Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

epresented approximately 4 percent of the ridership, reflecting a similar trend that was displayed
in the summary of passenger trip purposes. Non-college students included passengers traveling
to the Job Corps training center in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Table 5-24: Passenger Employment Status, Percent of All Trips
Employment Status April (424) July (539)
Employed Full-Time 49 55
Employed Part-Time 5 6
Unemployed 5 3
University/College Student 4 4
Student (Other Than College) 1 1
Retired 27 24
Homemaker 9 7
Note: Sample size shown in parenthesis. Columns may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Household Vehicles
The number of vehicles owned or leased by a household is a common demographic item
on transportation surveys as it reflects automobile availability, which in turn impacts a host of
other measures that are applicable to the transportation planning process. Table 5-25 shows the
number of household vehicles reported by Heartland Flyer passengers. A majority of passengers
lived in households with two vehicles, with the median number of household vehicles reported as
1.7 and 1.6 in April and July, respectively.
Table 5-25: Passenger Household Vehicles, Percent of All Trips
Household Vehicles April (428) July (561)
None 4 3
One 18 20
Two 40 44
Three or More 37 32
Note: Sample size shown in parenthesis.
Columns may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Nearly all of the Heartland Flyer passengers surveyed lived in a household with at least
one vehicle. Zero-vehicle households comprised about 4 percent of the respondents in April and
3 percent of the respondents in July. This suggests widespread availability of an automobile as
an alternative to the rail service. Subsequent sections include additional discussion of this trend
in the context of passenger alternatives to the Heartland Flyer.
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