By Hector Gonzalez
Special to The Lookout

March 3, 2016-- The City wants to know how you get around town. Santa Monica officials hope to get a better picture of what modes of transportation residents use to get about the City, and will pay a research firm an extra $69,000 to find out.

Culver City-based Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, which was brought on board in July to conduct Santa Monica's bi-annual Citywide Resident Satisfaction Survey, will now broaden the scope of the survey to include a mobility component, said a staff report.

Collecting that transportation data now, before the Expo Light Rail opens in Santa Monica on May 20, is important, said staff.

The information will help officials establish a baseline for comparing how residents' modes of travel might change after the new train service starts operating between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.

“It is the City’s intention to conduct a replicable survey of resident’s travel to be able to conduct subsequent surveys after the Expo Line has begun to assess changes in resident’s travel behavior,” said staff.

Goodwin Simon's original agreement with the City called for the firm to deliver two surveys over a four-year period at a cost not to exceed $83,400.

But the research company's contract with the City has been modified twice since then by the City Council. In January, Council members approved an additional $40,000 for Goodwin Simon to include a housing component to the survey to “gauge support for various potential affordable housing strategies,” said a staff report.

The addition of the mobility survey, which was approved by Council members this week as part of the consent calendar on Tuesday's meeting agenda, brings Goodwin Simon's contract now to an amount not to exceed $192,450.

Officials hope the satisfaction survey reaches all segments of the City, said staff.

“The Bi-Annual Citywide Resident Satisfaction Survey will utilize a traditional methodology that relies on random digit dial land line, enhanced voter list, and enhanced listed wireless numbers to provide a sample of responding residents that align with the most recent census demographic figures for the City regarding resident age, gender, ethnicity, auto-ownership, and income levels,” said staff.

In past surveys, 400 residents were contacted by phone. The survey questions include queries that are asked each year in order to compare results from year to year, said a July staff report.

“Additional questions were also developed to address emerging issues, meet operational needs of City departments for more in-depth information, and to establish benchmarks on key services,” said the report.

Goodwin Simon was chosen to do the survey after a bidding process based on the firm's knowledge of the City. The company conducted the 2007 resident survey, said staff.