The National Household Travel Survey

Heather Contrino US Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration

About the NHTS…

Only national data source on travel demand and travel behavior of the American public.

Measures travel by US households for all modes and all purposes

Survey conducted since 1969

NHTS uses a classic travel diary as a memory jogger…

At the beginning of my travel day (4:00 a.m.) I was: Home Some other place

WHERE did you go?

(Name of place)

What TIME did you start and end each

trip?

WHY did you go there?

HOW did you travel?

How FAR was it?

Started at: Arrived at:

(blocks or miles)

EXAMPLE:

West Park Theater2:00 p.m. 2:55

p.m.

To see a movie walk, bus, walk

6 miles

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

And obtains trips from one address to another by all modes…

01/17/01

Please remember, a trip is whenever you go from one address to another. OMB Nos.: 2139-0008; 2125-0545 Have this travel diary by the phone when the interviewer calls. You do not need to mail the diary back to us. Thanks Expiration date: xx/xx/xx

Example of Trips on a Travel Day

Trip 2 Walk Work

Home

Trip 4 Walk, subway, car

Lunch at Restaurant

Trip 5 Car

Trip 6 Car

Grocery store

Daycare center

Trip 1 Car, subway, walk

Trip 3 Walk

NHTS Core Data Content

Households Persons Geography Vehicles Trips

Major ContributionLinkage between

people, travel and vehicles

2008 NHTS provides trends over 40 years of core content…

Employment/ Income 9%

Age / Gender10%

Other Household Variables

10%

Trip Purpose16%

Trip Length 12%

Travel Mode16%

Travel Time10%

Vehicle Characteristics and Use

17%

Source: “National Household Travel Survey Data Use: An Overview Prepared by: MacroSys Research and Technology for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2005

New 2008 NHTS Content Congestion

Interstate use and tolling Telecommuting – opportunity and frequency Work arrival time and flexibility

Safety Safe Travel to School Travel impacts of disability

Energy and Environment Shopping by Internet and deliveries to the household Hybrid/Alternative fuel vehicles Fuel costs by vehicle type and travel behavior

Intermodalism Access, egress, and travel party size Frequency of walk and bike Motorcycle ownership and use

The NHTS Program

National Study Serves the department, congress, and administration Resource for State and metropolitan areas (MPOs) and

transportation community 40 years of trend data on U.S. travel behavior Sample size of 25,000 households

Add-On Program Service to States and MPOs since 1990 Allows States and MPOs to purchase additional samples for

their local area Program participation has doubled every survey year

(Sample size of 125,000 households for 2008)

2008 NHTS Travel Data for

150,000 Households

2008 Add-On Program125,000 Add-On Samples

Florida DOT

Georgia DOT

South Carolina DOT

North Carolina DOTPiedmont Region

Virginia DOT

New York State DOT

Indiana DOTOmaha, Nebraska

Cedar Rapids, IAIowa DOT

Maricopa, AZPima, AZ

California DOT

Wisconsin DOT

Tennessee DOT

Texas DOT

South Dakota DOT

Vermont DOT

2008 NHTS Schedule

April 2009 - Data collection completed June 2009 - Final unweighted data for QA August 2009 - Add-On GIS files August 2009 – Draft final weighted file for QA October 2009 – Final weighted data and

documentation Add-Ons receive final data

January 2009 – Public use data set On-line analysis tool available for 2008

March 2009 – Final full documentation and users guide

How can NHTS help you?

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

All Men Women

Trips/Person 1995Trips/Person 2001

Base: NHTS data series, travelers 16+

Identifying Trends in DemandHuge growth in travel since 1969, however demand (number of trips) has leveled off over the past decade

Understanding Mode Use

Shop/Errands23%

Visit/Soc18%

School/Church12%

Other12%

Work35%

Source: 2001 NHTS

Purpose Distribution of Transit Trips

For interpreting and using JTW looking at mode loyalty:

”Usual”Mode is”Usual”Mode is

90.0%90.0%90.0%

On Travel Day Took:On Travel Day Took:

Drove AloneDrove Alone

Drove w/ Others

Drove w/ Others

TookTransitTook

Transit WalkedWalked BikedBiked

No Report/Other

No Report/Other

Drove AloneDrove Alone9.3%9.3%9.3% 0.2%0.2% 0.3%0.3% 0.1%0.1% 0.2%0.2%

CarpoolCarpool 22.2%22.2%74.8%74.8%74.8%

1.0%1.0% 1.4%1.4% 0.4%0.4% 0.3%0.3%

TransitTransit 7.8%7.8% 9.7%9.7%69.4%69.4%69.4%

10.1%10.1% 0.5%0.5% 2.5%2.5%

WalkWalk 8.1%8.1% 9.2%9.2% 2.6%2.6%79.5%79.5%79.5%

0.2%0.2% 0.4%0.4%

BikeBike 6.7%6.7% 8.4%8.4% 1.7%1.7% 6.1%6.1%77.1%77.1%77.1%

0.0%0.0%

Are there any “Usual” days?

