Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys (2009)

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12 Thorough planning is absolutely essential to the success of any survey effort. Unfortunately, this task is often allotted insufficient time and attention, resulting in inaccurate or inadequate data. This chapter describes the factors that need to be considered in planning a well-defined survey project: • The purpose of the survey (why the survey is being conducted). • The survey method. • The frequency and timing of the survey. • The involvement of external agencies in funding, planning, and conducting the survey. • Budgeting. • The role of the survey planning team. • Scheduling. • The location of the survey. • The use of external resources. 2.1 Defining the Purpose 2.1.1 The Purpose At the outset, it is important to clearly define the purpose of the survey. In essence, this is the answer to the question, “Why are we doing this?” If the replies from the people commissioning the survey are vague—“The information would be interesting” or “It would be nice to know”— the best next step is to stop. To be useful, surveys should yield results that are actionable. It is often helpful to begin a survey at the end. This approach suggests that an airport first con- sider the actions it wants to take and the decisions it wants to make on the basis of the survey results, determine the information that will be required to make those decisions, and only then start to consider the target population and questions that will provide the necessary information. This approach also helps to prevent errors of omission and commission. An error of omis- sion, often not discovered until the end of the survey process, has occurred when someone asks, “Why didn’t we ask that question?” and when the unasked question represents information important to the making of a decision or to another use of the survey results. A good example (which actually occurred in an air passenger survey in the San Francisco Bay Area not so long ago) would be failing to ask how long departing air passengers resident in the region served by the airport will be away on their air trip when the survey data is intended to be used for airport ground access studies. The air trip duration of course determines the cost of parking a car while away on the trip, an important consideration in airport ground access mode choice modeling. An error of commission occurs when, due to a poorly worded question or other problem with the way the survey is performed, the survey does not obtain the information that the survey designer C H A P T E R 2 Planning a Survey

expected. An example would be asking air passengers “Where did you begin your trip to the airport today?” with the goal of obtaining trip origin location information for airport access trips. This question is ambiguous for air travelers who are surveyed on the return leg of a one-day round trip. Typically, a survey’s purpose will be articulated using goals and objectives. Goals are broad, general statements of the information the survey is intended to obtain; objectives are more spe- cific. For example, the goal might be to gather information on air passenger ground transporta- tion use; the objectives might be to determine where passengers began their trip to the airport, which ground access modes they used, how they got to those modes, and why they chose the par- ticular modes they used. Well-defined goals and objectives will provide the necessary guidance for the development of useful and appropriately worded questions. 2.1.2 The Planners A strong leader or project manager is needed to clearly define the purpose of a potential sur- vey. Planning by committee has a tendency to be time consuming and awkward. Nonetheless, the project manager may need to involve a few key people. Who should be involved in the planning process? The following groups should at least be considered: • Decision makers—those who are expected to make the decisions or take the actions the survey is supposed to address. • Data users—those who are expected to use the data to support the decision makers in plan- ning, modeling or marketing. • Potential partners—organizations that might share an interest in the results and might there- fore provide support or even financial assistance. • Potential duplicators—those who might be conducting the same or similar research at the same time and thus get in the way. Having two surveys conducted at the same airport at the same time by different parties is generally not a good idea. This is not to say that all of these groups need to be involved. It is important, however, at least to consider each of them and their potential either to help or to hinder the survey effort. In addition, two distinct teams will participate in the survey: • The survey planning team will be responsible for the planning and design of the survey (refer to Section 2.6). • The survey implementation team will conduct the survey and will consist of the interviewers, supervisors, and support personnel (refer to Section 4.5.2). Some of its members will also serve on the survey planning team. 2.2 Selecting the Survey Method A key step in planning a survey is choosing the appropriate survey method. The survey meth- ods discussed in this guidebook include passenger intercept, mail, telephone, and Internet. Choosing the appropriate method for any survey involves consideration of a wide variety of fac- tors. Perhaps the key tradeoff, however, is between cost and quality. As a general rule, the higher the quality desired, the more expensive the survey will be. Quality in this case includes the following: • Data quality—Will the questions be understood and elicit the desired information? Will all of the questions be answered? Will the answers be accurate? Will answers to any open-ended questions be clear and complete? Planning a Survey 13

