household travel survey tasmania

Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

Te Tiro Whānui i Ngā Whare o Aotearoa mō te Haere New Zealand Household Travel Survey

Te kohi pārongo mō te āhua o te haere a te hunga o Aotearoa.

Collecting information about New Zealanders’ daily travel. 

What you need to know

The New Zealand Household Travel Survey measures the travel New Zealanders do by asking everyone in randomly selected households to record their travel over 2 days.  

The results offer valuable insights into how, when and why New Zealanders travel and how this changes. It provides vital information for developing road safety, roading, public transport, pedestrian and cycling policies.

The survey has run in a range of forms since 1989, mainly focusing on a 2 day travel diary. In 2015, the methodology was changed to collect 7 days of travel information. However, in July 2018 we changed this back to 2 days to make it easier for participants and get better data quality. 

Note:  Under the COVID-19 Protection Framework, face to face surveying only occurs in areas at traffic light settings Orange and Green, and has shifted to contactless doorstep recruitment and subsequent interviewing over internet video conference or via phone at Red. If you have been recruited into the Household Travel Survey, and have any questions about this, please contact the survey company (Reach Aotearoa, formerly CBG Health Research) via the contact details provided in your recruitment pack. For more general information about the traffic light system (COVID-19 Protection Framework), please see  https://covid19.govt.nz/

The work to date

Household travel survey methodology updated.

From July 2018, we changed the survey back to a face to face survey, asking people about 2 days of their travel.

Households are randomly selected around the country with everyone in the household is asked to take part. The survey methodology includes:

• a letter being sent to the selected household
• an interviewer visiting the household to see if they want to participate. If they agree to take part, the interviewer answers any questions and provides any resources needed so the household can record their travel
• on the assigned 2 days the participants record their travel using a Travel Logger (GPS device) and/or a paper travel diary
• the interviewer returns shortly after the assigned travel days to interview people about their travel .

Approximately 1,700 households take part in the survey each year.

We paused the survey from 23 March to 30 June 2020 due to the COVID-19 risk.

How the data can be used by central and local government 

The Household Travel Survey was set up to allow agencies such as Waka Kotahi, NZ Transport Agency, and local bodies to buy expansions in sample size in areas of interest. For example a local council may use this to update their local transport model. This improves the range of analysis that can be done at a local level, and the overall survey sample.

Local bodies, and other eligible agencies, can purchase expansions through a closed syndicated procurement agreement. Please contact the Ministry for more information.

Travel Research Panel established

We invited Household Travel Survey participants to take part in further surveys as part of a Travel Research Panel.

Willing Household Travel Survey participants are invited to take part in a variety of short surveys to allow deeper research into people’s attitudes to transport, what might influence travel in their daily lives and any travel patterns.

COVID-19 travel survey 

We ran the COVID-19 travel survey via telephone from late April–early August 2020. Over 1,000 people were interviewed to find out how their travel changed or was affected in response to COVID-19.  They were interviewed 4 times over the course of 6 weeks, in a 15-minute telephone interview.

Attitudes to transport technologies 

In November 2016 and November 2017, we commissioned CBG Health Research Ltd to gather information from the panel on attitudes to transport technologies such as autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles. Two reports were produced.

Future of Transport Technology 2016 

This report looked at respondents’ attitudes towards a number of new and emerging transport technologies such as electric cars, hybrid cars, electric bikes and self-driving cars.

The majority of subjects were aware of the transport technologies, but not many were using them. The cost of electric cars was the biggest barrier to ownership and many participants said they would buy one if they could afford it.

More than 50% of the panel members identified a lack of confidence in their safety as the biggest barrier to having self-driving cars on the roads. Residents of Auckland were more likely to feel safe and be receptive to self-driving cars than other regions.

Future of Transport Technology 2017 

The findings from the 2016 report and this report were relatively consistent. The 2017 report showed a decrease in the knowledge and awareness of self-driving cars.

Our 2017 report also compared the adoption of electric cars, hybrid cars, electric bikes and self-driving cars in New Zealand with the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, China and Singapore.

Presentations

So what do you think? Attitudes from people in the New Zealand Household Travel Survey  (external link)

Transport technologies: Attitudes from people in the New Zealand Household Travel Survey (Transport Knowledge Conference 2019 poster) (external link)

Household travel in New Zealand under COVID 19 alert levels (Transport Knowledge Hub 2020 Webinar series) (external link)

Household Travel Survey updated to a 7 day online travel diary and run

In October 2015, we changed the survey from a face to face survey with a 2 day travel diary to a 7-day travel diary completed online. Participants were also offered the option of using a Travel Logger (GPS device) to help them remember where they travelled.

Households were randomly selected around the country with everyone in the household asked to take part. The survey methodology included:

• a letter being sent to the selected households
• an interviewer visiting the household to see if they wanted to participate. If they agreed to take part, the interviewer answered any questions and provided any resources needed so the household could record their travel
• on the assigned 7 days the participants filled in an online travel diary or could record their travel using a Travel Logger (GPS device)
• the interviewer returning shortly after the assigned travel days to interview people about their travel .

