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Transportation Research Board
SPECIAL REPORT 304
How We Travel
A Sustainable National Program
for Travel Data
Committee on Strategies for Improved Passenger
and Freight Travel Data
Transportation Research Board
Committee on National Statistics
Transportation Research Board
Washington, D.C.
2011
www.TRB.org
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Transportation Research Board Special Report 304
Subscriber Categories:
Data and information technology; freight transportation; passenger transportation
Transportation Research Board publications are available by ordering individual pub-
lications directly from the TRB Business Office, through the Internet at www.TRB.
org or national-academies.org/trb, or by annual subscription through organizational
or individual affiliation with TRB. Affiliates and library subscribers are eligible for
substantial discounts. For further information, contact the Transportation Research
Board Business Office, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (telephone 202-
334-3213; fax 202-334-2519; or e-mail TRBsales@nas.edu).
Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the
Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were
chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to the
procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the
National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Insti-
tute of Medicine.
This study was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board; the Federal
Highway Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administra-
tion of the U.S. Department of Transportation; and the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials through the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program.
Cover and inside design by Debra Naylor, Naylor Design.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
How we travel: a sustainable national program for travel data / Committee on
Strategies for Improved Passenger and Freight Travel Data, Transportation
Research Board [and] Committee on National Statistics, National Research
Council of the National Academies.
p. cm. -- (Transportation Research Board special report ; 304) 1. Transportation--
United States--Statistics. 2. Transportation and state--United States. 3. Transportation
planning--United States. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Strategies
for Improved Passenger and Freight Travel Data. II. National Research Council (U.S.).
Transportation Research Board.
HE206.2.H69 2011
388.0973--dc22
2011009694
ISBN 978-0-309-16722-2
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society
of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated
to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general wel-
fare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy
has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and tech-
nical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is
autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the
National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The
National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting
national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve-
ments of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to
secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of
policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsi-
bility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an ad-
viser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care,
research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences
in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Acad-
emy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Func-
tioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council
has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences
and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the
public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered
jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and
Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National
Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide
leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information
exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and mul-
timodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists,
and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sec-
tors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The pro-
gram is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the
component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organi-
zations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org
www.national-academies.org
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Transportation Research Board
2011 Executive Committee*
Chair: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration,
Baltimore
Vice Chair: Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson
Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board
J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, Kentucky
Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern
Corporation, Norfolk, Virginia
William A. V. Clark, Professor, Department of Geography, University of California,
Los Angeles
Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, North Carolina Department of
Transportation, Raleigh
James M. Crites, Executive Vice President of Operations, Dallas–Fort Worth
International Airport, Texas
Paula J. Hammond, Secretary, Washington State Department of Transportation,
Olympia
Michael W. Hancock, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort
Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California,
Berkeley (Past Chair, 2009)
Michael P. Lewis, Director, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Providence
Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada Department of Transportation, Carson City
Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of
Governments, Arlington (Past Chair, 2010)
Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Regional General Manager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
Mandeville, Louisiana
Steven T. Scalzo, Chief Operating Officer, Marine Resources Group, Seattle, Washington
Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc.,
St. Louis, Missouri
Beverly A. Scott, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Atlanta
Rapid Transit Authority, Atlanta, Georgia
David Seltzer, Principal, Mercator Advisors LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lawrence A. Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund, Arlington, Virginia
Kumares C. Sinha, Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Thomas K. Sorel, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul
Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and
Policy; Director, Institute of Transportation Studies; and Interim Director, Energy
Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis
Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing
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Douglas W. Stotlar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Con-Way, Inc., Ann Arbor,
Michigan
C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University
of Texas, Austin (Past Chair, 1991)
Peter H. Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research
Institute, Smyrna, Georgia (ex officio)
Anne S. Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
John T. Gray, Senior Vice President, Policy and Economics, Association of
American Railroads, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
David T. Matsuda, Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington,
D.C. (ex officio) (Past Chair, 1992)
Tara O’Toole, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (ex officio)
Robert J. Papp (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (ex officio)
Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation (ex officio)
David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation (ex officio)
Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department of
Transportation (ex officio)
Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. General, U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding
General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
Barry R. Wallerstein, Executive Officer, South Coast Air Quality Management District,
Diamond Bar, California (ex officio)
*Membership as of June 2011.
