7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) For this assignment, I have decided to research more about my topic of a bus system on post at the military installation I currently live on for soldiers, DOD civilians and their families to make up for the lack of public transportation offered here.

2) The Who: The prototypical customer would be anyone that would use transportation on this particular military installation.

The What: This would provide a bus system for everyone on post.

The Why: This opportunity exists because of the lack of public transportation on post.

3)

• Testing the who: I believe this could be a need that is not met across many military installations. 

• Testing the what: I believe the boundaries of this need would be if these particular people have other means of transportation or prefer a different means of transportation.

• Testing the why: I believe this is a need because many new and young soldiers or families can not afford a vehicle or more than one vehicle.

4)

Interview #1
I interviewed a soldier who's first duty station is here. He told me that he is unable to buy a car because he is young and does not have any credit yet. He stated that its to expensive for him to buy a car at the moment. He has only been here for a couple months and finds rides from fellow soldiers. He supports the idea of a bus system as it would allow him to go places whenever he needed to.

Interview #2
I interviewed a mom that lives on post and has one child. She stated that her family is not financially able to buy another vehicle which leaves her stranded at home when her spouse goes to work. She supports the idea of a bus system because it would allow her to take her child to the park when her spouse is at work.

Interview #3
I interviewed another mom who lives off post but works on post. She is a single mom and commutes every day to work with her car. She stated how she would not necessarily need buses on post but would think it would help a lot of people. She also stated how her child is really into cars and trucks and would find it fun to simply ride on a bus.

Interview #4
I interviewed a father of two children who has two children that are driving age. He is a soldier and they live on post. He stated that he would find a bus system helpful for his children as it would allow them to pick up a small job on post and be able to save up for a car. He stated how sometimes he isn't able to drive his children to their jobs due to him being at work and would find the bus system extremely helpful. He stated that he would personally not use it but his family would.

Interview #5
I interviewed my husband who is a soldier and he stated that he would support the idea of a bus system because he has multiple soldiers who do not have vehicles and he gives rides to. He would not personally use the bus system as we reside off post but it would be helpful because he would not have to worry about his soldiers being late to work.

5) After my interviews, I found that a vast majority of people supported the idea of a bus system. Many stated that they would use it or would know people that might use it. I think this is a great opportunity and if followed through would help a lot of people.

I also wanted to add a note because on my last post a lot of people stated they did not see there being enough customers for it to be successful. I just wanted to put in it into perspective how big a military installation is. On this post there are 5 elementary schools, a middle school, 5 neighborhoods and is home to more than 10,000 soldiers, this does not include their families or DOD civilians that could potentially use this bus system. Just thought I'd put that out there for people who are unfamiliar with military instatllations.

Thanks for reading!