Each year over 3,000 households are invited to participate in the survey.  In approximately 1,300–1,500 households everyone completes it.

25 Years of New Zealand Travel report published

This report looked at New Zealanders’ travel over the past 25 years, between 1989 and 2014. 

It used the Household Travel Survey as well as other data sources to show travel patterns, the current picture and tell some of the stories behind the data. 

The report found that people spent:

• more than half of their time travelling is as a driver in a private car or van — 52% for 2011–2014
• 27% of their time as a car or van passenger
• 13% of their time walking
• 4% on public transport
• less than .5% travelling by motorcycle.

The report also looked at how New Zealanders travel to work, school and leisure activities had changed over 25 years.

How New Zealanders Travel report published

This one-off report looked at New Zealanders’ travel patterns and how they changed over the 20 years up to 2008.

The report was based on the results on 3 separate Household Travel Surveys in 1989/90, 1997/98 and the ongoing Household Travel Survey from 2003 to 2008.

The report identified trends including:

• adults spend more time driving
• school children spend less time walking or cycling to school
• young drivers and motorcyclists are most likely to be involved in fatal crashes.

Household Travel Survey 2003–2014

Using the same core questionnaire and methodology as the 1997/98 and 1989/90 surveys, this survey was designed to sample a smaller number of households each year so data from a number of years could be combined for analysis.

In the financial years from 2004 to 2009 about 2.200 households were invited to participate in the survey. From June 2008, the survey expanded to a sample of 4,500 households.

• an interviewer visiting the household to see if they wanted to participate. If they agreed to take part, there was a face-to-face interview to gather household information and the household was provided with memory jogger forms.
• on the assigned 2 travel days participants recording their travel details on the memory jogger form.
• the interviewer returning to gather additional information on their travel as well as general information.

We used data from the Household Travel Surveys to publish reports on specific types of transport and risks.

All travel by region (Statistics NZ) (external link)

Travel to work by main urban areas (Statistics NZ) (external link)

The 1997/98 New Zealand Travel Survey and report published

The New Zealand Travel Survey provided data to help develop policy and evaluate programmes relating to road use and safety.

It was a one-off survey using similar methodology to the 1989/90 Household Travel Survey.

Approximately, 14,000 people were interviewed from 7,000 randomly selected households over between June 1997 and July 1998, and during April and May 1999 for some Auckland households only.

1989/90 New Zealand Household Travel Survey and report published

The New Zealand Household Travel survey was carried out from July 1989 to  June 1990 .

Households were randomly selected with travel recorded for all members of the household over the age of 5.

Households were randomly selected with travel recorded for all members of the household over the age of 5. The survey methodology included:

• a letter being sent to selected households
• an interviewer visiting the household to see if they wanted to participate. If they agreed to take part, the interviewer gathered household information and left a memory jogger for each participant
• on the assigned 2 days the participants filled in the memory jogger to record their travel

A total of 4,434 households were surveyed, with 3,102 giving a full response.

Get in touch

The survey is conducted by Reach Aotearoa (formerly CBG Health Research Limited). Participants should contact Reach Aotearoa, which also trades under CBG Public Sector Surveying, if they have any question about the survey.

Telephone: 0800 478 783

Reach Aotearoa

For general queries about the survey and results, email: [email protected]

Related work

The congestion question, metropolitan (metro) rail, public transport decarbonisation, public transport operating model, community connect, supergold card public transport funding, land transport crown investment packages, auckland light rail project.

• Browse this collection
• Acknowledgements
• Toggle view

Greater Hobart household travel survey [electronic resource] : summary of analysis and key findings / Infrastructure Strategy Division, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources

Related Documentation

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382261702

Tasmania. Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources & Tasmania. Infrastructure Strategy Division. (2010). Greater Hobart household travel survey summary of analysis and key findings Retrieved April 28, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382261702

Tasmania. Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources and Tasmania. Infrastructure Strategy Division. Greater Hobart household travel survey summary of analysis and key findings Hobart, Tas: Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, 2010. Web. 28 April 2024 < http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382261702 >

Tasmania. Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources & Tasmania. Infrastructure Strategy Division. 2010, Greater Hobart household travel survey summary of analysis and key findings Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, Hobart, Tas viewed 28 April 2024 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382261702

{{Citation   | author1=Tasmania. Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources.   | author2=Tasmania. Infrastructure Strategy Division.   | title= Greater Hobart household travel survey summary of analysis and key findings   | year=2010   | section=electronic text (27 p.) : PDF files, col. maps, col. graphs ; 3,950,911 bytes.   | location=Hobart, Tas   | publisher=Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources   | url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1382261702   | id= nla.obj-1382261702   | access-date=28 April 2024   | via=Trove }}

Citations are automatically generated and may require some modification to conform to exact standards.

Download the whole document and cover image as a ZIP file.

You can order a copy of this work from Copies Direct.