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Committee on National Statistics, 2010–2011
Lawrence D. Brown, Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania, Chair
John M. Abowd, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Alicia Carriquiry, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University
William Dumouchel, Oracle Health Sciences, Waltham, Massachusetts
V. Joseph Hotz, Department of Economics, Duke University
Michael Hout, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley
Karen Kafadar, Department of Statistics, Indiana University
Sallie Keller, Science and Technology Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.
Lisa Lynch, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
Sally C. Morton, Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh
Joseph Newhouse, Division of Health Policy Research and Education,
Harvard University
Samuel H. Preston, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
Hal S. Stern, Donald Bren School of Computer and Information Sciences, University
of California, Irvine
Roger Tourangeau, Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland,
and Survey Research Center, University of Michigan
Alan Zaslavsky, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard University
Medical School
Constance F. Citro, Director
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Committee on Strategies for Improved Passenger
and Freight Travel Data
Joseph L. Schofer, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, Chair
Joseph G. B. Bryan, Halcrow, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Anne P. Canby, Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, Washington, D.C.
Anand Desai, Ohio State University, Columbus
Mortimer L. Downey III, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Washington, D.C.
Lance R. Grenzeback, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hermann Habermann, independent consultant, Arlington, Virginia
Timothy A. Henkel, Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul, Minnesota
Charles E. Howard, Jr., Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, Washington
James M. Lepkowski, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Daniel C. Murray, American Transportation Research Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota
Alan E. Pisarski, independent consultant, Falls Church, Virginia
Steven E. Polzin, University of South Florida, Tampa
Johanna P. Zmud, The RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
National Research Council Staff
Stephen R. Godwin, Director, Studies and Special Programs,
Transportation Research Board
Constance F. Citro, Center Director, Committee on National Statistics
Nancy P. Humphrey, Study Director, Transportation Research Board
Thomas J. Plewes, Senior Program Officer, Committee on National Statistics
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Preface
T
oday’s transportation system poses a host of complex problems for
policy analysis and decision making that have broad implications for
travel data requirements and funding. Travel data are used for a wide
range of purposes—as a way to track travel trends and plan for facility invest-
ments, as a key component of apportionment formulas for federal funding, as
input for state and regional transportation planning models, and as the
denominator in calculating crash rates for many transportation modes. In
addition, decision makers at all governmental levels are being asked to take
on new responsibilities, such as tracking the energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions from motor vehicle travel. Moreover, the next reauthorization of
surface transportation programs is likely to place significant emphasis on
performance management that will require new metrics with which to mea-
sure and monitor the performance of the transportation system. Reliable
travel data will be essential to meet these new needs as well. At present,
however, travel data collection activities are scattered throughout the U.S.
Department of Transportation, other federal agencies, state and local govern-
ments, and the private sector, while funding for existing travel data programs
and key travel surveys is uneven and often unpredictable.
These concerns motivated the Executive Committee of the Transpor-
tation Research Board (TRB) to initiate the study documented in this
report. The study charge was to assess the state of passenger and freight
travel data at the federal, state, and local levels and to make recommenda-
tions for an achievable and sustainable system for estimating personal
and freight travel to support public and private transportation planning
ix
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x How We Travel: A Sustainable National Program for Travel Data
and decision making. To carry out this charge, TRB and the Committee on
National Statistics (CNSTAT), both of the National Research Council
(NRC), formed a committee of 14 experts. The committee was chaired by
Joseph L. Schofer, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and
Associate Dean of the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and
Applied Science at Northwestern University. The committee included
members with expertise in passenger and freight travel data and analysis,
data collection methods and statistics, data management and use, public
policy, and performance measurement. TRB, together with the U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation1 and the American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials, through the National Highway Cooperative
Research Program, provided the funding for the study.
The committee approached its task by reviewing earlier studies of
transportation data needs, holding informational briefings at its meetings,
and drawing on the expertise of its members. The briefings were a pri-
mary source of input. At its first and second meetings, the committee
heard from travel data providers and users about the state of travel data,
key gaps in data content, and suggestions for improving the management
and funding of travel data programs. At its third meeting, the committee
was briefed by experts on new technologies and alternative methods for
collecting data, who drew on domestic and foreign experience to examine
opportunities for gathering data differently and more cost-effectively.
