Report on Focus Groups for Fleet Credit Card Services

Report on Focus Groups for Fleet Credit Card Services

Qualitative Research
One Focus Group
Austin, February 22, 2014
conducted for
During
Feria Para Aprender
720 Barton Creek Blvd. Austin, Texas 78746 Tel: (512) 306-7393 www.focuslatino.com
Qualitative Research
Capital Metro
Project Connect
Report
2/24/14
Focus Latino was commissioned by Feria Para Aprender to conduct
one focus group among people that visited this event on behalf of
Capital Metro.
I.
Methodology
One focus group was conducted in Austin on February 22, 2014
during Feria Para Aprender. The participants were recruited from the
attendants and were representative of the Hispanic city’s population
that resided in the Travis County.
 Group #1: 10 participants, 8 women and 2 men. All with1, 2 or
4 children. Only two of the mothers worked, one in a restaurant
and one as a housekeeper. The rest were homemakers. One of
the fathers one worked in construction and the other was
retired. He took his grandchildren to Feria para Aprender. With
the exception of one US born, the rest have lived in Austin from
8 to 18 years.
 Participants were from the Zip Codes: 78758, 78753, 78752,
78747, 78745 and 78702.
2
Statement of Limitation: Focus groups are a qualitative research methodology
that seeks to develop insight and direction rather than provide quantitative or
absolute measures. The results of this study are based on the attitudes and
opinions of 10 participants. As such, the research is most valuable when
regarded as diagnostic in nature and used directionally.
II.
Background & Objectives
Capital Metro is planning a major expansion of the number of routes
and it is working to serve current and future transportation needs with
convenient and reliable high-capacity transit service that connects the
core of Austin to activity centers throughout our region. The Central
Corridor Priority Area spans from East Riverside, downtown Austin,
State Capitol Complex, and UT Campus to the emerging ACC
Highland transit-oriented redevelopment
Focus Latino was contracted to conduct a focus group to evaluate the
Project Connect, and specifically Central Corridor, to gain insights,
perceptions and needs by Users and Non-Users of Public
Transportation.
III.
Key Findings
Perceptions & Imagery
 At the beginning of the session a short time was spent to gain
insights into the consumers’ perceptions and imagery of the
existing Capital Metro. All ten participants have their own
vehicle, but seven had used the bus in the past. Participants,
3
who used the bus in the past, as well as those Non-Users, had
many more negative than positive perceptions of these. Top of
Mind comments included the following:
- Capital Metro is very limited and doesn’t go where they need to go.
Examples were: Leander, Killeen, San Marcos among others.
- Moving by car is faster, “you don’t have to wait”
- They feel more secure in their cars because the way they drive or the
people fighting on the bus.
- Don’t know the routes.
- It is difficult to go grocery shopping by bus or if you have to carry heavy
or many things like water.
- The cost is very expensive, “they should have a program, a Monthly
Pass for frequent travelers and/or a pass that includes free transfers”.
- None had used the Rail service, but were of aware of it.
- The only positive comment was the priority they give to handicap or
elderly people.
 All participants were aware that Capital Metro is the City’s
Public Transportation system.
4
 They all think Capital Metro is a strong company that is working
at 50% of its capacity to meet the needs of the users.
- “they don’t know the needs of the people that ride the bus”.
 When asked what they should do, majority said:
- “their directors should ride the bus on regular basis to understand our
needs (distance to get the bus, time involved, schedules, cost, etc)”.
 Some participants said that it would be good that all buses and
trains be equipped with WiFi - and not just the new ones.
Project Connect – Central Corridor
- When presented the expansion plans for Capital Metro and
specifically the Project Connect Central Corridor Study which
will define the next high-capacity transit investment for the
Austin’s community, all participants showed interest and
mentioned that it could be a good solution to alleviate Austin’s
traffic and pollution.
- The fact that it is planning to connect to different activity centers
makes it more appealing to majority so they could move around
easily.
- They were surprised there were no routes planned for Bee
Caves (2244) to the West
5
- One participant mentioned that Austin, having the growth it is
having, should consider an underground or elevated public
transportation system like other big cities have.
Evaluation of Purpose Statements
- Due to many challenges that need to be addressed by Capital
Metro in the coming years, the following proposed Purpose
Statements were evaluated in this group.