• Response rate—Will the survey methodology achieve a high enough response rate (the ratio of those responding to those approached to participate in the survey) to be able to generalize the results to the population of interest? It is clear from the literature that respondents often differ from non-respondents in material ways (Dillman, 2000; Groves and Lyberg, 1988; Lessler and Kalsbeek, 1992; Montaquila et al., 2007), and of course the survey team cannot know much about those who do not respond. Although experts differ on this point, a general rule of thumb is that the response rate needs to be at least 50% for a researcher to be reasonably confident that the results are representative. How- ever, lack of response bias (difference in the mean value of the characteristics of interest between respondents and the population being surveyed) is more important than a high response rate (Bab- bie, 1973). Regardless of what is considered an acceptable response rate, the lower the response rate, the more caution must be used in interpreting the data. Response rates vary widely by survey method and are generally fairly high for interview surveys of air passengers, but much lower for surveys conducted by mail or telephone. The survey methods and their advantages and disadvantages are outlined below; more details can be found in the chapters devoted to the specific types of surveys. Intercept surveys, generally undertaken with passengers, are performed by approaching poten- tial respondents as they pass a particular location, such as when they enter the terminal building or leave security screening. They are usually performed as an interview survey, in which survey staff ask the questions and record the responses. Interview surveys can also be performed by selecting respondents in a particular location, such as an airline gate lounge, using a defined sampling rule to identify who to approach. The main advantage of interview surveys is the potential for a high response rate and high data quality resulting from the use of professional interviewers. In addition, sample control can be maximized using this approach. The primary disadvantage of interview sur- veys is their cost, which can be substantial. Self-completed surveys that are handed out, completed by the respondent, then returned, either in person or by mail, are frequently used with air passenger, employee and tenant surveys. The key advantage of this approach is its relatively low cost, as one interviewer can hand out a large num- ber of questionnaires in a given time period. Disadvantages of this approach include lower response rates and inferior data quality. Length and complexity are also concerns; generally, airports try to keep such surveys short and simple to maximize the number of responses and completeness of the information they get back. Mail surveys are infrequently used by airports but could be useful for tenants who are spread out across the airport’s premises. Their main advantage is their relatively low cost. Key disadvantages are similar to those of surveys that are handed out: low response rates, inferior data quality, and the need to keep the survey short and self-explanatory. Telephone surveys are useful for surveying households and businesses in the area served by the airport, but are not a practical way to survey air passengers because there is usually no way to obtain a list of telephone numbers of a representative sample of air passengers. The key advantages of this method are the ability to obtain a representative sample of a large and dispersed target population, such as area residents or airport employees, and a reasonable level of quality control due to the use of professional interviewers. Disadvantages include their moderately high cost and the need to allow a long enough survey period for the call center to maximize the response rate and the repre- sentativeness of the sample (see Section 7.3). Internet surveys have become increasingly popular in recent years for some types of surveys, partly because they are extremely inexpensive. They are also easy to program and deploy with 14 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys

software that is readily available and inexpensive or even free. This software allows researchers to upload questionnaires to the World Wide Web (Web) and send out email invitations to par- ticipate. Responses are entered directly on the Web and stored in a database by the software. Branching to only appropriate questions and control of valid responses are possible. Tabulated responses and simple graphics are usually created by the software, and the data can be down- loaded for more detailed analysis. Often respondents can save partially completed responses and return later to finish them, which can increase the response rate. Some programs also allow researchers to track respondents and non-respondents so that reminders can be sent only to those who have not yet responded. However, it is important that the survey include a large enough sample to be representative. Internet surveys have three main disadvantages. First, not everyone has access to the Internet, particularly in their homes, but also in the workplace. (Consider the workplace example of an airport: office staff usually have Internet access at their desks but other types of staff, such as ramp personnel, probably do not have Internet access at all.) Second, response rates to Internet sur- veys are generally the lowest of any type of survey, reducing the likelihood of obtaining a repre- sentative result. Third, Internet surveys have to be fairly short and simple. The reasons for this include different technological capabilities among respondents, the absence of anyone to clarify issues the respondent may have, and perhaps people’s general expectation that online transac- tions should move rapidly. Other issues that should be considered when selecting the survey method include the following: • Speed: How quickly does research need to get done? As examples, mail surveys take a long time to come back; surveys that are handed out to passengers are returned almost immedi- ately if they are returned at all. • Complexity: How complicated are the inquiries? The more complicated the questions, the more important it becomes to have a person available to clarify issues the respondent may have and provide assistance, as with an intercept interview. • Flow control: Does the order in which questions are asked need to be controlled? If so, then certain methods, such as handouts and mail, are excluded. An example of the need to control flow might be asking what airports in the area come to mind, then following up by naming and inquiring about all airports not mentioned; the second question in effect “gives away” the possible answers to the first. • Visual aids: Are visual aids needed? An example might be a stated preference survey on the likely use of a proposed new ground access mode, in which respondents are shown images of the proposed mode in order to ensure that they have a clear understanding of what the mode would be like to use. Methods such as telephone surveys that do not permit the display of such aids would be excluded. • Confidentiality: How important is confidentiality to the study? In many cases, airport surveys are not asking particularly sensitive questions and confidentiality is not a major issue. Passen- ger surveys, however, frequently ask about the origin of the trip to the airport, which often means home addresses. In this case, confidentiality is obviously of high importance. It bears remembering that in an age of identity theft and widespread consumer fraud, concerns about confidentiality are legitimate. Some survey methods are more confidential than others. Mail surveys can be designed with no identifying information on the survey response form so that respondents can remain anonymous if they wish; in-person interviews and Internet surveys perhaps raise the most concerns about confidentiality, but the latter can be made quite secure with the proper hard- ware and software. The main advantages and disadvantages and each survey method are summarized in Table 2-1. Planning a Survey 15

