2 minute read

WYDOT releases data from 2023 Customer Satisfaction Survey

Next Article
Passings

Passings

By Jordan Achs

Every other year, the University of Wyoming’s Survey and Analysis Center conducts a Customer Satisfaction Survey for the Wyoming Department of Transportation to get feedback from the people around the state the agency serves.

WYDOT uses the survey results to help gauge whether the agency is meeting its mission and goals as well as to help improve services, policies and procedures.

“Constructive feedback is vital to any organization,” said WYDOT Interim Director Darin Westby. “This kind of data can give us insights into where we can grow and where the agency is excelling.”

This was the eleventh iteration of the survey, with responses gathered through the month of February 2023. New this iteration was a dual-mode option, where respondents could answer the survey online or over the phone. Although new, the web option was the most popular, with over half of the 1,004 respondents using that method.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they are satisfied with the overall stewardship of the transportation system and with how WYDOT communicates to the public.

Survey results show WYDOT’s 511 tools continue to increase in popularity; between the 2020 and 2023 surveys, there was a 9 percent increase in respondents who reported using the Wyoming 511 mobile app, and a 3.3 percent increase in respondents who reported using the road condition webcams on the 511 website.

Usage of WYDOT’s website also increased, with 76.8 percent of respondents saying they used it this year compared to 68.1 percent in 2020.

Driver Services also received high marks. Sixty-seven percent of survey participants said they had conducted some sort of business at a Driver Services location in Wyoming within the last two years. Of those, 76 percent indicated they were satisfied with the promptness of service, and 85 percent said they were satisfied with the courtesy of staff.

Of the 66 percent of respondents who visited an airport for any reason over the past two years, 78 percent expressed satisfaction with the overall facilities.

WYDOT’s rest area facilities also received high marks, with 85 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied with the cleanliness of the state’s rest areas.

When looking at the last three surveys, which have the same questions for comparative analysis, there was a 3.4 percent increase in agreement that the Wyoming Highway Patrol is courteous and respectful. This is by far the largest increase in satisfaction across the agency in the 2018-2023 surveys. The WHP had the only other increase in satisfaction in the same time frame, with a 1.2 percent increase in satisfaction with how WHP responds to calls.

It wasn’t all good news and high scores. Satisfaction with road quality and maintenance dipped in 2023, with 82 percent of respondents reporting being satisfied after a highway construc- tion project versus 85 percent in 2020. There was an 8 percent decrease in respondents who agreed that highway conditions have improved in the last two years.

Which of the following resources have you used to obtain road and driving conditions within the past two years?

Some of the biggest negative changes were with winter and spring maintenance. Satisfaction with overall maintenance of the highways, including guardrails or potholes, dropped 10 percent since the 2020 survey. There was also a 10 percent drop in respondent satisfaction that WYDOT plows the roads thoroughly since the 2020 survey.

“When the survey was being conducted, WYDOT was in the throes of a record-breaking winter season,” said Chief Engineer Mark Gillett. “Even with that context, it does seem that WYDOT’s budgetary and staffing constraints have started showing in the survey results.”

To read the full Customer Satisfaction Survey, visit WYDOT’s website at: http://www.dot.state.wy.us/home/news_info.html.

This article is from: