Sustainability Bus – Feasibility Study

1. Sustainability Bus – Feasibility Study This project examines the financial feasibility of operating a bus service between Eugene/Springfield and Portland. FSI Capstone: April 16, 2013 Sandy Booker, Mel Jackson, Tash O’Brien, Yousef Rahmani, Tom Szumita

2. Sustainability Bus – Bus Proposal • This proposal recommends a retrofitted executive coach as an alternative travel option to the current reimbursement or motor pool choices • The Office of Sustainability has determined that this service will help reduce the total emissions of the University • Bus features will include: • Extra wide seating • Wi-Fi • Conferencing capacity (fold-up conference tables with pivoting seats) • Additional benefits of executive coach service include: • Cost savings from auto reimbursement, motor pool rentals, and auto damage and liability costs • Increased safety • Increased productivity - Rather than driving, passengers can utilize the coach as a mobile office and meeting space Our Question – Is this project financially feasible?

3. Sustainability Bus – Costing Analysis The analysis focuses on five major factors: • Current travel patterns • Cost of current travel • Cost of bus • Review of alternative options • Will people use the bus?

4. Sustainability Bus – Travel Patterns and Costs • FY10 data was analyzed to determine reoccurring travel destination and frequency • Data was obtained from both costs associated with the University’s motor pool and individual auto reimbursements • The results show that • 30% of all costs were for Portland Travel • 47% of all Portland travel was on Thursday or Friday • 14% of all travel costs were to Portland on either Thursday or Friday

5. Sustainability Bus – Cost of Bus (3 Options)

6. Sustainability Bus – Feasibility Study The question is – How many people are needed to get out of their cars and onto the bus?

7. Sustainability Bus – Break-Even Analysis • Future reimbursement and motor pool costs are projected using 3% inflation • Compared to expected costs of purchase and maintenance using the financing plan, the bus will break-even in FY17 if the annual percentage of people using the bus grows as follows: 20%, 30%, 40%, 45%, 50%

8. Sustainability Bus – How many people on the bus? Using the break-even data and 20%, 30%, 40%, 45%, 50% growth assumption, and assuming 1.5 passengers per vehicle (current motor pool data indicates 1.67), the chart below shows on average the number of people needed to take the bus.

9. Sustainability Bus – Review of All Options • Motor Pool • Cost per mile - $.20 for midsize, $.25 for full, $.28 for 6 passenger, and $.30 for 8 passenger • Plus daily rental - $21 for midsize, $25 for full, $28 for 9 passenger, and $28 for 8 passenger • Drive personal vehicle – Reimbursement • Driver reimbursed 220 miles round trip to Portland @ $.565 per mile = $124 per trip • Amtrak - $26 one way to Portland ($52 round trip) • Virtual Meetings (Skyping, video teleconferencing, etc.) • Teleportation – “Beam Me Up Pam” • Costing data unknown • Emission usage unknown

10. Sustainability Bus – Survey Results A campus-wide survey was taken, receiving approximately 250 responses. Statistically, 65% of respondents indicated they would use the bus for most or all trips if the service was offered. Additionally, the responses in the comment section were overwhelming positive, however some of the supplemental provisos raised included: • Will it have a flexible schedule? • Where will the bus drop off? • How will I get around in Portland? • Will it be offered in reverse, Portland to Eugene in the morning?

11. Sustainability Bus – Feasibility Study Pros/Cons • More time to work • Less stress and easier for someone who doesn’t like to drive. • Portland has a great metro system to make getting to locations easier if not the central drop off place. • Convenient way to get to PDX airport if it went there after downtown drop off. • More comfortable mode of transportation with the proposed bus configuration. • Reduce emissions • Hard to schedule to accommodate different schedules • Loss of productivity if in PDX for 2 hrs mtg & have to wait for bus back to Eugene at 5pm. • Lack of convenience for getting around PDX if business involves multiple stops. • Employees would have to give up reimbursement which is currently $124.30 round trip.

12. Sustainability Bus – Recommendations & Next Steps While the initial results of our analysis justifies moving forward, we recommend the following next steps: Data Analysis • Perform a similar analysis for additional and more recent years. • Currently, all analysis was performed on data from FY10 and prior. • More recent data will help identify trends and/or inconsistencies. (i.e., Do FY11 and FY12 show similar results?) Additional Surveying • More specific targeting: Survey any employee who has received a reimbursement and/or used the motor pool. These employees are potential bus customers. • Provide a more specific itinerary: Survey should include the actual “plan”. Survey comments were concerned with convenient times and locations. The survey should ask if they would use the bus for the specific itinerary, not just in general.