Copies Direct supplies reproductions of collection material for a fee. This service is offered by the National Library of Australia

Share on Twitter

Share on Facebook

What can I do with this?

In Copyright

You may order a copy or use the online copy for research or study; for other uses Contact us .

Copyright status was determined using the following information:

Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply.

For more information please see: Copyright in library collections .

Page categories

Travel Surveys

Household travel surveys

# introduction to household travel surveys.

Nine of the 26 chapters of the Travel Survey Manual are dedicated to the details associated with the design, conduct, and analysis of household travel surveys. These chapters draw from and update the FHWA Travel Survey Manual document and were authored by more than 20 individuals from the travel survey community. These chapters and associated authors include:

6 - Household Survey Methods Design and Sampling Decisions, by Kouros Mohammadian and Harry Timmermans

7 - Household Survey Organization and Contracting, by Guy Rousseau and Jimmy Armoogum

8 - Household Survey Instrument Design, by Peter Stopher, Kay Axhausen, Stacey Bricka and Eric Molin

9 - Household Survey Pretests, by Nancy McGuckin and Rob Sheldon

10 - Household Survey Implementation, by Stacey Bricka and Joanne Pratt

11 - Household Survey Coding and Geocoding, by Martin Trepanier, Elaine Murakami, Celia Boertlein and Michael Greenwald

12 - Household Survey Data Expansion and Analysis, by Steve Ruegg

13 - Household Survey Training Approaches and Priorities, by Mark Freedman, Heather Contrino and Bhuvan Eshwar

14 - Household Survey Procedures and Measures for Further Research, by Matthew Roorda, Cristina Pronello and Casper Chorus

In addition, Chapter 23 details the use of GPS within the household travel survey design and Chapter 26 discusses recent advances in the use of smartphone technology in lieu of paper diaries.

Key elements of a household travel survey include:

Design and Sampling Decisions (Chapter 6)

The survey design task requires planners of household travel/activity surveys to address a series of successively more detailed survey design issues, beginning with the determination of the survey’s role in the sponsoring agency’s long-term planning processes, and including the selection of the best survey methods and data collection techniques. Each survey design decision needs to be guided by the agency’s time and budget constraints and by the practical realities facing transportation agencies today.

Household travel/activity surveys are usually complex surveys. Provided that special care is applied in the organization and expansion of the data for analysis, the survey data can typically be analyzed using several different units of analysis, including households, individuals, vehicles, and trips or activities.

Traditional travel models rely almost exclusively on cross-sectional data, so household travel/activity surveys which are designed to capture people’s behaviors and attitudes at a single point in time have always been the most appropriate data collection tool. However, in recent years, researchers have recognized that many of the behaviors that travel models attempt to forecast are actually related to people’s decisions over time (Hensher, 1985)( Lawton and Pas, 1995). The renewed interest in how people’s behaviors change over time has led to the use of longitudinal survey designs, such as panel studies, cohort studies, trend studies, and before-after studies.

Traditionally, household travel/activity surveys are conducted in either the Spring or Fall. These seasons coincide with the most common traffic data collection periods. In addition, they represent time periods when schools are in session, and when potential respondents are least likely to be away from their homes on vacation.

However, the survey team should consider the analyses that will need to be performed before scheduling the household/activity survey. For the past five years, a primary driving force behind travel demand modeling has been the need to better measure and track air quality. Most regions concerned with air quality issues are most interested in Summer conditions (due to increased ozone levels) and Winter conditions (due to cold start emissions). Nevertheless, most surveys and models continue to be for the Spring or Fall, because they seek to capture specific “average” or “peak” conditions. Agencies whose primary concerns are air quality-related should determine which season is the most important to have accurate travel data, and schedule the survey accordingly.

Organization and Contracting (Chapter 7)

Closely related to the design of the survey is the need to organize and manage the effort. There are four key issues to consider:

1) Management of the Survey Effort

In almost all cases, the overall leadership role is provided by the sponsoring agency’s project manager. Increasingly, the day-to-day management of survey fieldwork is being left to survey contractors who are able to provide trained fieldwork staff and specialized facilities. The final management function is often provided by a combination of in-house staff and travel demand consultants.

Proper management of the household travel survey effort consists in ensuring that the survey design captures the necessary data elements. A well managed household travel survey produces data that could be used to develop and calibrate travel demand models for use in travel forecasting, land use planning, and air quality planning. The resultant data set is adequate to fulfill the models’ functions of estimating trip generation and distribution, mode choice, and assignments. If properly managed, the survey and data set serves as the foundation for an entirely new generation of travel demand models.

(opens new window)

2) Staffing Needs

In the early stages of the survey design process, the survey team should scope out the most likely approach to the household survey, and then make a preliminary estimate of the labor and skill requirements of the study. The results of that estimate can be used to determine to what extent the survey work can be performed in-house vs. outsourced to a firm that specializes in travel survey research. With the advancement in technologies used for household travel surveys today, combined with the time-frame between surveys (10+ years) most agencies rely on consultants to guide the survey design using best practices and survey research firms to carry out the designs using state-of-the-practice designs.

