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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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-8
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, and the Omnibus Survey Program -- and issued a letter report on each sur vey providing specific guidance to BTS on approaches for improving future versions of the surveys. In this report, major themes identified from the reviews of individual surveys are addressed, and crosscutting guidance to BTS about its portfolio of transportation surveys is offered.
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Initiated in 2000, the Omnibus program of customer satisfaction surveys serves primarily clients within USDOT and, in the committee's judgment, constitutes a small component of the BTS survey portfolio. Nonetheless, the committee was concerned that the variable quality of surveys conducted under the Omnibus program, combined with inadequate procedures for approving these surveys, could undermine BTS's credibility as an independent provider of trans portation data.
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For transportation surveys in general, parameters such as sample size need to be determined on a rational sta tistical basis that reflects user requirements for reliable data at specified levels of geographic detail. In the absence of clear objectives, the statisti cal foundation needed to inform quality/quantity/cost trade-offs inher ent in the survey design process is lacking, and the survey scope itself may be ambiguous.
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For example, the reduced budget for the 2002 CFS was accommodated by halving the sample size to 50,000 establishments, compared with 100,000 in 1997. More informed insights into the uses of freight flow data, and in particular the need for reliable data at specific levels of geo graphic detail, could have highlighted the importance of seeking addi tional funds or investigating creative ways to maintain the sample size for the 2002 CFS at a level comparable with that of the 1997 survey.
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The committee identified five main topic areas in which improve ments in the effectiveness of BTS's survey methods could enhance the quality and usefulness of the resulting data products: · Response rates for household travel surveys, · Data collection, · Sample design, · Questionnaire development and testing, and · Data dissemination. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations 1 through 7 identify actions BTS could take to ren der its flagship surveys more effective in meeting the needs of a broad spectrum of data users.
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Recommendation 4 BTS should establish institutional procedures and long-term financial plans that help ensure the stability and quality of its flagship personal travel and freight surveys. Recommendation 5 BTS should work with its survey partners to establish a clear under standing of respective roles and to define clear lines of organization and management.
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56061trb015_023 1/13/04 6:08 AM Page 7 Executive Summary 7 Recommendation 8 BTS should establish a process for conducting the Omnibus surveys that ensures the agency's credibility as an independent provider of statistical information.
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56061trb015_023 1/13/04 6:08 AM Page 8
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