Marketing Research Paper

Marketing Research Paper Marketing Research Paper | | |How to Market an After-Hours STS Service | |MGT 5019 Summer 2011 | | | | | |8/8/2011 | | | Marketing Need In most communities nationwide, access to public transit during late-night or early-morning hours is limited at best. Many transit providers, especially those operating in smaller communities, only provide services through the early evening hours. In other communities, transportation services end at or before 1:00 a.m. Among the 11 large metropolitan transit systems that offer both heavy-rail and bus services,(Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio; Los Angeles and San Francisco, Calif.; Miami Fla.; New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Washington, D.C), 9 provide after-midnight services on weeknights and weekends on at least some routes. Yet how are service needs met in other communities? In many communities, transit agencies have implemented late-night services designed to meet the transportation needs of night-time bar goers and socialites. Late-night service will aim to meet the needs of people who wish to go out and have a good time and not have to worry about drinking and driving. Right now, the only options for people who visit a bar are that they have to drink and drive, ride with a friend or call a cab. Calling a cab in our area is not difficult but can be costly and you may have to wait quite a while before actually getting home. Riding with a friend is fine but still more than likely the person driving will have a drink or two and end up driving under the influence. This leads us to the need for a public transportation service that caters to the socialites and bar goers. The proposal is not for a new business, but rather to extend the St. Mary’s County bus service already being provided through St. Mary’s Transit System (STS). Current Product The STS is the public transportation system in St. Mary’s County, it is a division of the County Department of Public Works. The mission statement of STS is â€Å" To provide safe, dependable and cost effective transportation to our customers and mobility for all residents†. The STS provides fixed route, ADA paratransit, and agency contract service throughout the county. The fixed route service is a system of providing public transportation on which a vehicle is a long set route according to a fixed schedule. Paratransit is a more flexible mode of public of public transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules. STS uses this form of service to provide transportation to disabled people who are unable to use fixed route transportation. Agencies such as the Health Department, the Department of Aging, and the Department of Social services will often contract for STS services. STS runs eight fixed routes on weekdays generally from 6:00am to 6:00pm. The eight fixed routes on the weekdays are the following: 1. Lexington Park/Leonardtown, 2. Charlotte Hall, 3. Great Mills, 4. Leonardtown Loop, 5. Route 5 Express, 6. Calvert Connection, 7. Northern Route, and 8. Southern Route. The primary