3) Agency Coordination

Because the household survey is likely to be the most important survey effort performed in a region, and because household surveys are not (or at least have not been) done on a regular basis, it is essential that agencies work cooperatively on the design and implementation issues. Several recent large-scale survey efforts have been collaboratively designed and sponsored by multiple agencies in the same region.

Regional Stakeholders should be briefed on the survey plans, and should be provided with the Statement of Goals for the survey. Representatives of these agencies should be invited to participate in the survey development process, and to identify ways in which the survey data could help their organizations’ planning efforts. Many household travel/activity surveys can be easily adapted to provide useful data to many different agencies. However, it is essential that potential data coordination activities be identified early in the survey design effort to minimize the disruption and amount of necessary re-design.

It is important to obtain some "buy-in" from local planning partners and regional stakeholders, prior to undertaking the household travel survey, in order to ensure proper cooperation, coordination and collaboration throughout the duration of the survey. An oversight advisory board including stakeholders could be formed at the beginning of the survey conceptualization process, so that proper follow-up and management of the survey becomes a successful endeavor.

4) Publicity

Even the best designed survey instrument and materials are not enough to ensure participation. The survey designed needs to decide whether and how to publicize the household survey. Social media, agency websites, a project website, and traditional communications such as newspaper, radio and television should be considered for public outreach. Public outreach efforts should be developed in concert with the survey design and implementation and not an afterthought. Further, targeting approaches for "hard-to-reach" populations who have a lower propensity to participate in surveys should also be considered at the beginning of the project. These efforts may include specialized outreach to enlist the support of community leadership and media outreach including Public Service Announcements for TV and radio.

Generally, telephone-based survey methods are helped by advance publicity. Potential respondents are more likely to believe that a telephone interviewer is legitimate if they have heard that the study would be going on. In addition, respondents are likely to attach a higher level of importance to a survey efforts that has been publicized, and therefore consider partiipating to be more important. Despite the fact that there are documented reports of theives posing as household/travel survey telephone and in-person interviewers, most agencies sponsoring recent household travel/activity surveys to publicize their efforts to improve cooperation rates.

Instrument Design (Chapter 8)

1) Drafting and Constructing Household Travel/Activity Surveys

The household survey is probably the best travel survey for obtaining the most detailed data on respondents and their travel patterns. The household survey can include almost any type of survey question. In addition, the survey may include either interviews or self-administered questionnaires, or both.

The first challenge for the survey team is to determine what data elements are needed from the household travel/activity survey. This determination must be based on the anticipated analyses and the survey goals, but the data elements of other recent household travel/activity surveys will help the survey team narrow its selection. Once the data elements are identified, they need to be developed into survey questions and response categories. At the same time, the survey team needs to identify the different survey instruments and materials that will be needed for the survey effort. The final product of this task will be the survey materials, which will be a combination of the products of the three steps.

2) Data Elements for Household Travel/Activity Surveys

In most household survey designs, the survey team is in the position to obtain information on a great number of relevant topics. The analysis and travel demand modeling plans for the survey results and the survey’s overall goals will dictate what specific data elements need to be included, which data elements should be included, and which data elements could be included, if possible.

Unfortunately, the surveyor does not have the luxury of including as many data items as possible in a household travel/activity survey because the length of the survey will affect the quality of responses and the level of non-response. The tradeoff between survey length and response quality is discussed below in the section describing the development of survey questions, but because it is almost always true that users of survey data would like more questions than can be asked, the survey team needs to determine the data elements of the most interest for the survey effort, and prioritize their inclusion in the final surveys.

Each survey team will have different data needs from their surveys, but most household travel/activity survey efforts have common concerns. Therefore, reviewing data elements that are frequently collected is a productive exercise. Two recent research papers provide excellent taxonomies of the recent content of household travel/activity surveys. Axhausen provides a detailed catalog of many recent household travel/activity surveys, including many examples of North American, European, and Australian surveys (Axhausen, 1994). Stecher, Bricka, and Goldenberg provide a breakdown of household survey data categories and elements from recent North American efforts (Stecher, Bricka and Goldenberg, 1995).

Applying these taxonomies, household travel and activity survey data elements can be categorized into the following five categories: a. Household Data – Information on the characteristics of the household and on the actual physical property in which the household resides. b. Person Data – Demographic, socioeconomic, and employment information for one or more members of the household. c. Vehicle Data – Information on the type, ownership, and usage of private vehicles available to household members. d. Travel and Activity Data – Diary or recall information about the travel and activities of one or more household members. e. Attitudinal, Opinion, Knowledge and Stated Preference Data – Information from respondents that provide surveyors and modelers with the respondents’ views, tastes, and concerns.

3) Translating Required Data Elements Into Questions and Response Categories

Once the survey team and travel demand modeling staff have established the essential and optional data items to be included in the household travel/activity survey, survey questions need to be developed that will produce the data elements accurately and reliably.

