A travel survey (or travel diary or travel behavior inventory) is a survey of individual

travel behavior Travel behavior is the study of what people do over geography, and how people use transport. Questions studied The questions studied in travel behavior are broad, and are probed through activity and time-use research studies, and surveys of trave ...

. Most surveys collect information about an individual (socio-economic, demographic, etc.), their household (size, structure, relationships), and a diary of their journeys on a given day (their start and end location, start and end time, mode of travel, accompaniment and purpose of travel). Major travel surveys are conducted in metropolitan areas typically once a decade. Some regions, notably metropolitan

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

conduct a panel survey, which interviews the same people year after year, to see how their particular behavior evolves over time.

Recent or continuous city-wide travel surveys

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand - A travel survey was conducted in 2006 and involved 6,000 households in the greater Auckland region.

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia - The South East Queensland Travel Survey collects travel data in the Greater Brisbane region and the neighbouring areas of

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and Sunshine Coast. The continuous survey commenced in 2003 and surveys around 6,000 households every two years.

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Australia - The Greater Hobart Household Travel Survey collects information from 200 households each month.

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom - The London Travel Demand Survey covers 8,000 households annually. Data is collected via face to face interviews.

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia - The continuous Household Travel Survey collects travel data annually for approximately 3,500 households in the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Region.

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States - The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments conducted a 10,000 household survey in 2007.

Recent or continuous regional travel surveys

Greater Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The r ...

, Canada - the Transportation Tomorrow Survey (TTS) has been conducted every five years since 1986, surveying approximately 5% of households across the region. The 2016 TTS is one of the largest and most comprehensive travel surveys in North America, comprising a dataset of 162,708 surveys conducted online and by phone.

Recent or continuous country-wide travel surveys

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

's most recent National Travel was initiated in 2006 and has been going on continuously since then. The interviews are conducted using the internet and telephone interviews.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

is conducting its National Travel Survey since 1994 on a yearly basis. Each household member fills in a travel diary in which he records each trip made during the course of one week. Despite this yearly survey there is another non regular scheduled survey which is conducted again in 2008. 25,000 households are expected to participate.

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

National Travel Survey surveyed around 34,500 households in 2003. The survey has been conducted yearly since 1985, but with some changes in methodology. Survey forms are mailed out, with follow-up motivational phone calls. In

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

the Ministry of Transport annually surveys 4,600 households for a two-day period. Data is collected via face to face interviews. The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Department for Transport conducts the National Travel Survey The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

last conducted the National Household Travel Survey in 2017.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

conducted its first National Household Travel Survey in 2003. Successful interviews were held with 45,000 households.

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

's most recent National Travel Survey (RES) was conducted in 2006-06.Sika Institute

Notes and references

External links

Metropolitan Travel Survey Archive

Travel Survey Manual online
{{Tourism Transportation planning Market research Travel Surveys (human research)

Recent or continuous city-wide travel surveys

Recent or continuous regional travel surveys

Recent or continuous country-wide travel surveys

See also

Notes and references

External links