2.3 Survey Frequency and Timing 2.3.1 Dealing with Seasonality Several aspects related to timing and frequency need to be considered in planning an airport user survey project. The pattern of air travel at most airports varies seasonally. Performing a pas- senger survey at only one time of the year will not reflect the variation in traveler characteristics and thus may give a biased picture of the composition of the air travel market over the year. On the other hand, if data on air traveler characteristics are needed for planning airport facilities for their peak use, then the survey should be performed during the peak demand period. While it is common practice to design airport terminal facilities for the average day of the peak month, some thought should be given to likely conditions during other peak periods, and it may be desir- able to collect passenger survey data at those times as well. The highest hourly demand on air- port facilities may not in fact occur during the busiest month, but rather may take place around holiday weekends at other times of the year, such as Thanksgiving. Seasonal changes in the composition of the air travel market can have a particular influence on airport ground transportation mode use. Figure 2-1 shows the monthly variation in use of short- term and long-term parking at Los Angeles International Airport over a two-year period in the early 1990s, expressed as parking exits per hundred passengers (Gosling, 1996). Use of short-term park- ing varies inversely with use of long-term parking: Short-term parking use is highest in the summer and in December and January, both times associated with higher levels of non-business travel. Long- term parking use is highest in the spring and fall, months with generally higher levels of business travel. Similar seasonal patterns have been observed at other airports and for other ground access modes. It is clear from Figure 2-1 that depending on the month in which an air passenger survey is performed, the use of airport parking indicated by the survey results would differ considerably. It should be noted that the monthly volume of passenger traffic through the airport and the com- position of the traffic are really two different issues, as illustrated in Figure 2-1, which has been adjusted for the variation in air passenger traffic. One approach to accounting for seasonal varia- tion in calculating the market composition for the year as a whole is to use a weighted average of results obtained during two survey periods, in a peak traffic month and an off-peak traffic month. While the market composition during the peak traffic month is usually different from that during the off-peak months, in fact the composition is likely to vary throughout the year. The market com- position for the year as a whole will generally be different from that given by the weighted average of results obtained during a peak traffic month and any one off-peak traffic month. 16 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys Table 2-1. Advantages and disadvantages of each survey method. Survey Method Advantages Disadvantages Intercept Interviews • High data quality • High response rate • Allows for complex surveys • High cost Mail-back and Hand-back Intercept, and Mail • Lower cost than intercept • Useful for short and simple surveys • Lower response and data quality than intercept • Slow for mail and mail-back surveys Internet • Low cost • Automated data processing • Low response rate • Requires access to the Internet • Limited complexity Telephone • Allows representative sample of large and dispersed populations such as business firms • Moderately high cost and time to implement survey

