Safe Rides Effectiveness Study

Marketing Research Fall 2012

Nick Fulciniti, Dennis White, Andrew Predzimirski, Mikie Connor, Chris Giampietro

Introduction

• Franklin Pierce University is a small, private regionally accredited university grounded in the liberal arts, with a focus on personal attention and high-quality instruction.

• The college has about 1,400 undergraduate students.

Definitions

• The Safe Rides program is a shuttle service offered by Franklin Pierce University that escorts students to specific locations on campus during the weekends, from 10 pm – 2 am.• The program is sponsored by SGA and

is designed to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol.

Problem Statement

• Research is necessary to determine whether the Franklin Pierce University Safe Rides program is effective in the prevention of intoxicated student driving.

Research Objectives• Assess the current literature related to college-

age intoxicated driving, and transportation programs designed to ensure safety

• Identify student opinions on the effectiveness of the current Safe Rides program offered on campus

• Assess the transportation needs of Franklin Pierce University students who consume alcohol on the weekends

• Determine student awareness of the program on campus

Literature Review

• College-aged drinking trends• According to the Federal Centers for Disease

Control figures for 2010, 1 in 4 young adults aged 18 – 34 binge drink.

• According to the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS), students more likely to binge drink are male, white, under 24 years of age, involved in athletics and residents of a fraternity or sorority

Literature Review (Cont’d)

• Impaired Driving among College Students• According to “Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly”, 63%

of examined students 21 years old admitted that they have driven after drinking within the past 12 months, along with 64% of students at the age of 22

• The same study showed that 25% of the students 21 years old said they have driven while intoxicated, as did 22% of the students who were 22 years of age

• 50% of the 22 year olds stated that they have been driven by an intoxicated driver, as well as 49% of the students who were 21 years old

Literature Review (Cont’d)

• What other Institutions are Doing• Salve Regina University, in Newport RI has

implemented a program which allows students to rent a designated Zipcar vehicle by the hour or by the day, and park it conveniently on campus.

• Trinity College of Connecticut provides a free “U-PASS card” to all students on the first day of school, that grants access to all Hartford busses and subways

Methodology• Problem Identification

• Safe Rides efficiency and the prevalence of intoxicated driving on campus • Arose from general knowledge among

the team concerning student activity and transportation safety on the weekend

• Dissatisfaction with and avoidance of the Safe Rides Program among the student body has led to this study’s intention

Methodology (Cont’d)• Development of Survey

• Created a 13 question survey that directly explored the level of student intoxication and frequency of intoxicated driving on an average weekend• Consisted of 8 nominal, 4 ordinal, 1 ratio,

and 1 open ended question• Open ended question intended to gain

constructive criticism on how the program could be improved from a student’s prospective

Methodology (Cont’d)• Definition of Population

• Student body at Franklin Pierce University, in Rindge, NH• Over 1,400 students at the time of data collection

• Sample Size• Goal Sample Size:

• 160 students, 40 from each class, 20 of each gender• Actual Sample Size:

• 172 students • 50 Freshmen – 25M/25F• 30 Sophomores – 15M/15F• 32 Juniors – 20M/12F• 60 Seniors – 32M/28F

Methodology (Cont’d)• Data Collection Method

• A non-probability convenience sampling method was used• Allowed us to determine which students to

approach• Made it easier for us to target certain demographics

in order to reach our respondent quotas• We remained nearby the respondent for any

questions or clarification needed• We handed out surveys in the cafeteria, residence

halls, glass foyer area, and mailroom• We collected data during the week of November 5th

through the 12th

Methodology (Cont’d)

• Assumptions• Operated under the assumption that all

questionnaire respondents answered completely, honestly, and accurately

• Limitations• Time constraints

• Prevented use of probability sampling method

Results

55%

45%

#1: Do you have a car on campus?

Yes

No

17%

14%

24%

45%

#2: On average, to what degree do you consume alcohol on the weekends?

None

Light (1-2 Drinks)

Moderate (3-5 Drinks)

Heavy (6+ Drinks)

27%

41%

32%

#3a: Please rate how convenient these trans-portation methods are for getting around

campus on the weekends: Walking

Not Convenient

Neutral

Convenient

21%

40%

39%

#3b: Please rate how convenient these trans-portation methods are for getting around

campus on the weekends: Shuttle

Not Convenient

Neutral

Convenient

16%

32%

52%

#3c: Please rate how convenient these trans-portation methods are for getting around

campus on the weekends: Driving/Carpooling

Not Convenient

Neutral

Convenient

11% 12%

28%30%

19%

#4: Please define your level of agreement with the following statement: "Drunk driving is a

major issue for the Franklin Pierce campus on the weekends."

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

25%

75%

#5: Have you ever driven under the influence of alcohol on campus during the weekend?

Yes

No

53%

47%

#6: Have you ever been driven by someone who was under the influence of alcohol on

campus during the weekend?

Yes

No

93%

7%

#7: Are you aware of the Safe Rides program, which operates on Fridays and Saturdays from

10pm to 2am?

