The segment I am focusing on targeting is University of Florida students who live off campus. I am also choosing to focus on those who do not have a car or scooter because they are forced to find alternate modes of transportation to get around. Although people who have cars and scooters do not use them all the time, they most likely use them to travel around at night, so they do not fit into the segment I am targeting.
Interviews:
1. The first person I interviewed was an off-campus male who did not have a car or scooter. His unmet need for transportation is most evident when he has club meetings or stays at the library studying until late. Most times he leaves between 12:00 to 1:00 am, so he ends up walking home at night. He is aware that it is not safe to walk home at night however, he does not feel scared because he does not think he will be targeted since he is a male. When he realizes it is time to go home if he doesn't want to walk home, he will take an uber or try to get a ride from one of his friends on campus. He lives about half a mile off-campus so he does not mind the walk home except for when it is cold and windy at night.
2. The second person I interviewed was a girl who also lived about half of a mile off campus. She mostly has the unmet needs when she is studying late in the library fo ran exam. Some days she ends up staying in the library until 1:00 or 2:00 am. Since she does not have a car she usually walks with a friend or takes an Uber home. She does not feel safe walking home at night because she is aware that females can be attacked at night. When she realizes the need to go home without having a car, she will usually look for friends who are also walking home, or she will pay for an Uber.
3. The third person I interviewed lives a little over half a mile away from the school, saying it is about a 12-minute walk to get home. She says she does not have the need very often because she tries not to leave campus too late. She does this because she knows she does not feel comfortable walking home alone at night. She says the robberies that happen also make her more scared of walking alone at night. When she does have to walk home, she will either uber if it is after 11:00pm or if it is before she will talk on the phone with someone while she is walking because it makes her feel safer.
Through my research, I had learned that the unmet need for night transportation is a need that is aware throughout off-campus students. However, as I had stated in previous posts, I do not think a lot of males would be affected by this idea because they do not feel as unsafe at night as females. I also learned that students walking home at night are more conscious of the danger they could be facing than I thought they were. They are actually trying their best to avoid being in the situation of walking home alone at night, and when they do, they try to take as many precautions as possible.
Hi Agatha! I like how you targeted UF students who live on campus who don’t use cars. As someone who owns a car, I rarely use it to drive to campus, so when I stay on campus until late, I usually take the bus, but even then, I don’t feel too safe. I’m glad that your interviews confirmed the unmet need for night transportation for off-campus students, because it really is scary walking at night, even just to walk to the bus stop.
ReplyDeleteHey Agatha!
ReplyDeleteI can also agree with your interviewers. I live almost a mile from campus and think that this is great for people who go to campus late at night and have no transportation home. This prevents people from going to club meetings at night and also the library. If I had this when I was a freshman I would have been more involved on campus.