-
Congestion
Core
Constraints
Centers
Growth
System
Funding
-
We handed out the statements and instructed participants to
evaluate the importance of each statement, one at a time after
presented by Moderator out loud.
-
Participants rated the statement in terms of how important they
consider it for the Austin community on a scale from 1 (not
important at all) to 5 (very important), and repeated this for
each Statement.
- After all 7 Statements were evaluated, participants had to rank
them in order of importance from 1 – 7. Obtaining the following
results:
6
Purpose Statements
Average Grade
Congestion
Core
Constraints
Centers
Growth
System
Funding
Purpose
4.7
4.8
4.3
4.8
4.9
4.9
4.7
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
Statement
Place
Place
Place
Place
Place
Place
Place
Congestion
9
1
Core
2
3
2
Constraints
3
1
1
Centers
2
3
Growth
2
2
System
Funding
1
2
2
1
3
1
1
4
1
3
2
1
2
2
2
4
1
1
3
2
• When presented the Purpose Statements one by one, all
participants graded them very high – between 4.3 and 4.9; but when
they had to rank them in order of importance, Congestion was by far
considered the most important with 9 out of 10 votes. This was not
surprising, as traffic has grown so much in Austin.
• Core and Centers both received 5 votes combined as being #2 or
#3 in importance. The perceived benefits of not fighting traffic or
finding parking were considered very important in being able to get to
7
the core area of the city as well as to travel between important activity
centers.
• While Constraints and Growth each received 4 combined votes as
#2 or #3, these seemed to come as a result of respondents simply
accepting the fact that Austin had outgrown itself.
• System received no votes as # #2 or #3 and Funding received only
3 votes combined for either #2 or #3. These concepts were less
important as they did not provide respondents with an end benefit,
but were instead a means to an end.
Congestion
Provide a reliable alternative to congestion in the Central Corridor.
Traffic is one of the biggest problems facing the Central Corridor. We
can't build our way out of congestion - we need real alternatives to
sitting in traffic.
8
Constraints
Provide a project compatible with urban physical constraints.
Our city has grown up around our existing street network, leaving little
room for new transportation infrastructure. We need a project that fits
within these types of constraints.
Core and Centers with 3 votes each as #3 in importance.
Core
Reinforce the success of the core through improved access &
affordable mobility.
The core of our region is our economic engine and cultural center.
9
However, many of us struggle to get there for jobs, special events
and entertainment because of a lack of transportation options. We
need to provide better access to the core, and help lower household
transportation costs.
Centers – also received 4 votes as #5 in importance
Provide connectivity to the city's and region's activity centers.
Our collective vision for Austin and the region is to focus growth into
activity centers. We need high quality transit connections between
these centers.
10
Growth
Serve current demands and shape future growth.
Our transportation system has simply not kept up with our growth. We
now have significant demand for transportation alternatives, yet as
we continue to grow, we have an opportunity to get ahead of the
curve. We need to serve current demands without losing site of future
demands.
Funding
We need to be competitive for Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
funding.
Federal funding will be critical to making our dollars go farther;
however, it is not guaranteed. We need to develop a project that can
successfully compete for scarce federal resources.
11
System
We need to implement an integrated high-capacity transit system.
For the first time we have a regional high-capacity transit plan, with
multiple lines converging on the Central Corridor. We need to build
out this system and ensure that each investment works together
cohesively.
Evaluation Of Characteristics
• Four characteristics were also evaluated with the same
methodology as the Purpose Statements, first presenting each, one
at a time, and having participants rate/grade these from 1 (not
important at all) to 5 (very important). Moderator explained how
12
Service preferences will help the Central Corridor Study team identify
the best type of transit and routes to serve the priority area.
- Speed
- Stop Spacing
- Frequency
- Reliability
• The ratings varied, with Frequency and Speed receiving the
highest ratings of 4.5 and 4.2 respectively; again a reflection of
respondents’ concern for getting to their destinations as quickly as
possible and on time.
• When they had to rank these characteristics Speed received a total
of 8 votes as being #1 or #2 in importance of which 3 votes were for
#1, while Frequency received 6 votes, of which 4 were as #1s.
Reliability received 4 votes as being #1 or #2.
