Applying Geographic-Based Demographic Targeting in Household Travel Survey Sampling Plans: Case Study from the Phoenix, Arizona Region

Response rates in household travel surveys are declining nationwide, yet data requirements to support model estimation continue to become more complex – especially in areas that are migrating to activity-based models (ABM). Segments with complex travel behaviors such as transit users, large households, auto-deficient households increasingly need to be oversampled to support ABM frameworks. In response, a slew of operational improvements have been considered, including higher incentives, use of new technology, relational databases that minimize respondent burden, and design of questionnaires that only focus on the most needed information. However, there has been limited focus to-date on the development of more fine-grained sampling plans, and on the ways to refine sample purchase that could help stratify the geographic area and identify the concentration of key markets of interest. The authors showcase a sampling plan that builds on the best practices of geography-based sampling and introduces two new concepts: the use of demographics/groups of interest and the use of non-contiguous boundaries to help enhance survey efforts. This method employs oversampling and block-group based monitoring integrated into the survey plan. The objective is efficiency in getting sufficient representation of hard-to-reach or low responding populations as well as supplying models with enough information on the choices of those with more complex behavioral patterns or choices.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABJ40 Standing Committee on Travel Survey Methods.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Selby, Brent
  • Komanduri, Anurag
  • Brown, Edward
  • Livshits, Vladimir
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Tables;
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Demographics; Geographic information systems; Statistical sampling; Travel behavior; Travel surveys
• Geographic Terms: Phoenix (Arizona)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01632431
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-04635
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 19 2017 3:39PM