The second part of the pair of polls that we ran over this and last month looked at the motivation behind what people do while they’re on transit. The results of the first poll, “How do you spend most of your time on transit?” showed that most people either look out the window, listen to music or read.

Looking at the results of this month’s poll, it’s not surprising that many of the motivations matched the actions. Wanting to relax, rest, escape or be entertained on transit can certainly result from looking out the window, listening to music or reading. Fourteen per cent of those who took the poll answered that they wanted to prepare for what they are doing after their trip. I expected that these poll options would get the most votes.

The other results were a surprise to me. No one answered that they wanted to communicate. I included this option because I see and hear many people on transit using their phones. Maybe it’s because people don’t talk on their phones “most” of the time. The “I want to meet new people” option also failed to get any votes. I know that most people don’t see transit as a meet n’ greet, but I thought at least one person would choose this option. However, three per cent of voters did say they wanted to be around other people. This tells me that some people make a firm distinction between being around people and meeting people.

I would have chosen the option, “I want to work” which only garnered three per cent of the vote. It seems that I’m in the minority. I guess it’s a good thing that this option scored low since so many of us work too much.

Looking at how everyone answered, it’s really nice to see that most of the people taking the poll see transit as a place to relax and enjoy.

Thanks to everyone who took the poll and helped shine some light on this human aspect of transit. As always, I’d love to hear your ideas for poll questions and what questions you’d like answered regarding transit in Metro Vancouver.