Stop Spacing received only 1 vote as #1, 1 vote as #2, 2 votes as #3
and 6 votes as #4. Many were concerned that by having fewer stops,
they would not arrive close to their ultimate destination.
Characteristics
Average Grade
Speed
4.2
Stop Spacing
3.9
Frequency
4.5
Reliability
3.7
13
Characteristics
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Place
Place
Place
Place
Speed
3
5
2
Stop Spacing
1
1
2
6
Frequency
4
2
2
2
Reliability
2
2
4
2
Frequency
What is the frequency of the transit service? Is the service
frequent enough to allow for multiple connections when trips
require transfers? Higher frequency can sometimes mean more
vehicles on the ground or a vehicle with a faster speed to
accommodate expectations.
14
Speed
What is the speed between stations? Will my total trip take
about as long as taking my car? A faster moving transit
vehicle could mean stops that are further apart, but could also
raise attractiveness to the system for those who prefer their
cars.
Reliability
Does the service arrive on time? Does it run on time during rush
hour as well as during other times? A more reliable service
tends to have more dedicated right-­‐of-­‐way such as dedicated
lanes or tracks that make it essentially immune to factors such
as congestion.
15
Stop Spacing
How far apart are the stations? Frequent stops could mean a
slower moving vehicle or service but can also mean
accommodating more people with more stops along a route.
IV. Conclusions & Recommendations.
16
• Latinos in Austin are most concerned about having a transit system
that will take them as quickly as possible to their destination, thus
considering Congestion the most important Purpose Statement.
• They considered the need for routes to the Core area and between
activity Centers from different points of the city to be the next most
important.
• As such, the Frequency and Speed characteristics were of most
importance to them.
• Since these results were from only one focus group conducted as
part of Feria Para Aprender, in which respondents were not
professionally recruited (but rather simply invited to participate that
morning and as such unfortunately none were not current Capital
Metro users), we would recommend conducting a formal round of
focus groups to be conducted in a research facility among Hispanic
Bus & Rail Users and Non-Users, to have a better idea of consumer
perceptions and opinions so that you could compare results with the
Community Open House Workshop surveys conducted.
17
Apendix
- Screener
- Discussion Guide
- Purpose Statements in Spanish
18
- Characteristics in Spanish
FOCUS GROUP SCREEN
Recruit 10 for 8 to show per Group
1 Mixed Hispanic Groups Males & Females
Nombre del participante:_____________________________________________
Dirección: ________________________________________________________
Zip Code: ____________________________
Teléfono Casa: ____________________ Cell: __________________________
19
Email: __________________________________________________________
Reclutador: ______________________________________________________
Hola, mi nombre es ________ y me gustaría invitarlo(a) a participar en un grupo
de discusión que tomará lugar aquí a las 10:00am . No hay obligación o
compromiso de ninguna clase. La discusión tomará una hora y media y podemos
ofrecerle cuidado para sus niños mientras usted participa. También le
pagaremos $20 en forma de tarjeta de regalo de HEB. ¿Le gustaría participar?
sus opiniones le servirán a usted y a la comunidad. ¿Me permite hacerle unas
preguntas?
1) ¿En que idioma se siente meas cómodo hablando?
(
(
(
(
) Inglés
) Español
) Ambos
) Otro
TERMINE
CONTINUE
TERMINE
TERMINE
2) ¿A qué grupo étnico considera que pertenece?
( ) Anglo / Caucásico TERMINE
( ) Africano Americano TERMINE
( ) Hispano CONTUE
( ) Otro TERMINATE3) Favor de anotar sexo
( ) Hombre
) Mujer
Reclutar 5 hombres y 5 mujeres para el grupo
4) ¿Me puede decir a que county / condado pertenece el lugar donde vive?
( ) Travis
CONTINUE
( ) Williamson
TERMINE
( ) Bastrop
TERMINE
( ) Caldwell
TERMINE
( ) Burnet
TERMINE
( ) Blanco
TERMINE
( ) Hays
TERMINE
SOLOAMENTE reclutar personas que viven en el condado de Travis
(
5) Favor de decirme si usted o alguien en su familia o amigos cercanos trabajan
o están retirados de cualquiera de los siguientes negocios o industrias.