A survey question should be included in a household travel/activity survey interview or questionnaire if the following are true (Backstrom and Hursh-Cesar, 1981):

• The information obtained from the question is relevant to the models being developed or refined, or to other anticipated analytical efforts or policy definition.
• The question and response categories are expected to be valid measures of the modeling variables.
• The responses can be coded meaningfully for modeling analyses (where appropriate).

Analysts, interviewers (if any), and respondents agree unambiguously on the meaning of the question and response categories.

• The question and response categories have no wording problems.
• The wording of questions and responses is the same or equivalent to any measure from other surveys that will be used in the modeling work.
• Response categories exhaust all meaningful answers that can be anticipated.
• Response categories are meaningful and understandable to respondents.
• (For interviews) the questions and response categories are easily learned by interviewers.

In addition, each survey question should be reviewed in terms of its effect on the overall survey quality. The following should also be true:

• The benefits in the survey analysis from the question outweigh its costs in terms of survey length, respondent burden, and increased non-response.
• The information gained from the question is more useful than the information that would be gained from other questions that will not be on the survey.
• The question does not provoke respondents to be hostile to the survey effort or to question the goals of the surveying agency.

In short, a question and its response categories should provide unambiguous, accurate, reliable, and usable information without affecting the overall validity of the survey effort. To meet these requirements, the survey team must successfully perform three tasks in translating data elements into actual survey questions:

• Determine exact question content and the forms of the questions;
• Develop the wording for questions and response categories; and
• Determine how questions should be sequenced.

4) Survey Instruments and Materials

Because household travel/activity surveys are generally used to collect a wide range of detailed data, the survey team is likely to need to develop a number of different survey instruments and materials. The key questions in designing any of these materials are:

*Simply put, what is the purpose of the survey material or instrument? *Who are the “users” of the survey material or instrument?

It is important to remember that the answer to the latter question usually includes more than one group, who sometimes require very different design decisions. Designing survey materials with only respondents in mind can lead to interviewer errors and coding, editing, and cleaning problems. These problems will almost certainly show up in the survey cost and scheduling.

Pretests (Chapter 9)

Pretests and pilot surveys are the process of testing various aspects of the survey design, protocol, instruments, analysis, etc., on a small sample of the population prior to fielding the main survey. The intention of pretests and pilot surveys is to determine whether everything in the intended survey will work and produce the expected results. In some instances, pretests or pilot surveys may be conducted to compare two or more methods for some element of the survey process and to determine which to choose. In other cases, there is no comparison test involved, although it may be anticipated that some refinements to elements of the survey process will result.

It is recommended that the terms pilot survey and pretest be defined as follows:

Pilot Survey—a complete run through or dress rehearsal of the entire survey process, including drawing the sample, conducting the survey, coding the data, and performing basic analysis of the data. A pilot survey is conducted on a small sample of the same population that will be sampled for the main survey. As distinct from a pretest, the pilot survey involves a test of every element of the main survey, conducted in exactly the same way as is planned for the main survey. A pilot survey may also be used to test two or more different survey procedures and compare the results in order to assist in selection of one for the main survey. In such a case, each version to be tested is subjected to every step of the main survey.

Pretest—a test of any element, or sequence of elements of a survey, but comprising less than the full survey execution. For example, the instrument may be pretested by having a small subsample of respondents complete the instrument and then reviewing limited aspects of the completed instruments to determine whether any design changes are warranted. Any aspect of survey design and implementation may be subjected to a pretest. Pretests may also be used to compare alternatives for an element or elements of a survey. The main distinction between a pretest and a pilot survey is that pretests do not involve testing all aspects of the planned main survey, but may be limited to subsets of the protocol, instrument, sampling, etc. During the design phase, several sequential pretests could be conducted to test various refinements of the instrument, protocol, sampling, etc.

Second, it is recommended that one or more pretests and/or one or more pilot surveys should be an essential step in all transportation surveys unless there are specific circumstances that render such a step unnecessary and unlikely to produce useful information.

It is further recommended that the following guidelines with respect to pilot tests and pretests be adopted:

• In any survey in which interviewers will interact with respondents, the pilot survey or pretest should include listening in to interviewers to determine how they interact with potential respondents, how well they keep to the script of the survey, and whether the script causes difficulties in conversational style.
• In any survey that uses interviewers or observers, there should be a debriefing with those used in the pilot survey or pretest to determine whether difficulties were experienced in handling survey procedures, questionnaires or other materials, scripts, etc.
• If it has been 10 years or more since the last time a survey was done, a pilot survey should always be undertaken because the changes in population that will have occurred will render any past experience irrelevant.

Implementation (Chapter 10)

Survey research organizations subscribe to minimum acceptable standards of conduct or practice (also known as ethics). In travel surveys, this relates to how a survey agency conducts itself with respect to those interviewed, the client, any subcontractors, and the public as a whole. It also relates to a survey agency’s actions following the data collection process when data are cleaned, coded, analyzed, and archived.

