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| October 2007 [pdf version] | ||
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The Household Activity Survey provides a snapshot of current travel patterns to help estimate future travel activity within the region. The survey provides detailed information about participants' travel activities and transportation choices, including attitudes, preferences and trade-offs, which provides planners with a solid platform for evaluating the impacts of future transportation policies and actions. The Household Activity Survey offers three new features: tours, attitudinal data about transit and tolls, and improved accuracy. Tours - Where are People Stopping and Why? Historically, travel demand models have focused on travel in segments per household - each stop was considered a new trip. But most new models for large regions predict travel by tours - chains of trip segments that begin and end at home. For example, a tour could be the commute to work plus all the errands and stops before returning home. All trips within a tour are strongly interrelated in terms of choosing whether people bus or drive, and what time of day they travel. New models can also evaluate travel for individuals rather than combining people into households. Household characteristics remain important, but travel decisions made by a school child are very different than decisions made by a working parent or a retired grandparent who may live in the same household. Tours provide a more accurate unit of analysis for what people's travel experiences are really like. Previously trips classified as "work" have made up less than 20 percent of all trips because they included only the segments where the person went directly to work and made no stops. The tour approach shows that about 45 percent of primary home-based tours are work tours (an additional 23 percent are school tours). Attitudes About Transit and Tolls A subset of survey respondents, who showed potential for using public transit or highway toll alternatives, was given a survey to determine attitudes travelers have about tradeoffs regarding mode of travel (bus, auto, walking, etc.) and about tolling. Respondents were given situations and asked to choose between car and various transit options or between tolled and non-tolled car options based on the circumstance identified in the exercise. Respondents were asked to share the most important factors in making their decision. The most important factors named for mode choice were: time, convenience, and frequency, and for toll choice: cost, travel time, and reliability. In order to forecast mode choice (whether people drive, take the bus, etc.) and willingness to pay tolls for the region, models need to account for the factors people care most about. Current forecasting models reflect many of these factors, but not the whole picture. The information collected can support more robust statistical models to look at how people make travel choices. These data will also be used to better understand the market for transit services. In particular, the responses to the attitudinal statements, which measured respondents' level of agreement on a number of topics, form the basis for the development of market segments for travelers in defined transit corridors. These market segments will be helpful in transit service planning and marketing efforts. Improving the Accuracy of Trip Reporting A subset of survey participants were given an in-vehicle Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to confirm the accuracy of their travel diaries and determine the frequency and characteristics of missing vehicle trips from the reporting. The GPS data also monitored traffic speeds and route choice decisions. In previous survey work, trips have often gone under-reported. For example, a person may forget to write down that they made a quick stop on the way to work, but the GPS tracking can identify such stops. Initial analysis of the GPS data showed about 27 percent under-reporting of auto trips/stops and 20 percent under-reporting of vehicle miles traveled. These data will be used to establish an adjustment factor in the model. The Household Activity Survey is helping the region gain a better understanding of people's travel choices, producing essential information for PSRC's evolving travel models. More precise inputs to the models allows planners to better evaluate how changes in land uses, policies, demo-graphic, or economic conditions may affect travel behavior in the region. Results from the survey will be published periodically in Puget Sound Trends. For more information about the household survey, go online at psrc.org or contact Neil Kilgren at 206-971-3602 or nkilgren@psrc.org.
Governor Gregoire to Deliver Keynote at Prosperity Partnership Luncheon
The event will also feature a moderated panel discussion between University of Washington President Dr. Mark Emmert, Washington State University President Dr. Elson Floyd and Seattle Community Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Charles Mitchell. They will discuss economic development and the role that higher education institutions play as economic drivers.eschinfeld@psrc.org.
The lunch will be held on Thursday, November 1 from 12-1:30 p.m. at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle. For more information, go online at prosperitypartnership.org or contact Eric Schinfeld at 206-971-3053 or |
Governor Christine Gregoire will be discussing her priorities for the coming legislative session, specifically focusing on education, transportation, and economic and workforce development.
