Measuring Personal Travel and Goods Movement A Review of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Surveys -- Special Report 277 (2003) / Chapter Skim
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3 Conclusions
3 Conclusions
Pages 26-40
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From page 26... ...
The committee characterized the NHTS and CFS as BTS's flagship personal travel and freight surveys. These major, multiyear survey programs have budgets on the order of $10 million to $15 million, and survey data are widely used by transportation analysts and researchers in both the public and private sectors.
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From page 27... ...
The widespread use of data from the NHTS and CFS indicates that these surveys provide essential data not available elsewhere. In the ab sence of the NHTS, nationwide personal travel data available from the federal government would be limited to journey-to-work trips reported in the Decennial Census and the American Community Survey.
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From page 28... ...
SUBSTANTIVE EXPERTISE Conclusion 2: BTS lacks the balance of expertise needed to guide the development of data products for informing transportation decision making. Some federal statistical agencies have clearly defined core programs pro viding the data needed to calculate high-profile national performance in dicators.
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From page 29... ...
The following example illustrates this point. A greater understanding of transportation issues on the part of BTS could have been beneficial in informing decisions about the sample size for the 2002 CFS, particularly in the face of the reduced budget available for the survey.1 During the early stages of the survey design process, BTS appears to have made few efforts to understand the requirements of transportation analysts for freight flow data at specific levels of geographic detail and reliability -- levels that determine the minimum sample size.
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From page 30... ...
The personal travel surveys have been conducted with varying fre quency since the late 1960s. The Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS)
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From page 31... ...
As a result, options for more cost-effective data collection could not be adequately explored because of time constraints -- a defi ciency that contributed in part to the greatly reduced sample size. In addition to budget uncertainties, institutional changes have com plicated efforts to ensure the stability and quality of the flagship personal travel and freight surveys.
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From page 32... ...
. The evidence available to the committee indicates that, despite the changes in survey ownership, data from the flagship personal travel and freight surveys have been archived for future use and are avail able.
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From page 33... ...
Despite its considerable value, ACTS is not in a position to provide the detailed technical input that could result from regular dialogue between BTS staff and "hands-on" data users, such as midlevel professionals in research and consulting organizations, state departments of transportation, and MPOs. This input could assist BTS in developing a better understanding of its customers' requirements to inform the development of more ef fective surveys.
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From page 34... ...
The Census Bureau conducted fairly extensive investigations of alternative sampling schemes, but the results do not appear to have been shared with data users early in the survey planning process.4 Consequently, the decision to halve the sample size vis-à-vis the 1997 survey was taken by the CFS partnership with appar ently little discussion with users of the advantages and disadvantages of the sampling options. CLEAR SURVEY OBJECTIVES Conclusion 5: A lack of clearly defined survey objectives complicates BTS's efforts to develop cost-effective, quality personal travel and freight surveys responsive to the needs of data users.
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From page 35... ...
The committee identified five main topic areas in which more effective survey methods could improve the quality and usefulness of BTS's sur vey products: · Response rates for household travel surveys, · Data collection, · Sample design, · Questionnaire development and testing, and · Data dissemination. BTS is not alone in needing to develop more effective survey methods.
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From page 36... ...
For example, elec tronic reporting options developed for the 2002 Economic Census allow businesses to extract data directly from their own spreadsheets and import it into survey software. Businesses can also complete electronic survey questionnaires on their own computers at their own pace.5 Similarly, 5 Easier, Faster, Smarter: Census Bureau Features Electronic Reporting in the 2002 Economic Census, www.census.gov/epcd/ec02/ec02electronic.htm.
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From page 37... ...
. An alternative sampling scheme, such as an approach that involves randomly se lecting a starting point in terms of shipments and taking the next n records, could result in fewer reporting errors and improved data quality.
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From page 38... ...
Methods for testing survey instruments quickly and accurately could be very useful in improving the quality of both the NHTS and the Omnibus surveys. Data Dissemination A number of data users indicated to the committee that the release of additional survey microdata would greatly enhance the usefulness of the NHTS and CFS by providing greater geographic detail.
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From page 39... ...
, the committee noted that federal agen cies have generally tended to avoid quick response customer satisfaction surveys conducted on a continuing basis, such as the Omnibus monthly household survey.
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From page 40... ...
In Conference Proceedings 10: Conference on Household Travel Surveys: New Concepts and Research Needs, TRB, National Research Council, Wash ington, D.C., pp.
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