A number of methods can be used to deal with seasonality: • If the attributes being measured are for use in assessing facility requirements and capacity constraints, values of these attributes during the peak planning period may be of interest; if so, conduct the survey during this period. • Conduct the survey in a shoulder month that is considered to be the most representative of average traffic over the year. • Conduct the survey in several waves, such as each quarter, each month, or during peak and off-peak months. • Use continuous or rolling surveys conducted throughout the year to allow the seasonal vari- ation to be measured directly. The use of continuous or rolling surveys has a number of advantages besides providing good information on seasonal variation of market composition. These advantages include the need for far fewer survey personnel, who in consequence can be better trained and will become more expe- rienced, improving the quality of the survey results. This approach also makes the survey results far less vulnerable to distortion from atypical events that happen to occur during a survey con- ducted over a much shorter period, such as unusually bad (or good) weather, major sporting events, or labor unrest. A survey performed on an ongoing basis from year to year will also provide some early indication of trends in market composition that might be missed (or misinterpreted) if surveys are conducted only periodically. The continuous survey approach has been adopted by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) for its program of air passenger surveys undertaken at the 14 largest U.K. airports (UK CAA, 2006). The survey teams spend several days at each airport before moving on to another airport, returning to each airport every few weeks. 2.3.2 Multi-Year Considerations In addition to accounting for seasonal changes, a related consideration is how often airport user surveys need to be performed to identify changes in market composition that are occurring Planning a Survey 17 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Pa rk in g Ex its pe r H u n dr e d Pa s s e n ge rs 1993 Long Term 1994 Long Term 1993 Short Term 1994 Short Term Short-Term Parking (up to 6 hrs) Long-Term Parking (over 6 hrs) Source: Adapted from Gosling, 1996. Figure 2-1. Variation in parking use—Los Angeles International Airport.

from year to year. Some airports perform user surveys, particularly air passenger surveys, every year. Others perform them much less frequently, perhaps every five years (Gosling and Maric, 2006). Airport user surveys performed by other organizations, such as metropolitan planning organizations, are typically performed less frequently than every year. For example, the San Fran- cisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission has sponsored air passenger surveys at the three Bay Area primary airports every five years. As a result, there is a fairly good histori- cal record of long-term changes in market composition. However, significant changes can occur over five years, as evidenced by the changes in the economy and the airline industry after Sep- tember 2001. With surveys spread five years apart it is difficult to pick up recent trends or even determine whether differences from one survey to the next are part of a longer-term trend or just a feature of the specific year the survey was performed. 2.3.3 Dealing with Daily and Weekly Variability User characteristics can also vary by time of day and day of week. Early morning and late after- noon periods typically have more origin-destination passengers, while midday flights have more connecting passengers. Morning flights tend to have more local residents, while afternoon flights have more visitors. Weekday flights have more business passengers, while weekend flights have more passengers traveling for personal reasons. Most departures from the U.S. West Coast to Europe are in the late afternoon to evening, with the corresponding arrivals spread through the afternoon. Therefore, it is desirable that the sampling period covers all hours of the day that flights operate, over at least one complete week. If the survey is conducted for fewer than seven days, the proportion of the target sample on weekdays and weekends should be set equal to the proportion of passengers during those two periods. However, failure to provide survey coverage for some hours or days will give results that are not completely representative of the target population, because it will provide no information on the characteristics of airport users during those peri- ods. While weighting of survey results can partially correct for known sample bias due to over- sampling some periods (e.g., having more responses from passengers on a given day than the share of the total weekly traffic on that day), there is no way to correct for the unknown bias due to not sampling some periods. 2.3.4 Sample Size While the issues of survey timing and frequency need to be decided on the basis of the survey purpose, the particular data needs and the availability of resources, the issue of frequency is also related to sample size. Conducting surveys with a smaller sample size several times each year may produce better information for decision making and planning than conducting less frequent sur- veys with a much larger sample size every few years, for much the same overall cost. The results are likely to be more robust than those from a single survey of equivalent size conducted at a sin- gle point in time, because the multiple survey waves will better reflect changes in traffic compo- sition over time. The results of multiple survey waves over several years can always be combined when a large sample is required to permit detailed analysis. 2.4 External Agencies The results of an airport user survey are likely to be of interest to organizations other than the survey sponsor. Other organizations may have information needs that could be met by expand- ing the scope of a planned survey. For example, information on the use of ground transporta- tion by travelers is likely to be of interest to regional transportation planning agencies as well as public agencies and private-sector operators providing ground transportation services at the air- 18 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys

port. Other agencies that are likely to have an interest in the results of airport user surveys include local air quality management agencies, state aviation agencies and transportation departments, local economic development or tourism organizations, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal transportation agencies involved in funding airport ground transportation infra- structure. Conversely, an airport user survey that is sponsored by an agency other than the air- port operator may provide an opportunity to gather information that the airport operator is interested in, but is of less interest to the survey sponsor. Even in cases where the survey sponsor and other organizations are interested in obtaining information on the same broad issue, such as ground transportation mode use, the detailed needs of each agency may differ. For example, regional transit agencies may be interested in how airport travelers using public transit access the transit system, whereas this may be of less interest to the airport operator. Modifying the scope of an airport user survey to meet the information needs of other agencies will generally increase the cost and complexity of the survey but will generally be less costly and provide more comprehensive information than performing separate surveys. It may also present opportunities for cost sharing. If there are other organizations that are likely to have an interest in the results of the survey, it is a good idea to coordinate with them at an early stage in the planning process to discuss whether the survey can meet their specific information needs. It may be helpful to form a coor- dinating group with representatives from the survey sponsor and the other organizations. This group can provide input on planning and design of the survey. The extent to which staff from external agencies should participate directly on the survey planning team will depend on the scope of the survey and the level of involvement of those agencies in funding the work. 2.5 Preparing the Survey Budget Part of the planning process is preparing the survey budget. Ideally, this takes place after defin- ing the survey purpose, determining the survey method and considering the survey frequency. The budget will need to consider the tasks involved in further planning and then implementing the sur- vey project. If a budget has already been set, it is important to check whether it is realistic. If not, the project manager may have to change the scope of the survey or seek additional funding. 2.5.1 Project Tasks The first step in preparing a survey budget is to identify all the tasks that are required to per- form a successful survey. The following list may assist the survey sponsor in developing the pre- liminary budget. • Survey design—includes specifying sampling strategies, designing questionnaires, estimating the required number of interviewers required, and determining which parts will be done with internal resources or by a contractor. • Pre-test and pilot tests—required unless repeating a well-established survey with experienced staff, as discussed in Section 4.7. • Survey setup—includes the hiring of temporary staff, any necessary equipment and software (rental or purchase), printing of forms, and other survey logistics. • Conducting the survey. • Data entry and cleaning—electronic transfer or manual data entry, as well as the cleaning of the data for inconsistencies and transcription errors. The cleaning phase is frequently underestimated. • Data analysis—discussed further in Section 4.11. Planning a Survey 19

• Reports and presentations—discussed further in Sections 4.11 and 4.13. • Project management. 2.5.2 Approvals After a preliminary budget has been prepared, the next step is to obtain the necessary approvals to conduct the survey. Senior management and executives need to be convinced that the survey will be a worthwhile expenditure and that it is being managed wisely. It may be necessary or advisable to give a briefing or presentation to senior management. Such a briefing could include the following, for example: • Need for the survey: – What information is needed for planning new capital projects that a survey would provide? – What data are not available from existing sources? – How might having this information affect the costs of these projects? • Purpose of the survey: – Goals and objectives. – Population to be surveyed. – Data to be collected. • Types of results and analysis expected. • Management of the survey: – Composition of the survey planning and implementation teams. – Planned schedule. • Cost of the survey: – Estimated costs. – Cost relative to potential costs of projects. It may be necessary to update the initial budget and seek further management approval as the planning of the survey project proceeds. 2.6 Survey Planning Team By this stage of the project, the goals of the survey have been set, an initial budget has been defined and, most important, approval has been obtained to go ahead with further planning of the survey. Until this stage it is likely that the work on the survey has been confined to a few people, perhaps only one person. The time has come to create a survey planning team. This team will be responsi- ble for the design and conduct of the survey and reporting of the results. This section describes the kinds of expertise that should be considered for this team. 2.6.1 Core Personnel The core survey planning team will see the project through from beginning to end. The com- position of the core team will depend on the expertise needed for the survey type and method being proposed but will likely include the following: • Project manager: This is the person who is going to pull it all together and who will serve as liai- son with senior management and other departments within the airport and external agencies. The project manager should be familiar with the procurement process and preferably have some experience with the issues involved in performing surveys. • Survey technical expert: This person knows the airport user survey world and all its subtleties. Many different issues will arise during the survey planning process, and this is the person who 20 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys

must deal with each one and make recommendations so that appropriate decisions can be made. Detailed survey design, such as the development of the questionnaire, will be the responsibility of the survey technical expert. Unless surveys are conducted on a regular basis, this expertise may not reside within the sponsoring agency and therefore may have to be contracted. • Data analyst: This person will be responsible for the eventual analysis of the survey data and any documentation of the survey results, and should be involved from the beginning of the project. During the initial design stages, the data analyst may provide little input to the team, but will need to understand how the data will be collected and ensure that it will meet the survey goals and purpose. This will be important when performing the cleaning, management and analysis of the data at the conclusion of the survey. The data analyst and survey technical expert are often the same person. • Survey logistics manager: Guided by the survey technical expert and the requirements for the specific survey type, this person will be responsible for coordinating all the arrangements that are necessary to conduct the survey and, more important, for setting everything up in advance so that the survey runs smoothly. In the case of on-site interviews, for example, this advance work includes such aspects as providing a training facility and transportation for interview- ers, arranging parking and badges for survey field staff, and assigning field staff to shifts (these aspects are discussed further in Section 4.5). In addition to the advance arrangements, this person will ensure that sufficient interviewers are available for each shift. • Survey administrator: This person provides administrative support for the survey team. Exactly how many staff are required will depend on the size and complexity of the survey as well as the availability of personnel. Note that in some cases one person may have the required expertise to play a number of roles. Depending on the structure of the organization, these team members may come from the same department or various departments. Either way, it is important that all staff and managers involved understand the importance of the survey and the role of each team member. Designated office space for the survey planning team is preferable for large surveys and surveys that will take a relatively long time to complete. 2.6.2 Other Departments and Agencies—The Extended Team The survey planning team may wish to benefit from available expertise in other parts of the agency or beyond. It is also possible that the goal and purpose of the survey will inherently involve multiple departments or agencies. For example, a survey on attitudes toward the various functions of the airport might require input from such organizations as: • The marketing department regarding shopping concessions. • Planning and maintenance departments. • A security agency and possibly a police authority if security screening is a consideration. In some cases these other departments and external agencies may wish to participate on the survey planning team. If this request is granted, the roles and responsibilities of each extended team member must be clearly defined and understood by all. The process of coordination with other departments and external agencies should include soliciting comments on the scope of the planned survey. These comments can be important to the success of the survey, because they might reveal one or more of the following: • Some of the data being sought through the survey already exists within the agency. • Other surveys are scheduled to take place in the future that might conflict with the planned survey or cause undesirable “survey burden” on the airport users. • It would be desirable to include additional questions that would not conflict with the planned survey flow but would produce a substantial added value. Planning a Survey 21

• The questionnaire needs to be reworded to allow comparison of the results with those of other surveys. 2.7 Preliminary Schedule and Target Dates Certain components of the survey project will define the critical path. Information to be derived from the survey is often needed for a specific planning application and therefore is required by a certain time to fit into that process. The hiring or contracting of temporary staff and obtaining their airport security badges is often a critical determinant of the schedule, especially for small surveys. If a contractor is going to be involved, the contractor will have to be selected several months in advance to give the contractor time to prepare and activate the requisite resources. Given a target date for starting the survey, the survey planning team should work backwards through the steps in the process, including the decision process, developing a Request for Proposals (RFP), issuing the RFP, evaluating proposals and selecting a contractor, entering into a contract, and having the contractor undertake the required activities to prepare for the survey. If contract support involves more than just providing temporary staff, such as assisting with the detailed survey planning and design, this needs to be reflected in the schedule. Depending on the size of the survey and the extent of contract support required, the target date may be several months to more than a year in the future. A number of considerations must be taken into account when forming a preliminary schedule, and these must be resolved by the survey planning team. The following is a list of points to consider: • Date when the information derived from the survey is required for input into planning or other processes—relates to the purpose and goals of the survey. • Lead time—the time required to complete all the survey preparation, design, contracts and other details. • Season—whether survey results are needed for peak, non-peak, or shoulder activity, which depends on the uses to be made of the data collected. Seasonal traffic patterns at the airport will be a major consideration. Surveying during the Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas, or other abnormal traffic periods is generally not a good idea, unless survey results are specifi- cally required for those periods. • Other surveys—whether other departments are planning to conduct routine or one-time sur- veys during the period under consideration. If possible, such dates should be avoided to reduce the “survey burden” on airport users and the potential for confusion. • Weather—a consideration for surveys taking place at any outside location. Periods when very cold or very hot weather is likely should be avoided if possible. • Availability of temporary staff—may or may not be an issue depending on how temporary staff will be obtained. Use of students as temporary staff will generally be easier during the summer break. • Special events—dates of any known major events, such as large conferences or sporting events, should be avoided. • Pre-tests and pilot tests—if planned for the survey, the time required for these must be fac- tored into the schedule. • Required duration of the survey period. • Time to enter, clean, and analyze the data; document the findings; and prepare any required presentations. Thorough discussion of each of these constraints will be needed to develop a realistic target date for the start of the survey. Setting a target date with very tight timelines is generally not advis- 22 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys

able, especially if the survey is one of the first of this type to be done by this survey sponsor or at this airport. The risk of unanticipated events causing slippage in the schedule is very high. In fact, it may be wise to let the whole schedule slip a year, if necessary, to meet seasonality criteria, rather than put the survey results in jeopardy from an overly ambitious schedule. With the target date set for the beginning of the survey, the survey planning team can work backwards and forwards from that date and set other key dates for the project. These dates will include, for example, the following events or milestones: • Distribution of the RFP. • Award dates for key contracts. • Survey planning complete. • Survey forms/questionnaire design complete. • Acquisition schedule for materials, surveyor supplies, forms, etc. • Printing of questionnaires, return envelopes, letters, etc., as required. • Acquisition of survey equipment, if required. • Preparation of training material. • Selection of survey field staff. • Badging and security clearances. • Training time. • Pre-tests and pilot tests complete. • Start of data collection. • Data collection complete. • Data entry and cleaning complete. • Analysis complete. • Preparation of results complete. • Presentation of results. 2.8 Survey Location and Security Clearance The choice of location to perform a survey will depend on the information that the survey is designed to obtain and the practicalities of surveying the desired respondents. This issue prima- rily affects surveys of air passengers and associated greeters and well-wishers, because surveys of airport employees and other groups of airport users will generally not use the intercept method. It has become fairly standard practice to perform passenger surveys in the airline gate lounges while passengers are waiting to board their flights. This location has the advantage that passen- gers are often sitting down with little to do except read a book or magazine. However, the increas- ing use of laptop computers and cell phones in recent years has meant that many people in the gate lounges may be working or talking on their cell phone. The choice of location is dealt with in detail in Chapter 4. Performing surveys in the secure area of the passenger terminal involves an array of logistical issues related to obtaining security clearance and identification badges for the survey field staff. Survey staff may be issued temporary badges, but they may then need to be escorted by a perma- nently badged airport employee. For surveys conducted over a long period of time and in mul- tiple locations, the escorting approach may not be practicable or cost effective. Instead, the survey field staff should be issued regular identification badges to allow access. The exact procedure for badging will vary from airport to airport, but a typical process is that all persons who require a badge will complete an application form that is submitted by their employer to the airport badging office for approval. Applicants will then make an appointment Planning a Survey 23

to be fingerprinted and photographed at the badging office. The fingerprints are then sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a criminal background check. This process can take several weeks. If there is no record of any offenses that would disqualify them from being issued a badge, they then return to the airport badging office to pick up their badge. When the survey is over, the employer is responsible for ensuring that the badges are returned. To facilitate this process, the airport should designate an authorized staff member to coordinate with the survey con- tractor and approve the badge applications for survey field staff. This person should also coordinate with the Trans- portation Security Administration staff at the airport to ensure that they are aware that the survey is being con- ducted and address any concerns or local requirements that they may have. 2.9 Contracting External Resources 2.9.1 Reasons for Using External Resources All or part of the work of a survey project may need to be contracted out for a number of reasons, including the following: • The lack of specialized expertise in survey design or imple- mentation within the airport or sponsoring agency. • Internal personnel may not have enough time to design and implement a survey project. • The need for objectivity and a fresh viewpoint that a con- tractor can provide. • The lack of an in-house team of trained and experienced survey interviewers. The following subsections present key issues specific to the contracting of external resources for airport user surveys. They are not intended to be a guide on the entire contracting process. 2.9.2 Preparing the Request for Proposals A competitive procurement process is normally followed to select a contractor. Even if the airport or sponsoring agency has the authority to select a contractor without competitive bidding, it is important to document the requirements for the contractor. A potential contractor should not be expected to make assumptions about any significant factors. The RFP should include the following terms of reference: • Background information leading to the need for the survey. • Results of previous similar studies, if applicable. 24 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys The issues that will need to be carefully addressed in badging survey staff include the following: • Every member of the team will need to be badged if the surveying is to be done post- security, and even for surveys conducted pre- security, many airports require the survey team to be badged. • Some highly competent field staff from private contractors will not pass the required screening and thus will be ineligible to be badged. Air- ports are also unlikely to allow these people to work elsewhere on their premises. The require- ments for badging are extremely stringent, and they need to be carefully explained to any out- side vendors. • If a team member quits, it will take time to replace that person if the replacement needs to be badged. It is also reasonable to assume that field interviewers will quit, with the number being more or less inversely proportion to the rigor with which they are screened. It is also important to remember that the challenges of interviewing at an airport—a lot of walking, lengthy periods of standing, crowds, and noise— will overwhelm even some people who are among the best interviewers in other situations. • Over-hiring is essential—the only question is by how much. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula to predict this; recommendations range so widely that only experience is the best guide. Absent experience, it is wise to allow plenty of extra time in the schedule for a first venture. Information in Sections 4.6.1 and 4.6.5 on selection of field staff will help in reducing staff turn-over. • The protocol for issuing badges and the time required varies from airport to airport. It is important to identify the procedures that will need to be followed and allow for this in survey planning. Where contract personnel are to be used, it is essential that potential contractors are informed of the procedures and time required before they submit bids. • The staff time and costs involved in badging contract personnel need to be included in the survey budget.