YesNo

17%

46%

35%

2%

#8: If yes, how effective do you think the Safe Rides program is in preventing drunk driving?

Not effective

Somewhat ef -fective

Very effective

Unaware of program

#9: In your opinion, how could the Safe Rides program be improved?

No Bag Checks Full Campus Loop More Shuttles Extended Hours

34.5%

30.9%

16.4%

18.2%

55%

45%

#10: What is your gender?

Male

Female

22%

20%

16%

27%

12%2%1% 1%

#11: What is your age?

Age 18

Age 19

Age 20

Age 21

Age 22

Age 23

Age 26

Age 46

30%

17%18%

35%

#12: What is your class standing?

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

28%

11%9%7%5%

31%

6%3%

#13: Where do you live?

Mt. Washington/New Hampshire/Granite

Edgewood/Monadnock

Cheshire

Mountainview Towers

Northwoods Towers

Lakeview Townhouses

Sawmill Apartments

Off Campus

Cross-Tabulation #1Are you aware of the Safe Rides program vs. What is your class standing?

Count

  What is your class standing? Total

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Are you aware of the Safe Rides

program, which operates on

Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm

to 2am?

Yes 46 26 31 57 160

No 5 4 0 3 12

Total 51 30 31 60 172

Cross-Tabulation #2Have you ever driven under the influence of alcohol on campus during

the weekend? vs. Where do you live?

Where do you live? Total

Mt.

Washington/New

Hampshire/Granit

e

Edgewood/Monad

nock

Cheshire Mountainview

Towers

Northwoods

Towers

Lakeview

Townhouses

Sawmill

Apartments

Off campus

Have you ever driven under the

influence of alcohol on campus

during the weekend?

Yes 3 1 0 7 6 20 4 2 43

No 44 18 16 4 2 33 6 3 126

Total 47 19 16 11 8 53 10 5 169

Cross-Tabulation #3Do you have a car on campus? vs. Please rate how convenient taking the shuttle

is as a transportation method for getting around campus on the weekends. Count

Please rate how convenient these transportation

methods are for getting around campus on the

weekends: Shuttle

Total

Not Convenient Neutral Convenient

Do you have a car on

campus?

Yes 20 30 38 88

No 14 36 27 77

Total 34 66 65 165

Discussion

• The high rates of age 18 to 34 binge drinking reported by the Federal Centers For Disease Control in 2010 were supported by our team’s data

• Most students on campus reported consuming alcohol heavily (6+ drinks) on the weekends, based on our sample

• Our data also supported the Core Institute claim that nearly 73% of the students on most campuses drink alcohol at least occasionally

Discussion (Cont’d)• Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly emphasized the hazard of

drunk driving on college campuses and the respondents of our team’s questionnaire felt similarly

• The largest group of respondents felt that drunk driving is a serious issue during weekends on campus, which means more attention must be devoted towards increasing the safety of student transportation

• Our data data did not reflect the same prevalence of students admitting to driving after drinking or being driven by someone intoxicated, but they still reflected its presence on campus to a lesser degree • May be correlated to students not feeling comfortable with

revealing this personal information

Discussion (Cont’d)

• Results indirectly support the literature’s statement that alcohol-related risks take a significant upturn when students become of legal drinking age

• This is reflected in the extreme upturn in drinking at the Lakeview townhouses – occupied mostly by seniors who have reached this age.

Conclusions

• Research Objective #1: Assess the current literature related to college-age intoxicated driving, and transportation programs designed to ensure safety• Completed this objective in our literature

review• Later compared the results to the research we

compiled in order to determine similarities and discrepancies

Conclusions (Cont’d)

• Research Objective #2: Identify student opinions on the effectiveness of the current Safe Rides program offered on campus• Over 80% of respondents felt that the Safe

Rides program is either somewhat effective or very effective

• Many more than the amount of respondents who felt that it is not effective

Conclusions (Cont’d)• Research Objective #3: Assess the transportation needs of

Franklin Pierce University students who consume alcohol on the weekends• Slight majority of students have a car on campus, those who do

not still represent a significant percentage of student body – 45% judging from our sample

• Most respondents also reported that they either felt neutrally or consider taking the shuttle a convenient method of getting around campus on the weekends, proving that the transportation needs of students are at least addressed presently

• Our results also proved that while being addressed, the transportation program has room to improve judging from the 34 students who consider taking the shuttle on the weekend inconvenient

Conclusions (Cont’d)

• Research Objective #4: Determine student awareness of the program on campus• Only 12 students of the 172 respondents

stated that they were unaware of the Safe Rides program, and it can be assumed that they are now aware of it after being involved in our study

Recommendations

• More shuttle stop locations (full loop around campus)• Have more than one shuttle running at a time

• Measure hourly shuttle activity throughout the day to determine when the shuttle is least active

• Make the shuttle schedule more efficient in order to make up for extra fuel consumption

• Implement campus safety ride-alongs in order to improve safety

• Implement an event in freshmen orientation to increase awareness for the program

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