January 2013

2012 Utah StatewideHousehold Travel Study

Study overview and results

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2012 Utah Travel Study $1.8 M

Sponsoring agencieso Wasatch Front Regional Council

o Mountainland Association of Governments

o Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization

o Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization

o Utah Transit Authority

o Utah Department of Transportation

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Purpose of the Utah Travel Study

o Better understand daily travel activities & travel patterns of Utah residents

o Serve as the basis for estimating future travel activities

o Vital for planning future transportation needs

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Random sample of 124,888 Utah households invited

• Invitations via first-class mail• Option to complete survey:

‒ Online (advanced web-based survey instrument)

‒ Telephone• Survey in English & Spanish• $10 Amazon gift card incentive

Participants identified travel on one of 33 pre-assigned days• Days assigned were on Tue,

Wed or Thu

Sampling Plan

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2,800 Salt Lake Co

1,556 Utah Co

112 Wasatch Co

173 Summit Co

Number of Completed Household Surveys

80% of households who completed the travel survey volunteered to do

further surveys

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o Basic household information• Life cycle• Household size• # and type of vehicles available • # worker• Income

o Log of all trips made over a 24-hour period• Trip purpose (work, shop, school, etc.)• Origin & destination• Mode & auto occupancy (whether or not they

traveled with other people)• Time of day (AM, midday, PM, night)

Type of Information Collected

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Example Trip Diary Questions - 1

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Example Trip Diary Questions - 2

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General Findings

o Person travel behavior has been relatively consistent since 1993, even with:• High population growth• Land use changes (e.g. Gateway-type development did not

exist in 1993)• Major transportation investment (TRAX, Front Runner, I-15

reconstruction)

o 2012 results will allow us to ‘true-up’ existing forecasting models to current data

o 2012 survey data help us better understand interactions between urbanized and emerging areas (e.g. Utah County and Wasatch and Summit Counties)

Transportation Ranking Question

Preferences suggest focusing on current facilities

Priority Cache Dixie MAG WFRC Rural TOTAL

Efficiency* 2 3 1 1 3 1Maintenance/Preservation*

3 1 2 2 1 2

Safety* 1 2 3 3 2 3

Mode Choice 5 4 5 4 4 4

Capacity 4 5 4 5 5 5

Note: *The rankings for these priorities are a virtual tie in the data

Priority Cache

Dixie MAG WFRC

Rural ALL

Efficiency* 2 3 1 1 3 1

Maintenance/Preservation* 3 1 2 2 1 2

Safety* 1 2 3 3 2 3

Mode Choice 5 4 5 4 4 4

Capacity 4 5 4 5 5 5

High Priority

Low Priority

Statewide Attitudes: Taxation

Stark Regional Differences Regarding Taxation “I would be willing to pay higher taxes in order to build a transportation system that

resulted in less traffic congestion”

Net Willingness to Pay Taxes – Difference between Agree/Disagree

Note: *UDOT = rural counties not included in the other regions

MAG Attitudes: Utah Lake Crossing

Attitudes are uniformly distributed “I support a road or a bridge across Utah Lake to connect our growing population (west

of Utah Lake) to the city centers (east of Utah Lake)”

Attitudes: Driving on Bad Air Quality Days

“I try to carpool, ride transit, and otherwise reduce my driving habits during bad air quality days”

Travel Diary: Bike/Ped Travel

The main diary dataset has approximately 9,000 bike/ped trips in it, which should provide insights into the relationship between urban form and non-motorized travel.

Trip Purpose for Walk/Bike Trips in Utah County

Potential Model Enhancements: Bike/Ped & Urban Form

The red dots are home-based other trips (e.g. exercise, visiting neighbors, walking the dog).

The blue dots are home-based work trips.

Clearly there are stark differences in where these trips occur.

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Mobile Phone Tracking Data - AirSage

To complement the Household Travel Diary AirSage wireless data was purchased to give a more robust sample of origins and destinations (more refined geography)

AirSage District-to-District Validation

o 148 Districts statewide—50 Wasatch Front—21 Cache—20 Dixie—20 Urban Fringe—30 Rest of rural Utah

o 2 months of Data (Jan & Apr 2012)

o Trace trips where Interstates cross Utah boarders

o Use in conjunction with 2012 Survey to validate spatial distribution in models