' primary concerns, in addition to letting our department know how we can better communicate parking information to our constituents. The input from students, faculty and staff is an important learning tool in PTS' communication methods.
1. What is your status at UK?
Identifying the customer is always the first step toward making positive change. We found it encouraging that the user groups were distributed similar to their percentages within the university population.
2a. I primarily get to campus by:
2b. I primarily get around campus by:
As expected, these questions help PTS recognize how respondents get to and around campus. The vast majority (81%) drive to campus, while most (75%) walk to their destinations once they are already on campus.
3a. Rank the CATS bus service.
3b. Rank the LexTran bus service.
We are continually striving to improve the intra-campus bus service. Seventy-five percent of respondents ranked the Campus Area Transit System (C.A.T.S.) buses average to excellent, while 69% of respondents placed LexTran bus service in the same categories.
4. How could PTS better communicate with you?
With nearly two-thirds of respondents (67.6%) choosing e-mail as the best method of communication, an interested audience exists for our Parking E-News. This information will be helpful to PTS as we look to explore new ways to educate the University community about our e-mail newsletter.
5. Are you familiar with the following PTS services?
It comes as no surprise that respondents were most aware of online permit renewal and citation payment, as our online services have been heavily promoted. The varying awareness levels of the remaining services give us a starting point for highlighting these programs in the future.
6a. The purpose of PTS is to enforce parking regulations. (left)
6b. The purpose of PTS is to serve the university community. (right)
We asked these questions to gauge the perceived mission of our department on campus. Respondents overwhelmingly concurred that the purpose of PTS is to enforce parking regulations, with 71% agreeing or strongly agreeing. In contrast, only 29.8% of those surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that the purpose of PTS is to serve the university community. PTS strives to accomplish both of these missions, and the results of these questions give us some insight into our image.
7. My personal experiences with PTS have mainly been:
This question helped us understand more about the respondents, as well as measure customer satisfaction. Additionally, we asked respondents to explain why they ranked their encounters the way they did. The top responses for those with negative experiences were "not enough parking" and "inconvenient parking", while the top responses for those with positive experiences were "good customer service" and "no problems".
8. What is your overall perception of PTS?
Respondents were allowed to assess their overall perception of PTS. We were pleasantly surprised that 58% of those surveyed chose "PTS has my best interests at heart", "I view the performance of and services provided by PTS favorably" or "I am indifferent - someone has to do it."
Customer Comments
We received a number of very helpful comments and suggestions which touched on everything from online services to signs marking bus stops. We have had continuing departmental discussions regarding the survey results, and the changes that will be made based on the feedback that we received.
We would like to thank all those who responded to the survey. Your answers and comments have been extremely helpful and will assist us as we plan for future parking and transit needs.