The National Household Travel Survey Heather Contrino US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Office of Highway Policy Information

Outline of Today’s Presentation About the NHTS Methods and Data Data Applications NHTS Products and Tools

About the NHTS

About the NHTS…  Only national data source on travel demand and travel behavior of the American public.  Measures travel by US households for all modes and all purposes  Survey conducted since 1969

The NHTS obtains information on the public’s use of the transportation system Highway Statistics, 2001 Highway Statistics Total VMT (000,000s) 2,781,462 Highway Statistics Passenger Travel2,282,890 NHTS 2001 VMT2,281,863

The NHTS Program – Two Components  National Study  Serves the department, congress, and administration  Sample size of 25,000 households  Add-On Program  Allows States and MPOs to purchase additional samples for their local area  Program participation has doubled every survey year (Sample size of 125,000 households for 2008)

NHTS Program Structure NHTS Program National Study n = 25,000 List Assisted RDD Add-On Program n = 125,000 List Assisted RDD Some Additional Questions Cell Only n = 1,250 National coverage

2008 Add-On Program Participants 125,000 Add-On Samples Florida DOT Georgia DOT South Carolina DOT North Carolina DOT Piedmont Region Virginia DOT New York State DOT Indiana DOT Omaha, Nebraska Cedar Rapids, IA Iowa DOT Maricopa, AZ Pima, AZ California DOT Wisconsin DOT Tennessee DOT Texas DOT South Dakota DOT Vermont DOT

NHTS Add-On Program Benefits What We Get  Leadership in household travel survey data  Larger program, visibility, stakeholders and users  Greater analysis power What They Get  Administrative Functions (program management, contracting, and quality assurance)  Comparability  Legitimacy  Partnership

NHTS Program Features  Adding questions – each Add-On allowed five additional questions  Sample plan – area specific sample plans (within the constraints of overall sample methodology)  Quality Assurance – On-line access to status reports and monthly progress reports to Add- Ons

Study Design and Data

Study Design  National list assisted RDD with CATI  Population of interest - US Households with telephones  Advance letter with incentives  Multi-stage design Advance Letter Household Recruitment Diary Mailing Travel Data Retrieval

Study Design (continued)  Single day travel period for all household members age 5+  All trips by all modes of travel, including walk and bike and access and egress modes  NHTS covers all days of the year with day of week and month of year balance

Study Design - New for 2008  Minimum State samples (n=250)  Cell Phone only sample  Add-On specific questionnaire content  New data items for national study  Improvements in weighting and adjustments

NHTS uses a classic travel diary as a memory jogger… At the beginning of my travel day (4:00 a.m.) I was:  Home  Some other place WHERE did you go? (Name of place) What TIME did you start and end each trip? WHY did you go there? HOW did you travel? How FAR was it? Started at:Arrived at: (blocks or miles) EXAMPLE: West Park Theater 2:00 p.m.2 : 55 p.m.To see a moviewalk, bus, walk6 miles

And obtains trips from one address to another by all modes…

NHTS links households, people, vehicles, and trips…

NHTS Core Data Content  Households  Income, composition, location  Persons  Age, sex, race, ethnicity, worker and student status, citizenship, education  Geography  High level geography – urban, rural, suburban, state and national analyses  Vehicles  Make, model, year, mileage, alternative fuels, commercially licensed  Trips  Mode, time of day, purpose, vehicle occupancy, distance, trip length Major Contribution Linkage between people, travel and vehicles

New 2008 NHTS Content  Congestion  Interstate use and tolling  Telecommuting – opportunity and frequency  Work arrival time and flexibility  Safety  Safe Travel to School  Travel impacts of disability  Energy and Environment  Shopping by Internet and deliveries to the household  Hybrid/Alternative fuel vehicles  Fuel costs by vehicle type and travel behavior  Vehicle age, odometer reading, and annual mileage  Alternative Modes  Access (to transit) travel party size  Frequency of walk and bike  Motorcycle ownership and use

Data Applications

Trend Data - There has been amazing growth in travel since 1969 Growth in Travel and Related Issues, Base: NHTS series since 1969

