The methodology, results, and conclusions of a market research study to identify the transit information needs of the rideshare agency's customers are described. The study identified demographic differences between the ridesharing program's customers and the transit patrons. It also assessed the benefit of increasing the detail of transit information to encourage a ridesharing customer to call the transit company or immediately begin riding transit. The study was based on a random sample of existing customers of ridefinders, the nonprofit ridesharing organization for the richmond, virginia, metropolitan area. Some of the key findings were that ridesharing commuters were more white collar with a higher household income and had a greater degree of automobile ownership than transit patrons. Fifty-seven percent indicated that their home or work location was outside the transit service area. Less than 4% cited the lack of awareness of the bus schedule as the reason for not riding transit. In addition, 43% of the ridesaring customers had used the transit services within thepast 6 months. Less than 10% of the customers increased their perceived value of the transit company's telephone number. Ridefinders isusing the study results to continue to coordinate marketing effortswith the transit company while recognizing the differences between the markets and the occasional need to adjust its marketing strategies accordingly. Ridefinders will also place its marketing emphasis on highlighting transit features and benefits rather than investing in costly revisions to the computerized ridematching system to increase the level of routing and schedule information or indiscriminatelydistributing bus schedules. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1321, Rideshare programs: evaluation of effectiveness, trip reduction programs, demand management, and commuter attitudes 1991.
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