The committee would like to thank all those who provided these brief-
ings, whose names are listed in Appendix B. The committee would also
like to give special thanks to Tianjia Tang of the Federal Highway Admin-
istration (FHWA), who was instrumental in obtaining funding from
FHWA for the project and who provided support throughout the study.
Thanks are also extended to Rolf Schmitt of FHWA, Thomas Bolle of the
Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and Thomas Palm-
erlee and Nanda Srinivasan of TRB for sharing their knowledge and pro-
viding assistance throughout the study.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for
their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with pro-
cedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of
this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that
assist the authors and the NRC in making the published report as sound as
1. Both the Office of Highway Policy Information of the Federal Highway Administration and the Research
and Innovative Technology Administration, which is responsible for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
provided funding.
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Preface xi
possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for
objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content
of the review comments and draft manuscript remains confidential to pro-
tect the integrity of the deliberative process. The committee wishes to thank
the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Paul H. Bingham, Wilbur Smith Associates, McLean, Virginia; Alan C. Clark,
Houston Galveston Area Council, Houston, Texas; Janet F. Kavinoky, U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; Timothy J. Lomax, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas; Michael D. Meyer, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; Debra L. Miller, Kansas Department of Trans-
portation, Topeka, Kansas; and Edward J. Spar, Council of Professional
Associations on Federal Statistics, Alexandria, Virginia.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive com-
ments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the committee’s
conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the
report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Susan
Hanson, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, and C. Michael
Walton, The University of Texas at Austin. Appointed by the NRC, they
were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of
the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures
and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility
for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring com-
mittee and the institution.
Stephen R. Godwin, Director of the Studies and Special Programs
Division at TRB, and Nancy P. Humphrey of TRB managed the study.
Ms. Humphrey drafted the final report under the guidance of the committee
and the supervision of Stephen Godwin. Thomas Plewes, Senior Program
Officer of CNSTAT, served as liaison to the committee and provided brief-
ings on several CNSTAT reports germane to the committee’s charge.
Suzanne Schneider, Associate Executive Director of TRB, managed the
report review process. Special appreciation is expressed to Rona Briere,
who edited the report; Janet M. McNaughton, who handled the editorial
production; Juanita Green, who managed the production; and Jennifer
J. Weeks, who prepared the manuscript for prepublication web posting,
under the supervision of Javy Awan, Director of Publications, TRB. Nikisha
Turman and Amelia Mathis assisted with meeting arrangements and
communications with committee members. Alisa Decatur provided word
processing support for preparation of the final manuscript.
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Contents
Executive Summary 1
1 Introduction 5
Study Charge, Scope, and Audience 6
Role and Value of Travel Data 8
The Changing Context for Travel Data 10
Key Issues for Study 17
Organization of the Report 19
2 Overview of Current Travel Data Programs and Gaps 21
Elements of a Comprehensive Data Program 21
Overview of Current Travel Data Programs 22
Major Gaps in Current Travel Data Programs 34
Findings 41
3 New Approaches for Meeting Travel Data Needs 45
Barriers to Survey Data Collection 45
Overcoming the Barriers 49
Findings 70
4 Designing a National Travel Data Program 75
Concept and Content of a National Travel Data Program 75
Cost of the Program 96
Program Management 97
Program Funding 102
Constituent Support and Accountability 105
Findings 106
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xiv How We Travel: A Sustainable National Program for Travel Data
5 A Strategy for Improved Travel Data 109
A National Travel Data Program: The Concept 109
Collaborations and Partnerships 110
Organization and Leadership 111
New Data Collection, Integration, and Analysis Approaches 113
Sufficient and Sustained Funding 114
Constituent Support 115
Management and Accountability 116
Appendices
A Study on Strategies for Improved Passenger and Freight
Travel Data: Statement of Task 119
B List of Briefings at Committee Meetings 121
C Bibliography of Selected Studies on Passenger and Freight
Travel Data and Related Topics 125
D Legislation Establishing the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 127
E Current Data Programs for Monitoring Passenger Travel
and Freight Movement 137
Study Committee Biographical Information 161