(comparison of ‘usual’ mode with mode on the travel day, 2001 NHTS)

Measure how access impacts behavior…

Percent of Workers Taking Transit to Work

9.77

0.18

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Live and work near transit (<.25miles)

Do not live and work neartransit

Source: NHTS series since 1969

Quantify the link between demographics and mobility

This is the daily range of

travel for a low-income

African American

This is the daily range of

travel for a high income

African American

And demographics and safety…

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

16-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+

Num

ber

of A

nnua

l Fat

aliti

es p

er 1

00 m

il. V

MT

Base: NHTS data on driver miles by age and FARS fatalities

See how the transportation system works together

0

20

40

60

80

100

POV Taxi/Bus or Shuttle Other/Walk

Access Mode

Pe

rce

nt

of

Tri

ps

To Airports To Transit

Source: 2001 NHTS

And when and why people drive

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Start Hour

Pe

rso

n T

rips

in M

illio

ns

Commute Fam/Pers (inc. Shop) School/Ch Soc/Rec

To look at changes in the fleet mix…

Hybrid/Alternative Fuel Vehicles by State

Source: NHTS 2008 preliminary

And forecast future demand

Top Ten States in Pct Growth of VMT to 2050

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0% 120.0%

Virginia

Oregon

Washington

Georgia

North Carolina

Idaho

Utah

Texas

Florida

Arizona

Nevada

Estimated on current VMT/person from NHTS and Census population forecast

How other areas use the NHTS…

Safety Planning - California

Pedestrian Fatalities per Mile of Exposure

Source: 2001 FARS pedestrian Fatalities and NHTS 2001 miles walked

Model Calibration - Wisconsin HBW Observed Vs Predicted Trip Length Frequency

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

0 - 5 5-10 10-

15

15 -

20

20 -

25

25 -

30

30 -

35

35 -

40

40 -

45

45 -

50

50 -

55

55 -

60

60 -

65

65 -

70

70 -

75

75 -

80

80 -

85

85 -

90

90 -

95

95 -

100

100 -

105

105 -

110

110 -

115

115 -

120

120 -

Time Interval (in minutes)

Per

cen

t T

rip

s

Observed Trip LengthFrequency

Predicted Trip LengthFrequency - Iteration 1

Predicted Trip LengthFrequency - Iteration 2

Source: 2001 NHTS Bruce Aunet, WI DOT & Cambridge Systematics Inc.

Air Quality - New York

Vehicle Starts, Trip Lengths by Time of Day and Vehicle Utilization

Source: 2001 NHTS

13. Means of Transportation, 2001

Percent of Workers

NHTS (Actual, Travel day)

Census (Usual last week)

Drove Alone 77.0 77.1 46.0Drove with others 15.1 12.7 38.1Transit 3.2 3.4 1.8Walk 0.0 2.3 9.2

Other 3.6 4.4 4.9

14. Trip Length Distribution for Work and Non-Work Trips

15. Number of Annual Weekday Trips by Time of Day

MOUNTAIN CHART

Source: NHTS

Source: NHTS

Source: NHTS

All Trips

To Work

506400

219

965

1,422

1,645

1,167

430161

267

85

1,155

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

6:00-8:59 am 9:00 a.m - Noon Noon-2:59 p.m. 3:00 - 5:59 p.m. 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. - 5:59 a.m.Start Time

Tri

ps (

in m

illi

ons)

Work

Non-Work

To Work

Drove Alone

Drove with others

Transit

Walk

Other

All Trips

6.7

14.2

9.2

22.9

16.6

23.522.4

13.0

4.4

9.68.4

6.7

20.5

11.4

6.63.9

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

< 1 Mile 1 - <3 3 - <6 6 - <10 10 - <12 12 - <15 15 - <20 20 +Distance (miles)

Per

cent

of

trip

s

Work

Non-work

Mode

Trip Length Distribution

Trips by time of day

Source: 2001 NHTS

Performance Measures - Virginia

Special Studies - Florida Hurricane Evacuation Planning Weekend and Holiday Travel

Planning Event Planning Seasonal Resident Impact

Legend

SeasonalSEASONAL_1

No

Yes

NHTS Products State Profiles Policy Briefs Trends Database Transferability On-line Analysis Tool Risk Assessment Tool

AAA Traffic Safety Foundation

NHTS

TrendsCD-ROM

Accessing NHTS Products State Profiles Policy Briefs: http://ornl.gov/publications.shtml#issueBriefs

Trends Database: To be posted soon

Transferable data for trip generation

http://fmip.ornl.gov/nhts/

Risk Assessment Tool:

http://www.aaafoundation.org/trafficSTATS/

On-line Analysis Tool: http://nhts.ornl.gov

SAS Data Set: http://nhts.ornl.gov/download.shtml

Contact Heather Contrino, FHWA

Thank You!Heather Contrino

Heather.Contrino@dot.gov

Future Program Goals

Methods Coverage and Response Rates

Cellular phones and non-contacts

Periodicity Real time reporting environment Continuous study design/annual reporting

Relevant Content Establishing regular, reliable performance measures Maintaining trends while addressing new policy and

planning questions