Ethics reflect what all stakeholders may consider “fair” or “reasonable” conduct by those involved. In practical terms, the application of ethics involves implementation of precautions to protect those affected from adverse effects. Ethics protect the rights of individuals and groups including their privacy and serve to reduce public disapproval and criticism of what is done. After reviewing documents prepared by various associations on different aspects of ethical conduct in the execution of travel surveys, it is recommended that the following ethical conduct be observed in all future travel surveys:

• The anonymity of the persons surveyed, and the confidentiality of the information they provide, must be protected at all times;
• A survey respondent may not be sold anything or asked for money as part of the survey;
• Persons must be contacted at reasonable times to participate in the survey and must be allowed to reschedule participation in the survey to a different time if that is more convenient for them;
• Survey personnel must be prepared to divulge their own name, the identity of the research company they represent, the identity of the agency that commissioned the study, and the nature of the survey being conducted, if requested by a respondent;
• Children (age 15 and under) may not be interviewed without the consent of a parent or responsible adult;
• A respondent’s decision to refuse participation in a survey, not answer specific questions in the survey, or terminate an interview while in progress must be respected if that is the respondents’ firm decision;
• Respondents may not be surveyed or observed without their knowledge: methods of data collection such as the use of hidden tape recorders, cameras, one-way mirrors, invisible identifiers on mail questionnaires, global positioning systems, and RFID chips may only be used in a survey if the method has been fully disclosed to the respondent and the respondent agrees to its use.
• A research agency may not release research findings prior to the public release of the findings by the organization that commissioned the study, unless approval of the client organization is obtained to do so; and
• A research agency must ensure the reasonable safety of its fieldworkers during the execution of a survey.

Coding and Geocoding (Chapter 11)

Common socioeconomic indicators (e.g., household income levels, auto mobile ownership rates), employment requirements (e.g., work shift times), and life-style characteristics (e.g., children in daycare) all contribute to our insight into how and why people travel. In much of the analysis of survey data, such as the number of trips per household in each income range, a trip is a single event and is counted as one unit. However, the fundamental factor which underlies the use of transportation systems is geography. Origin-destination patterns define how many people are traveling in individual corridors, and how many people are in the market to use individual highway facilities or transit services, and how many people converge on downtowns or suburban activity centers. Therefore, travel survey data must be linked geographically. Technology now allows real-time checking for consistency in logic and reporting of all data elements, as well as real-time geocoding of reported destinations visited during the travel survey period.

Data Cleaning, Expansion and Analysis (Chapter 12)

There are three editing and cleaning tasks that should be completed for any survey effort, including a household travel/ activity survey. Richardson, Ampt, and Meyburg summarize the data editing phase of the household travel/activity survey process, as follows: “The editing phase of the survey process is perhaps the most boring, but it is also one of the most important tasks. Most survey designers would admit that more time and effort goes into the editing task than almost any of the other tasks; and such effort is worthwhile. It is useless to proceed straight into analysis hoping that the data are free from error; there will always be errors in the data as initially coded” (Richardson, Ampt, and Meyburg, 1995).

Three simple types of errors are likely to be present in the raw survey dataset:

• Incomplete records;
• Invalid field entries; and
• Inconsistent field entries.

Survey teams should seek ways to test the validity of the collected survey data. For interviews, the most simple validation technique is to re-contact a small number of respondents to verify that they completed the survey, and that they provided certain answers in the database. In addition to allowing the survey team to check-up on interviewers, this approach is used to test the reliability of questions (whether they receive the same answers from the same respondent over time). This type of validation can also be used to a limited extent with mail surveys, provided that respondents have listed telephone numbers, or that the mail survey asks respondents for their phone numbers.

In every household travel/activity survey, some respondents will be unwilling or unable to answer all the questions they are asked. In particular, respondents often refuse to answer income questions. If the survey team intends to use income data in later analyses, they need to do one of the following:

• Ignore the non-response;
• Use a modeling variable to describe the non-response; or
• Apply statistical procedures to impute missing or incorrect data items.

The objective of data expansion is to make it possible to reach valid conclusions about the entire study population based on the survey results. Data expansion for simple random samples is straightforward. Suppose a sample of 100 households is drawn from a population of 65,000 households, and that 12 households of the 100 are found not to have any automobiles available to them. We can expand the survey results to say that there are 65,000 x 12/100=7,800 households in the study area that do not have an available auto. Unfortunately, the expansion of household travel and activity survey data is complicated by two factors:

• Household survey sampling is generally performed using stratified random sampling procedures, rather than simple random sample procedures; and
• Invariably, because of random sampling error and various survey biases, such as nonresponse, interviewer error, etc., the actual survey sample will not be totally representative of the survey population in terms of the variables that explain travel behavior.