• ¿Agencia de Publicidad, Diseño Gráfico, Relaciones Públicas o una compañía
de Estudios de Mercado? ( ) Si TERMINE ( ) No CONTINUE
20
• ¿Una Estación de TV o radio, periódico, revista o compañía que hace las
carteleras que ve a lo largo de las grandes acebedas o carreteras?
( ) Si TERMINE ( ) No CONTINUE
• ¿Una compañía que provee cualquier tipo deservicio para el transporte público
(fabricante, proveedor, oficina administrativa, mantenimiento o chofer ya sea
para Cap Metro o una compañía de Taxis)?
( ) Si TERMINA
( ) No CONTINUE
5) ¿Alguna vez ha participado en un estudio de mercadotecnia ya sea en grupo
o en una entrevista acerca de productos o servicios?
( ) Si Pregunte #5a ( ) No Vaya a #6
5a. ¿Cuándo fue la última vez que participó en una discusión en grupo o
entrevista acerca de productos o servicios? _________________________
SI MENOS DE 6 MESES TERMINE, DE LO CONTRARIO CONTINUE
5b. ¿Cuál fue el tema de discusión? ________________________
Si fue sobre algún tipo de transporte público (camión, taxis) TERMINE
6) ¿Me podría decir su edad? ? _________ años.
SI EL PARTICIPANTE NO OFRECE EDAD, LEER CATEGORÍAS.
( ) 18 - 19
( ) 35-39
( ) 50 - 54
( ) 20 - 30
( ) 40-44
( ) 55
( ) 31 - 34
( ) 45-49
Reclutar una mezcla de edades
7) ¿Cuál de las siguientes categorías describe mejor su edo civil?
( )Soltero( )Casado ( )Vive con su pareja( )Divorciado/Separado ( )Viudo
Reclutar individuos de diferente estado civil
8)¿Cuál es su ocupación principal y dónde trabaja si es que trabaja?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
RECLUTAR una mezcla de diferentes ocupaciones de diferentes sectores y
compañías, incluyendo empleados de gobierno que trabajan en el centro.
9) ¿Tiene usted un vehículo/ auto/ coche? ( ) SI
( ) NO
10) ¿ que método de transporte usa normalmente para moverse alrededor de
Austin? LEER OPCIONE( ) Usualmente manejo mi propio auto
( ) Usualmente me muevo en el autobús / camión
( ) Usualmente tomo Taxi
( ) Normalmente me muevo con amigos / familiares
Tratar de reclutar 6 personas que usualmente toman el “autobús / camión”
21
12) Le voy a leer diferentes rangos de Ingresos Familiares Anuales. ¿Cuál
de los siguientes describe mejor el de su cada? LERR LISTA
( ) Menos de $19,999
( ) Entre $40,000 a $49,999
( ) Entre $20,000 a $29,999
( ) Entre $50,000 a $59,999
( ) Entre $30,000 a $39,999
( ) $60,000 o más
Reclutar hombres y mujeres (mezclados) con una variedad de ingresos
13) ¿Cuál fue el último año escolar que usted completó? _______________
Reclutar diferentes niveles de ecuación.
Le voy a hacer una pregunta general …. ¿Cuál es su actividad(es) de
pasatiempo favorita(s) y por qué?
________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Si contesta “No se” “no tengo idea” o le da una respuesta d 10 palabras o
menos, TERMINE. Estamos interesados en individuos que estén
dispuestos a compartir sus opiniones.
Estaremos llevando a cabo un grupo de discusión sobre el sistema de transporte
público a las 10:00am aquí, durante Feria para Aprender. Durará una hora y
media y les daremos un incentivo de $20 Dls en forma de tarjeta de regalo de
HEB por sus opiniones. ¿Podría acompañarnos?
( ) Si CONTINUE, Y LLENE EL PRINCIPIO DE LA HOJA UNO.
( ) NO TERMINE
Capital Metro
Project Connect Central Corridor
Revised Discussion Guide
Introduction
(10 minutes)
Moderator to present herself and explain purpose.
Rules: - Independent
22
- All opinions are valid
- No right or wrong answers
Introduction of participants - Name
- Family Composition
- Zip code of home address
- Country of Origin / Years living in Austin
- Household composition
- Occupation
Top of Mind Awareness, Imagery & Usage
(10 minutes)
• Do you ever use public transportation (bus, rail, taxi)? Why? Why Not?
