San Marcos Main Street Program - VeoRide

Research Findings Report

Kristian Dillard, Shane DeForest, Alexis Rodriguez
and Christi DeSantis
MC4320: Public Relations Campaigns T/TR 8:00 a.m.
Professor Paul Villagran

Executive Summary
 VeoRide is a new bike sharing company in San Marcos, that will yield many

benefits, but, it’s hard to bring forth those benefits if students don’t plan on using

the bikes. From our research, we have found that many students don’t plan on

using VeoRide, which we believe comes from a lack of knowledge.

From the survey we conducted on campus, only 42.86% percent of students

said they were “Likely” to use VeoRide. But, we did find that 100% of students

that have used VeoRide are “Likely” to refer a friend. So, students that have used

VeoRide seem to be happy. The object at hand and obstacle in front of us, is how

to get students to embrace VeoRide and reap the benefits they bring.

Our group believes that once students try the bikes, they will be more on

board to continuously use them, because the survey indicates the students that have

already used the bikes seem realize the great changes the bikes will bring to San

Marcos and the Texas State campus. According to the survey, 90.91% of

applicable students, believe VeoRide is a “Positive” attribute for San Marcos,

while only one student answered that it would be a “Negative” attribute.

Plus, it’s not only students of Texas State that could have positive and

tangible results, but also the local residents of San Marcos. Our survey indicates

that 28.57% of students plan on using VeoRide around the city, not just on campus,

as well. So, this will free up traffic and parking for those locals, along with

students.
 Another good sign about freeing up traffic is that 28.58% of students plan of

using VeoRide for 30 minutes of more. Which means, that those students will be

on the bikes for longer trips, not just going to and from campus, which in turn, will

keep more cars off the road.

Introduction

With VeoRide coming to San Marcos we want to help them to provide affordable,

environmentally friendly transportation, especially in and around campus with dense student

population and strong bike access. Our goal is to make it easier to get around campus, so people
can ride a bike right to their destination without the struggle of finding parking and getting to

class or their destination late.

Primary Research

Research Goal

Our purpose was to reach out to college students at Texas State University and inform them of

the new bicycle sharing program we have here in San Marcos. My colleagues and I decided to

create a survey to get the insight of our college students on campus and their new encounters

with VeoRide and see how VeoRide coming to San Marcos will improve the livelihood of the

residents here in San Marcos.

Research Questions

· How likely are you to utilize VeoRide as a form of transportation?

· On average, how long do you think a normal VeoRide trip for you would be?

· Do you plan on using VeoRide on campus, to travel around San Marcos, or both?

· Do you believe VeoRide is a positive or negative attribute to the community? Please briefly

explain your reasoning.

· If you have used VeoRide, how likely are you to recommend to a friend?

Research Objective

Our objective is for us to see if VeoRide will actually improve the livelihood of the

residents of San Marcos and those attend Texas State, also to see if those who use VeoRide will

use word of mouth and let others know of VeoRide making it reach a larger audience.
Methodology

Population: our target audience is the students of Texas State University.

Sample & Sampling Techniques

The way we got the information needed for our research was we created a Survey and

generated the survey to have five simple questions with the answer choices “very likely”

“somewhat likely” “unlikely”. From this we generated a link and each of us sent it to one of our

classes with the most reach, and simply asked to take the survey and tell us how they feel about

VeoRide.

Data Collection Procedures

The data was collected after 12 hours of the survey being sent to students at Texas State.

After the data was collected the domain we used to create the survey creates a summary of the

questions asked and gets the responses of those who answered and creates a graph showing who

responded what, when, and gives us the percentage of each student who participated.

Data Analysis

Once data was collected, the next procedure was looking for our question with the most

“negative” response and see how we could flip it and tend to the needs of those who are unhappy

with the services VeoRide provides.

Findings

After analyzing the data we collected from our survey instrument, we found that

approximately 57 percent of our sample are unlikely to utilize VeoRide, while only about 14

percent answered very likely. The remaining 29 percent said that they are somewhat likely to

utilize VeoRide as a form of transportation.

We asked our sample what their expected duration of use of the bikes would be.

Surprisingly, most people that planned to utilize VeoRide answered that a normal ride for them

would be between 15-25 minutes. Approximately 14 percent of our sample said an average ride

would be 30-45 minutes, and another 14 percent said more than one hour.

For our third question, we asked our sample where they were most likely to ride the

bikes, whether it be on campus, around San Marcos, or both. A majority of the people who plan

to use VeoRide (about 21 percent) said that they would use them on both campus and around the

city. Approximately 14 percent said they would mostly ride them on campus, while about 7

percent said mostly around San Marcos.

We gave our sample an open-ended question asking their thoughts on whether VeoRide

is a positive or negative attribute to the San Marcos community. A vast majority of people

answered that VeoRide is a positive service, while only one person answered negative. The

positive responders gave reasons such as VeoRide being a more efficient mode of transportation,

encouraging people to exercise, promoting healthy lifestyle and also lessening traffic around San

Marcos.

We asked our sample how likely they were to recommend VeoRide to a friend. For the

people that this question was applicable to, approximately 21 percent answered very likely, and

21 percent answered somewhat likely. Luckily, none of our candidates responded that they were
unlikely to recommend VeoRide. Although, 57 percent of our sample said the question wasn’t

applicable to them because they had no use for VeoRide.

Interpretations

Based on the results of our findings, the vast majority of those subjects surveyed were

simply unaware of Veoride and the opportunities that a bike sharing company can provide the

San Marcos community; however, the feedback for question number five (open response)

indicated a positive approach to a bike share company joining our community.

The results for the first four questions shows that at least 15 percent of people here in our

community would actively use VeoRide, whereas another 30 percent are open to the idea of

using this mode of transportation. Nearly half of the community here in San Marcos would be at

least open to the idea of a clean and alternative source of transportation.

Open ended responses also show that people believe this would help reduce traffic, which is a

growing issue each year.

Question number three also shows that a large amount of the students who use Veoride

on campus would also use the service outside of school, such as traversing to and from work,

friends, the square and other social events. Along with the decrease in traffic, pollution and

human foot traffic, VeoRide would be a great method for students to exercise and keep up with

fitness, cut down time traveling to class as well as the amount of vehicles on campus.

Even though 35 percent of the community would not use VeoRide, the service could be a

major potential benefit and convenience to the remaining 65% of students and others in San

Marcos.
Appendix A

Survey Instrument
Appendix B
Survey Q & A’s

1)

2)
3)
4)

1. Positive, will probably reduce traffic throughout San Marcos.

2. Positive! This has been amazing in Austin and will do so well here!
3. Positive. Gives us the ability to move around efficiently without the need and use
of vehicles
4. Positive. Less cars and enables more people to exercise
5. I don’t know what veoride is
6. Positive
7. I do not know what it is
8. Positive it is a healthier and more economical mode of transportation
9. Positive, as long as the equipment is well maintained
10. Negative because there is not enough sidewalk and road space.
11. I believe it’s a positive attribute to the community because although I have no use
for veo ride, several of my friends freshman year did not have cars. I know that
veo ride is allowing all students have means of transportation
12. Positive, for the people that do not have bikes, or place to store them.
13. Positive because it allows those without adequate transportation to get around the
city
14. skipped
5)