Training Approaches and Priorities (Chapter 13)

Regardless of the level of effort that the survey team puts into the household travel/activity survey design, the success of the project is ultimately up to the interviewers and survey office staff who actually implement the effort. If survey workers are unprepared for the work, the survey will suffer in terms of schedule, budget, and quality. There are two tasks for the preparation task: training and briefing. Training involves teaching workers their jobs or refreshing their memories about the basic aspects of their jobs. Briefing involves teaching workers about the nature of the particular household travel/activity survey, and going over specific issues related to this job.

Procedures and Measures for Further Research (Chapter 14)

The state of the practice in household travel surveys has grown and evolved alongside technological advances and in light of heightened societal expectations regarding surveys and the use of available data. This chapter of the Travel Survey Manual focuses on issues important at the time of the manual development. Check the Travel Survey Methods Committee website for more updated issues and research needs, updated after each annual Transportation Research Board meeting.

# References

Eight of the 26 chapters of the Travel Survey Manual are dedicated to the details associated with the design, conduct, and analysis of household travel surveys. These chapters draw from and update the FHWA Travel Survey Manual document and were authored by more than 20 individuals from the travel survey community.

This site uses cookies to learn which topics interest our readers.

(a) This label has been updated to more accurately reflect the Census concept shown in this data item. The data has not changed. (b) For 2021, median weekly rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free.

Search all persons QuickStats for another area

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people QuickStats
• Community Profiles

Small random changes have been made to all cell values for privacy reasons. These changes may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from the table totals.

People and population

More information on Sex (SEXP) , Place of usual residence (PURP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Indigenous status (INGP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Age (AGEP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples.

More information on Registered marital status (MSTP) Table based on place of usual residence

(a) In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. For 2021, registered marriages include all couples. (b) De facto marriage is when two people live together as partners who are not in a registered marriage. It includes people who report de facto, partner, common law husband/wife/spouse, lover, girlfriend or boyfriend.

More information on Social marital status (MDCP) Table based on place of usual residence

(a) For 2021, includes Primary - not further defined. (b) For 2021, includes Secondary - not further defined. (c) For 2021, includes Tertiary - not further defined.

More information on Type of educational institution attending (TYPP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP) Table based on place of usual residence

Cultural diversity

Note 1: Respondents had the option of reporting up to two ancestries on their Census form, and this is captured by the Ancestry multi response (ANCP) variable used in this table. Therefore, the sum of all ancestry responses for an area will not equal the total number of people in the area. Note 2: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of people in the area (including those who did not state an ancestry).

More information on Ancestry multi response (ANCP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Country of birth of person (BPLP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: For the 2021 Census, guidance was provided to respondents on how to answer for mother/father if their birth parent is unknown or they have same-sex parents.

More information on Country of birth of parents (BPPP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: For the 2021 Census, guidance was provided to respondents on how to answer for father if their birth parent is unknown or they have same-sex parents.

More information on Country of birth of father (BPMP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: For the 2021 Census, guidance was provided to respondents on how to answer for mother if their birth parent is unknown or they have same-sex parents.

More information on Country of birth of mother (BPFP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: 'No Religion, so described' does not include those who reported Secular and Other Spiritual Beliefs such as Atheism, Agnosticism and Own Spiritual Beliefs.

For 2021 in Tasmania, Secular Beliefs and Other Spiritual Beliefs and No Religious Affiliation was the largest broad group religious group reported overall (53.6%) (excludes Not stated). The broad group level is the highest and most general level of the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups, 2016 .

Note: 'Secular Beliefs and Other Spiritual Beliefs and No Religious Affiliation', comprises entities which are identifiable and useful groupings which, while not satisfying the criteria of a religion, are necessary to enable the capture of the full range of responses to questions on religious affiliation.

More information on Religious affiliation (RELP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Language used at home (LANP) Languages used at home data is based on place of usual residence Households where a non-English language is used is based on place of enumeration

Income and work

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of people aged 15 and over in the area. Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey .

More information on Labour force status (LFSP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note 1: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of people aged 15 and over who reported being in the labour force in the area. Note 2: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey .

(a) Counts employed people who reported 0 hours of work the week before the Census or did not state their hours of work.

Note: Records the number of hours worked in all jobs held during the week before Census Night for employed people aged 15 years and over. This excludes any time off but includes any overtime or extra time worked.

More information on Hours worked (HRSP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Occupation (OCCP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Industry of employment (INDP) Table based on place of usual residence

(a) Incomes are collected in ranges. The medians are then calculated using information from the Survey of Income and Housing. (b) Excludes people aged 15 years and over who did not state their income. (c) Excludes families where at least one family member aged 15 years and over did not state their income. (d) Excludes households where at least one household member aged 15 years and over did not state their income.

More information on Total personal income (INCP) , Total family income (FINF) , Total household income (HIND) Personal income data is based on place of usual residence Family and household income data is based on place of enumeration

Note: Respondents had the option to report up to three methods of travel to work on the day of the Census.

(a) Includes people who used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail), as at least one of their methods of travel to work on Census day. (b) Includes people who travelled by car (as a driver, or as a passenger), as at least one of their methods of travel to work on Census day.