- For those that used the bus or rail in the past but not currently ¿why did
you stop riding the bus?
RIDERS:
- How often do you ride the bus / rail? For what purposes?
- How long have you been riding the bus / rail?
- Where do you ride the bus / rail from / to?
NON-RIDERS:
- Why don’t you ride the bus / rail?
• What is the name of the bus transportation system in Austin?
• What comes to mind when you think of Capital Metro?
• What else can you tell me about Capital Metro?
• What are the strengths or weaknesses of Capital Metro?
• What kind of a company / organization is Capital Metro?
Project Connect Central Corridor
(60 minutes)
Explain and show Map of Project Connect from Georgetown through Austin
down to San Antonio.
• What do you think of this?
23
• What destinations are / would be of most interest to you?
• What will this project do for the Austin community?
Now let’s talk about The Project Connect Central Corridor Study which will define
the next high-capacity transit investment for our community.
Capital Metro is working to serve current and future transportation needs with
convenient and reliable high-capacity transit service that connects the core of
Austin to activity centers throughout our region. The Central Corridor Priority
Area spans from East Riverside, downtown Austin, State Capitol Complex, and
UT Campus to the emerging ACC Highland transit-oriented redevelopment
Purpose Statements
(40 minutes)
There are many challenges that need to be addressed by Capital Metro in the
coming years. No one project can solve everything, so they need to know which
of their regional challenges and opportunities are most important to the
community for them to address. The proposed Purpose Statements were created
from the first phase of their study, and we would like to get your opinions.
- Congestion
- Core
- Constraints
- Centers
- Growth
- System
- Funding
Pass out statements and instruct participants to evaluate the importance of each
statement, one at a time after presented by Moderator.
Moderator to present each statement, one at a time, reading these out loud.
Upon finishing each Statement, Moderator to ask.
• Is this clear? If not will clarify.
Then have participants rate the statement in terms of how important they
consider it for the Austin community on a scale from 1 (not important at all) to 5
(very important).
• Who graded this a “4 or 5” --- “3” ---- “1 or 2” ??????
• For each of the highest and lowest grades, probe for reasons why
Repeat for each Statement.
24
After all 7 Statements have been evaluated, now please choose the three most
important Statements and rank these #1, #2 & #3 according to how important you
consider them to be.
Service Characteristics (20 minutes)
Moderator to explain how Service preferences will help the Central Corridor
Study team identify the best type of transit and routes to serve the priority area.
- Speed
- Stop Spacing
- Frequency
- Reliability
Hand out sheet with the 4 Service alternatives to participants. Moderator to read
each one out loud.
Moderator to present each Characteristic, one at a time, reading these out loud.
Upon finishing each Characteristic, Moderator to ask……
• Is this clear? If not will clarify.
Then have participants rate the Characteristic in terms of how important they
consider it to be to themselves personally on a scale from 1 (not important at all)
to 5 (very important).
• Who graded this a “4 or 5” --- “3” ---- “1 or 2” ??????
• For each of the highest and lowest grades, probe for reasons why
Repeat for each Characteristic.
After all 4 Characterstics have been evaluated, now please rank these #1, #2, #3
& #4 according to how important you consider them to be.
Moderator to tally votes and ask each respondent
• Why did you chose characteristic _______________ as #1?
E)
Summary
(10 minutes)
• After seeing what Capital Metro is planning, does your opinion of the company
change in any way? How?
25
• Those of you who use Capital Metro, do you think that with the changes
planned, you might use the bus system less, the same, or more than you do
now? Why?
• Do those of you who do not use Capital Metro think that with the changes
planned, you might use them in the future? Why? Why Not?
• Do you have any other comments
• Thank you for your participation and dismiss.
Evaluación Puntos de Enfoque
Existen muchos problemas y retos que tienen que solucionarse en este
estudio. No hay proyecto que pueda solucionarlo todo. Así que como
vayamos definiendo un proyecto necesitamos conocer cual de nuestros
retos regionales y oportunidades son más importantes para enfrentar. Los
siguientes puntos de enfoque fueron sacados de la primera fase de nuestro
estudio y necesitamos su opinión.
