Coast to Coast: Passenger By Rail Study

I worked with the Michigan Environmental Council for about a month before starting a full time position in Holland. During those four weeks, however, I had the opportunity to:

- Gather survey data from students at Hope College

- Transform piles of raw data from student events and public meetings into clear and easy to read charts

- Had a few of my charts and descriptions featured in the final, publicized Passenger-By-Rail Study!

Below are the parts I contributed to the study and three of the charts I put together based on our collected data (and you can follow this link to the full document here)

Figure 8-2 Description: Overall, respondents were more likely to respond positively to the proposed rail system.    The total number of comments garnered was 389. Eighty‐six percent of individuals stated that Michigan residents would in some way benefit from a Coast‐to‐Coast rail system. Thirteen percent of respondents listed potential negative community impacts that this service could have on their communities or the state

Figure 8-3 Description: Like the traditional meetings, most students we spoke with were largely supportive of expanding passenger rail, citing convenience, greater ability to visit family and friends and increased access to other cities as top reasons why they would use a passenger rail system.  Of the students who responded “No” on comment cards, many cited that they did not have a need for passenger rail in Michigan given that they lived out of state.  Students who responded with “Maybe” generally cited cost and convenience as determining factors in whether or not they would use a passenger rail system in the future.  

#nonprofit #intern #research #content