Base: NHTS data series, travelers 16+ Travel Demand – But in the last decade, total trips have leveled off…

Congestion - Non-work Travel Adds to Peak Period Congestion 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14, Start Hour Person Trips in Millions CommuteFam/Pers (inc. Shop)School/ChSoc/Rec

Mobility and impacts on access and travel options This is the daily range of travel for a low- income African American This is the daily range of travel for a high income African American

NHTS is used to develop daytime populations for security research… Source: 2001 NHTS, Nate Erlbaum, NY DOT Number of workers at work, visitors, people in motion and people at home 2:00 pm Tuesday Memphis, TN

And for special studies… (example Florida DOT) Hurricane Evacuation Planning Weekend and Holiday Travel Planning Seasonal Resident Impact Broward County, Florida Source: ACS , U.S. Census Bureau

Changes in population growth effect transportation demand Estimated on current VMT/person from NHTS and Census population forecast

Annual Miles in Billions MenWomenAll The driving population is aging… Projections show a doubling of VMT by 2040 for drivers aged 65 and over Base:Census projections and VMT/person from NHTS 2001

Which has safety implications as older drivers are more likely to be in a fatal accident… Base: NHTS data on driver miles by age and FARS fatalities

Reliable data on walk trips…

Which are used for Safety Planning… Pedestrian Fatalities per Mile of Exposure Source: 2001 FARS pedestrian Fatalities and NHTS 2001 miles walked

And to help understand the link between transportation and health: Is increased vehicle use related to reduced walking and biking? Mode Share to Walk/BikeVMT Per Driver Source: Matt Coogan

Transit planners can use NHTS to understand who uses transit…

Percent of Transit Trips by Purpose And how transit is used: (not just commuting)

Based on current VMT per vehicle: Pct Decrease (Impact) Base Case (Current Est.) If 20% of vehicle fleet were hybrid (55 mpg)2.5% If fuel efficiency were raised 10% for all vehicles9.1% If all Vans, SUVs and P-U were replaced by cars11.6% If fuel efficiency were raised to 29 mpg for all vehicles31.7% If we doubled fuel efficiency in each vehicle class50.0% ‘W hat if’ scenarios for climate change: Source: McGuckin’s analysis based on NHTS 2001

And cold and hot starts for air quality analysis: Vehicle Starts, Trip Lengths by Time of Day and Vehicle Utilization Source: 2001 NHTS, Nate Erlbaum, NY DOT

We also include and track gas costs in our dataset:

Which allows us a unique perspective on the economics of travel:

NHTS Status and Schedule

2008 NHTS Schedule  Data collection completed – April 2009  Final weighted data file – October 2009  Public Use file – January 2010  Methods Research (for next NHTS) and work for reauthorization is ongoing

Future Design Goals  Methods  Coverage and Response Rates  Cellular phones and non-contacts  Periodicity  Real time reporting environment  Continuous study design/annual reporting  Relevant Content  Establishing regular, reliable performance measures  Maintaining trends while addressing new policy and planning questions

NHTS Program Goals  Institutionalize the Study  Specific program authorization and regular funding cycle  Maintain Add-On Program  Regular State and MPO participation – federal, local and community gains  Serve User Community  Clear link to policy and planning questions  National and State travel indicators  On-line Analyses  Annual reporting of Key Measures  Modeling and data integration to provide annual estimates  Annual/continuous data collection  Feed into performance measurement, annual reporting to Congress (C&P), and other data programs (e.g. FARS)

NHTS Products and Tools

NHTS Products State Profiles Policy Briefs Trends Database Transferability On-line Analysis Tool Risk Assessment Tool AAA Traffic Safety Foundation NHTS Trends CD-ROM

Policy Briefs

State Profiles

NHTS Website

On-line Analysis Tools

Table Designer Tool

Local Area Estimation

Accessing NHTS Products State Profiles Policy Briefs: Trends Database: To be posted soon Local area estimation: Risk Assessment Tool: On-line Analysis Tool: SAS Data Set: Contact Heather Contrino, FHWA

Thank You! Heather Contrino