Calificar del 1 - 5 y después seleccionar en orden de importancia
26
__________A) Congestión
Proveer una alternativa viable para reducir la congestión en el Corredor
Central.
El tráfico es uno de los problemas más grandes. No podemos reducir la
congestión de tráfico a base de construcción – necesitamos verdaderas
alternativas para no estar sentados en el tráfico.
1
2
3
4
5
____________B) Área Central
Reforzar el éxito del área central mediante mejor acceso y movilidad a
mejor precio.
El área central de nuestra región es nuestro motor económico y centro
cultural. Sin embargo, muchos luchamos para llegar ahí a nuestro trabajo,
eventos especiales y entretenimiento debido a la falta de opciones de
transporte. Necesitamos proveer mejor acceso para llegar a esta área
central y ayudar a bajar los costos de transporte.
1
2
3
4
5
27
____________C) Limitaciones
Proveer un proyecto compatible con las limitaciones urbanas.
Nuestra ciudad ha crecido alrededor de nuestra red existente de calles,
dejando poco espacio para una nueva infraestructura de tránsito.
Necesitamos un proyecto que encaje con este tipo de limitaciones.
1
2
3
4
5
____________D) Centros
Proveer conectividad a los centros de actividad de la ciudad y la región.
Nuestra visión colectiva para Austin y el resto de la región es enfocar el
crecimiento hacia los centros de actividad. Necesitamos conexiones de
transito de alta calidad entre estos centros.
1
2
3
4
5
28
____________E) Crecimiento
Servir a la demanda actual y diseñar el crecimiento futuro.
Nuestro sistema de transporte simplemente no se ha mantenido a la par
con nuestro crecimiento. Ahora tenemos una demanda significante para
alternativas de transporte, pero mientras continuamos creciendo, tenemos
la oportunidad de adelantarnos a las necesidades. Necesitamos servir a la
demanda actual sin perder de vista las demandas del futuro.
1
2
3
4
5
____________F) Sistema
Necesitamos implementar un sistema de transporte integrado y de alta
capacidad.
Por primera vez tenemos un plan de transporte regional de alta capacidad,
con múltiples líneas (rutas) juntándose en el Corredor Central. Necesitamos
construir este sistema para asegura que cada inversión trabaje
conjuntamente en armonía.
1
2
3
4
5
29
_______________G) Financiamiento
Necesitamos ser competitivos para los financiamientos del Federal Transit
Administration (FTA).
El financiamiento federal será esencial para hacer que nuestros dólares
rindan más; sin embargo, no está garantizado. Necesitamos desarrollar un
proyecto que pueda competir exitosamente para poder obtener los escasos
recursos federales.
1
2
3
4
5
Características del Servicio
Las preferencias del servicio servirán al equipo que estudia el Corredor Central para
identificar los mejores tipos de transporte y rutas para servir el área de mayor prioridad.
Calificar del 1 -5 y después seleccionar en orden de importancia
_________A) Velocidad
¿Cuál es la velocidad entre estaciones o paradas? ¿El viaje tomará el mismo tiempo que
si lo hago en mi auto? Un sistema de transporte más rápido puede significar paradas
30
que están más apartadas una de la otra, pero también podría despertar el interés a
aquellos que prefieren usar sus autos.
1
2
3
4
5
__________B) Distancia entre Paradas o Estaciones
¿Qué tan apartadas están las estaciones entre si? Paradas frecuentes pueden significar que el
movimiento del vehículo o el servicio sea más lento, pero también puede significar el poder
acomodar más gente con más paradas durante el camino.
1
2
3
4
5
___________C) Frecuencia
¿Cuál es la frecuencia del servicio de transporte? ¿Es suficiente la frecuencia del servicio
para permitir múltiples conexiones cuando el viaje requiere de hacer transferencias o
cambios de ruta? Mayor frecuencia puede significar algunas veces más vehículos
circulando o un vehículo con mayor velocidad.
1
2
3
4
5
31
___________D) Confiabilidad
¿El servicio llega a tiempo? ¿Llega a tiempo durante las horas pico de trafico, al igual que a otras
horas de no mucho trafico? Un servicio más confiable tiende a tener más derechos sobre las
calles o vías - como son los carriles dedicados para los camiones, lo cuál hace que ayuda la
congestión de tráfico no afecte.
1
2
3
4
5
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