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28 Standardized Procedures for Personal Travel Surveys
2.4.6 E-10: Incorrect Reporting of Non-Mobility
In any travel survey, it is to be expected that some portion of respondents will not have trav-
eled from their home during the survey period. However, a claim of non-mobility on the diary
day or days also may be a form of non-response. Some potential respondents may realize that a
claim of non-mobility will shorten significantly the length of the interview. The issue addressed
in this section, and elaborated in Section 7.6 of the Technical Appendix, is to reduce the incor-
rect reporting of non-mobility that is made as a form of non-response. Standardized procedures
are recommended in three portions of the travel survey process: data collection, data recording,
and reporting.
In Data Collection
It is recommended that a question to verify reported non-mobility be asked of all persons who
report they did not travel (stayed in one place/did not leave home) during the entire travel period.
The question wording in the 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) ("Does this mean
{you/subject} stayed at {the same place/home} all day?") should suffice. To explore the issue of
non-mobility further, it is recommended to include questions that gently challenge persons who
report non-mobility by asking for the reason(s) why no travel was made during that day.
In Data Coding
At a minimum, it is recommended that the data set include an indicator to distinguish
between cases where a person indicated that he or she did not travel and those where a person
refused to provide travel data.
In Reporting
It is recommended that the survey results report include the percent of non-mobile person
days. In single day surveys, this would be determined by the number of persons reporting that
they did not travel, divided by the total number of persons reporting. If questions are asked
regarding the reasons why no travel was asked, as advanced practice, the report should include
analyses of these reasons and the characteristics of persons who reported no travel.
2.4.7 E-11: Recording Time of Day
This item refers to standards for coding time-of-day values for database entry and relates to
how data are recorded (i.e., entered by the interviewer) and stored, rather than how respondents
provide the information. Further discussion is provided in Section 7.7 of the Technical Appen-
dix. It is recommended that time of day for data entry and storage be undertaken using two fields:
one for the day number, and one for the time in military time (00:0023:59).
2.4.8 E-12: Time of Day to Begin and End Reporting
Surveys use various different times at which to start and end the time for a 24-hour (or longer)
diary. The aim is usually to choose a time that is expected to interrupt relatively little travel so
that respondents will not be put in the awkward situation of trying to respond about travel that
had started before the start time of the diary. However, there is wide discrepancy in the selection
of this time, which appears to range anywhere from midnight to 5 A.M. The research for this item
is described in Section 7.8 of the Technical Appendix.
It is recommended that start and end times for 24-hour diaries should be 03:00 A.M. to 02:59 A.M.
In the case of diaries that cover more than 1 day, end times are extended by 24 hours for each
additional day.
