Investigating Travel Survey Representativeness: Who’s Missing and What Can We Do?

The core source of data for transportation planning and forecasting comes from household travel surveys. Travel surveys are used to obtain insight into the behavioral decisions of travelers; for example: (1) trip purposes such as work or shopping; (2) means/mode of transport such as car, walk, bus, etc.; (3) travel time; and (4) time of day/week. However, these surveys tend to underrepresent the views and needs of people of color and low-income travelers, precisely the groups that depend most on historically underfunded travel modes like public transit, biking, and walking. In addition to this underrepresentation, it is increasingly difficult to obtain high quality data from those who do respond (e.g., response biases, measurement errors for underrepresented groups), as well as to obtain the detailed contextual and psychological attribute information needed for accurate behavioral forecasting. The goal of this project is to investigate household travel survey biases to identify the causes and propose potential solutions.

    Language

    • English

    Project

    • Status: Active
    • Funding: $300000
    • Contract Numbers:

      69A3552344815 and 69A3552348320

    • Sponsor Organizations:

      Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

      University Transportation Centers Program
      Department of Transportation
      Washington, DC  United States  20590
    • Managing Organizations:

      Center for Understanding Future of Travel Behavior and Demand

      University of Texas
      Austin, TX  United States 
    • Project Managers:

      Bhat, Chandra

    • Performing Organizations:

      University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

      Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
      2350 Hayward
      Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2125
    • Principal Investigators:

      Shaw, Atiyya

    • Start Date: 20240101
    • Expected Completion Date: 20250531
    • Actual Completion Date: 0
    • USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

    Subject/Index Terms

    Filing Info

    • Accession Number: 01933304
    • Record Type: Research project
    • Source Agency: Center for Understanding Future of Travel Behavior and Demand
    • Contract Numbers: 69A3552344815 and 69A3552348320
    • Files: UTC, RIP
    • Created Date: Oct 10 2024 4:16PM