MBTA Rider Census underway

Want the T to consider your commute when it makes decisions about service?

If you haven’t already, head to the MBTA’s website to take the Rider Census underway now.

The survey, which launched last week, asks users about their most recent trip using the service: how long it took to get to their destination, what line they used and whether they walked, biked or used some other form of transportation to get to and from T stops, among other questions.

The MBTA is required to collect ridership data every five years.

It’s brief. It took a Metro reporter seven minutes to complete. And it will help the T “evaluate current service, develop service plans and gauge the impact of proposed service or fare changes,” according to a news release.

It won’t, however, impact decisions “in the immediate future,” the release said. It also doesn’t ask riders’ opinions.

For those who want to share more information, the online poll gives each respondent the option to let the MBTA track their travel using their CharlieCard ID number.

The T pledged that all personal information collected would remain confidential.

It will be available online at MBTA.com/census in nine languages until sometime in mid-December, T spokesman Jason Johnson told Metro.

Then, paper copies will be distributed starting in early 2016, with an emphasis on the routes that were least well-represented in the online survey, Johnson said.

He said the agency hopes to hear from 50,000 riders.