2008 VISION 2020 Awards - Nominate Exceptional Work!
The Awards recognize inspiring projects, plans, and programs that increase the vitality of the central Puget Sound region. Nominations will be accepted until December 17, 2007. The awards will be presented at the PSRC's General Assembly in spring 2008. Snohomish County Councilmember Dave Somers will chair the selection committee. Award nomination materials are available online at psrc.org/projects/awards, or contact Michele Leslie at 206-587-4819 or mleslie@psrc.org.
Household Activity Survey Shows a Shift from Solo Driving to Walking and Transit Use
Results from PSRC's Regional Household Activity Surveys in 1999 and 2006 show a growing number of trips made by transit and walking has corresponded with a decreasing number of trips made by car. Trips made by transit increased 71 percent (270,000 to 460,000 daily trips) from 1999 to 2006, while walking increased by 34 percent (610,000 to 820,000 daily trips). Overall trip-making increased 7 percent during this time. The shift from auto to transit and walking is due primarily to increased transit service, but there is evidence that increases in gas prices, congestion, and aware-ness of environmental and health factors also played a role.
Single occupant vehicles (SOV) remained the dominant mode of region-wide transportation, accounting for 48 percent and 44 percent of trips made in 1999 and 2006, respectively. This represents a reduction of 2 percent SOV trips (5.3 million to 5.2 million) from 1999 to 2006. A significant number of trips also occurred in high occupancy vehicles (HOV), but the share of HOV trips remained steady from 1999 to 2006 at 40 percent. Together, SOV and HOV travel accounted for 84 percent of the trips made in 2006. Due to a slight drop in the SOV share, this figure represents a decrease from 1999 levels, when 88 percent of all trips were made by car.
All six sub-regional areas experienced an overall decrease in the share of trips made by SOV, while HOV trips increased everywhere except south King County between survey years. Concurrently, transit use increased in each sub-region. Kitsap, Pierce, and south King counties doubled their respective 1999 transit shares in 2006. Increases in walking occurred in all sub-regions except Kitsap County. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Mode Shares for All Trips by Sub-Region
Consistent with these trends, the average number of SOV trips per household for all types of households showed a decrease between 1999 and 2006. Only households with at least one school-aged child showed an increase in the household SOV rate between 1999 and 2006. With the exception of those households comprised of a single older adult, transit trip rates showed an increase between 1999 and 2006. This indicates that the increases in transit service and other environmental and cost factors are providing real travel choices for all types of households. See Figure 2.
Figure 2: Transit Trips per Household
Overall, the region has experienced an increase in walk and transit trips, and a corresponding decrease in car travel. There are several reasons for these observed trends. Transit service in the region has increased significantly from 1999 to 2006, including the beginning of Sound Transit bus service in 1999. Transit service increased 19 percent from 1999 to 2005 on the six regional transit agencies' networks combined, with major in-creases in revenue hours on systems that offer more commuter/express routes and light rail. Rural and suburban operators showed sizable in-creases in service hours from 1999 to 2005.
Public awareness of how one's travel mode choice may impact the environment or personal health also may explain a portion of this trend. In the 2006 survey, respondents generally agreed that transit could help the environment, and 28 percent of these replied that they would switch to a different mode to help the environment, while a majority of respondents (51 percent) were undecided. The 2006 survey also indicated a pro-walking mindset among survey participants.
Increasing traffic congestion on the region's road network may have also contributed by pushing frustrated drivers and their passengers to modes that are not affected by congestion. Attitudinal data from the 1999 survey showed that respondents "strongly agreed" that peak period congestion "seemed to be getting longer." Similarly, the more recent rise in gas prices could have caused auto travelers to switch modes. Seventy-two percent of 1999 survey respondents noted concern over how quickly gas prices change.
For more information about the household survey data, contact Neil Kilgren at 206-464-7964 or nkilgren@psrc.org.
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