• The purpose of the survey, definition of the population to be surveyed, and the specific infor- mation to be collected. • The nature of the services to be provided (e.g., survey design only, survey design and implemen- tation with contractor’s interviewers and supervision, survey design and supervision of inter- viewers employed by the airport, data analysis, and report preparation). • Any decisions that have been made regarding the survey methodology, survey frequency, desired accuracy, sampling strategy, and questionnaire content. • Any assumptions that have been made. • The nature and scope of the analysis and reports required. • Materials and services to be provided by the sponsor and by the contractor, particularly dur- ing implementation of the survey, such as security clearances; trained interviewers, employ- ees, or volunteers; and parking passes. • Relationship to other information, such as ancillary data that the sponsor will be collecting or data obtained in previous surveys. • Any requirements to be consistent with other surveys (to ensure that results are comparable over time or with surveys in other areas). • Expected schedule for reviews, approvals and deliverables. • Required qualifications of the contractor. • The evaluation criteria. • An indication of the available budget. Not every item on this list will necessarily apply in every case, but any exclusion from the RFP should be the result of a conscious decision. 2.9.3 Proposal Evaluation and Contractor Selection Criteria for evaluating the proposals should be prepared and included in the RFP. Suggested evaluation criteria include the following: • Demonstrated understanding of the survey requirements and issues that should be addressed. • A realistic approach that addresses the purpose of the survey and information to be collected and analyzed. This approach should be “creative” when the approach is not specified in the RFP or when the bidder feels strongly that the sponsor’s approach is not suitable. • Demonstration that the proposed sampling plan, if not specified by the sponsor, will be sta- tistically valid. • Qualifications of the firm and any subcontractors, as demonstrated by previous similar proj- ects, including client references. • Qualifications and experience of the proposed professionals who will actually work on the survey, as demonstrated by participation in previous similar projects, and assurances of their availability. • For survey field staff—qualifications of staff, including background of interviewers and super- visors, experience of interviewers and supervisors in conducting airport surveys, language skills, previous security clearances, and experience with electronic data collection devices if applicable; general training and planned training specific to the survey in question; and strate- gies used to retain staff and to replace interviewers that leave. • Realistic work plan, including adequate quality control and reporting to the sponsor. • Type and amount of resources for each task or phase of the project. • Price (as part of the proposal or negotiated) that represents value for the services being pro- vided and the experience of the firm. (It is advisable to avoid automatically awarding the contract to the lowest-priced bid, unless this is a requirement of the contracting process.) Planning a Survey 25

2.9.4 Contract Management Selecting the right contractor is important but may only be half the battle; it will also be impor- tant for the survey project manager to effectively manage the contract and maintain open com- munications with the contractor to ensure that issues are identified and resolved before they have a major impact on the survey, that the contractor is adhering to the schedule, and that the qual- ity of the work is acceptable. The survey project manager will need to ensure sufficient time for contract management. 2.10 Summary This chapter has provided guidance on key factors in planning a survey. A well-defined plan must consider why the survey is being conducted and then determine how and where the survey will be conducted. Security restrictions must be considered. Budget considerations will likely have a major impact on the survey design, and financial approvals should be sought early in the planning process. The use of external agencies should be considered as a funding source and to avoid duplication of efforts between agencies. It may also be necessary to contract out all or part of the survey project if internal resources are not available or an independent view is required. Chapter 3 explains the concepts of sampling and statistical accuracy, and Chapter 4 sets out the detailed design work of the survey planning team. 26 Guidebook for Conducting Airport User Surveys