More information on Method of travel to work (MTWP) Table based on place of usual residence

Unpaid work and care

More information on Unpaid domestic work (DOMP) , Unpaid child care (CHCAREP) , Unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition, or due to old age (UNCAREP) , Voluntary work for an organisation or group (VOLWP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note: Measures the time spent during the week before the Census doing domestic work without pay for themselves and their household.

More information on Unpaid domestic work: number of hours (DOMP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note 1: Respondents had the option of reporting multiple long-term health conditions. Therefore, the sum of all long-term health condition responses for an area will not equal the total number of people in the area. Note 2: Calculated percentages represent a proportion of the number of people in the area (including those who did not answer the long-term health conditions question). Note 3: 2016 comparison data is not available for this table. Long-term health conditions is a new question for the 2021 Census.

More information on Type of long-term health condition (LTHP) Table based on place of usual residence

Note 1: Selected long-term health conditions include arthritis, asthma, cancer (including remission), dementia (including Alzheimer's), diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes), heart disease (including heart attack or angina), kidney disease, lung condition (including COPD or emphysema), mental health condition (including depression or anxiety) and stroke. Other long-term health conditions are not included in this count. Note 2: 2016 comparison data is not available for this table. Long-term health conditions is a new question for the 2021 Census.

More information on Count of selected long-term health conditions (CLTHP) Table based on place of usual residence

Australian Defence Force service

Note 1: Australian Defence Force Service includes service in the Regular and/or Reserves service. Includes Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Second Australian Imperial Force, National Service and NORFORCE. Excludes service for non-Australian defence forces. Note 2: 2016 comparison data is not available for this table. Service with the Australian Defence Force is a new question for the 2021 Census.

More information on Australian Defence Force service (ADFP) Table based on place of usual residence

More information on Family composition (FMCF) Table based on place of enumeration

More information on Sex of lone parent (SLPP) Table based on place of enumeration

Note: The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's labour force. More information is provided in Comparing 2021 Census and Labour Force Survey .

More information on Labour force status of parents/partners in families (LFSF) Table based on place of enumeration

More information on Dwelling type (DWTD) Table based on place of enumeration

More information on Dwelling structure (STRD) Table based on place of enumeration

More information on Number of bedrooms in a private dwelling (BEDD) , Number of persons usually resident in dwelling (NPRD) Table based on place of enumeration

Note: Motor vehicles excludes motorbikes, motor scooters and heavy motor vehicles.

More information on Number of registered motor vehicles (VEHD) Table based on place of enumeration

More information on Household composition (HHCD) Table based on place of enumeration

(a) Includes dwellings purchased under a shared equity scheme. (b) Excludes dwellings being occupied rent-free. The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with the 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats as dwellings being occupied rent-free were included in the rented categories. (c) Comprises dwellings occupied rent free, occupied under a life tenure scheme and other tenure type.

More information on Tenure type (TEND) Table based on place of enumeration

(a) Percentages (%) exclude dwellings with 'Partial income stated' or 'All incomes not stated.'

More information on Total household income (weekly) (HIND) Table based on place of enumeration

(a) Median rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free. The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with the 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats as dwellings being occupied rent-free were included in the rented categories. (b) The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats, as applicable households included in this calculation have changed. For details on how Household income is derived please refer to RAID . (c) Unable to determine includes those households in which income and/or housing costs were not, or were only partially stated, by persons in the household.

More information on Rent payments (weekly) (RNTD) , Rent affordability indicator (RAID) Table based on place of enumeration

(a) The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats, as applicable households included in this calculation have changed. For details on how Household income is derived please refer to MAID . (b) Unable to determine includes those households in which income and/or housing costs were not, or were only partially stated, by persons in the household.

More information on Mortgage repayments (monthly) (MRED) , Mortgage affordability indicator (MAID) Table based on place of enumeration

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples

More information on Sex (SEXP) , Indigenous status (INGP) Table based on place of usual residence

(a) Excludes households where at least one person aged 15 years and over in the household did not state their income.

More information on Number of bedrooms in a private dwelling (BEDD) , Household composition (HHCD) , Total household income (HIND) , Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD) Table based on place of enumeration

(a) Median rent calculations exclude dwellings being occupied rent-free. The 2016 figure presented above is conceptually comparable with the 2021 data, however this is not comparable with historical QuickStats as dwellings being occupied rent-free were included in the rented categories.

More information on Rent weekly payments (RNTD) , Mortgage monthly repayments (MRED) , Indigenous household indicator (INGDWTD) Table based on place of enumeration

Please note that there are small random adjustments made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of data. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from table totals.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

How is the survey conducted?

We ask you to first complete some questions about your household and yourself. We then ask you to provide information about your travel and activities on a specific travel day.

Your participation is completely voluntary. You are free to decline receiving and/or filling out the survey forms. If you choose to participate, your contribution will support transport planning in your area and beyond and is greatly appreciated.

This page was last updated on Sep 18th 2023