Survey shows high satisfaction with WYDOT

Nearly eight out of 10 Wyoming residents are satisfied with WYDOT’s stewardship of the state’s transportation system, according to a telephone survey completed by the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming.

 

Brian Harnisch, research scientist at WYSAC, presented the survey results to the Wyoming Transportation Commission at its monthly meeting in Cheyenne Thursday.

 

WYSAC interviewed 991 adult Wyoming residents between Nov. 27 and Dec. 16, 2012, and 79 percent of them expressed overall satisfaction with WYDOT’s stewardship of the statewide transportation system. Two percent said they were dissatisfied with WYDOT’s stewardship and 19 percent were neutral on the question.

 

The survey sample included residents in every county contacted using randomly generated telephone numbers, and about a third of them were interviewed via cell phones. The results have a margin of error of 3 percentage points with 95 percent confidence that the opinions of the state’s population as a whole fall within that range.

 

WYDOT has contracted with WYSAC to conduct the customer satisfaction surveys every two years since 2002 to help the department assess how well it is fulfilling its mission of providing a safe, high-quality and efficient transportation system for the citizens of Wyoming.

 

Seventy-nine percent of the respondents in the 2012 survey also said they were satisfied with the maintenance of the state’s highways, a slight increase from the 76 percent who expressed satisfaction in the 2010 survey.

 

More than 77 percent of those interviewed said they are satisfied with the smoothness of the ride on interstates and state highways near their residence, a decline of 4 percentage points from the 2010 survey.

 

Eighty-nine percent agreed the state’s highways and interstates usually permit travel with only minimal delays.

 

The percentage of residents who agree the condition of the state highways has improved during the past two years declined from 71 percent in 2010 to 63 percent last year.

 

When questioned about construction projects, 90 percent agreed that traffic delays are usually minimized as much as possible in work zones, a 10 percent increase from the 2010 survey, but only 45 percent agreed projects are usually completed within the time projected by WYDOT. Over the past two years, 80 percent of WYDOT’s projects were completed on time.

 

On the subject of winter highway maintenance, 75 percent of residents said highways are plowed promptly, and 73 percent said plowing and sanding is done thoroughly, a drop of 6 percent from the previous survey.

 

Overall satisfaction remained high with services offered at driver license offices around the state despite the longer lines created by new security requirements for verification of identity, residence and Social Security numbers to get or renew driver licenses.

 

Of the 65 percent of respondents who had conducted business at a driver license office during the past two years, 90 percent said they were satisfied with the courtesy of the staff at that office. Seventy-seven percent said they were satisfied with the promptness of the staff, down 9 percent from 2010.

 

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said they had direct contact with Highway Patrol personnel during the past two years, and 77 percent of them said Patrol personnel treat people with courtesy, 74 percent said the Patrol responds in a timely manner, and 84 percent said the Patrol met their expectations.

 

High satisfaction was expressed with the department’s efforts to keep the public informed, with 82 percent of the respondents expressing satisfaction with how WYDOT communicates, up 8 percent from the 2010 results.

 

Other survey findings include: