Harmonization of European Surveys Jimmy Armoogum, Ifsttar, Dest COST Action TU 0804Survey Harmonization with New Technologies Improvement (SHANTI) TRB 2012 session n°483 National Travel Surveys in Transition: International Perspective Jan 24 2012 8:00AM- 9:45AM
Contents National Travel Surveys (NTS) in Europe An important issue: Periodicity Periodicity Updating the description of NTS Objectives Definitions Sampling Households or Individuals Daily or Long distance mobility Survey design A growing interest from local authorities Toward an European Travel Surveys? Conclusions
Travel Surveys At local level: exist all over the world at (urban or regional) At national level: mainly in Europe In Europe: The Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Spain, France, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland No NTS since mid-90‘s: Austria, Luxembourg (but planned in a near future) Out of Europe: USA, New Zealand and South Africa Let us focus on Nationwide surveys mainly about daily mobility
Objectives Most of the time to analyze mobility behaviors: • Travel description is the main one • Long term trends is important for subsequent surveys e.g. Finland since 1985, but Spain only since 2006/07 • Planning and sustainable mobility is secondary e.g. Denmark since 2006, Finland since 1998, not yet in Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden • Modeling is important in Spain and Sweden, in Finland since 1998 and Denmark Since 2006
Trip-based or Activity-based - Generally Trip-based - Activity-based: Belgium, The Netherlands Only Denmark switched from activity to trip-based Stages described: France before 1990 only a list of modes used: Germany (MiD), USA, in France after 1990
Sampling Sample drawn from: • Population Register: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Germany, Sweden • Census: France, Switzerland • List of Phone numbers: USA (inc. mobile phones in 2008/9) Stratification according to geographic criteria, + type of household: Spain, Belgium + car ownership: France
Households or Individuals Statistical Unit (selection): • Individual: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy • Household: Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany (MOP), France, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerlandand USA All members of the household are interviewed: Belgium, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, USA, Spain in 2000/01 not in 2006/07 Age limits: • None : Spain, The Netherlands, Germany (MiD) • Generally >= 6 years except in Denmark (>=10) • Proxy often permitted <15
Daily or Long distance mobility A longer time period is necessary for long distance • Generally 1 month, except 3 months (France, Germany (MiD)) and Belgium (12 months) • No specific questionnaire in The Netherlands, • only in 2001/02 for USA Definition: • Generally trips >100km (80 km craw-flight) • Journey with an overnight stay: Denmark, Germany (MiD), Switzerland, Spain
Survey design • All Computer Assisted since 1998 • Almost everywhere CATI surveys • + web (sub-sample): Denmark, Germany (MiD), The Netherlands • Face-to face: France (CAPI in 2007/8), Spain (daily mobility), Belgium (sub-sample) • Mailback: Finland till 1992, Germany (5% of MiD in 2008), Great Britain (1 week diary) Geocoding: • a posteriori, except Denmark and USA • Computer Assisted : France 2007/8, Sweden 2005 • Large scale GPS experiment: France 2007/8
Periodicity
An important issue: Periodicity One-off surveys are subject to unpredictable events e.g. strike, bad weather conditions They don't allow to make a clear distinction between: long term trends economic fluctuations e.g. peak of fuel price in mid-2008, recession in 2008/09 But it is difficult to avoid a decline in response rate and of survey quality specially for continuous survey
A growing interest from local authorities • permanent involvement of Transport Ministries • with growing support from Research Institutes • but less interest from the National Bureau of Statistics An increasing demand for local add-ons: • USA 2008/9: 5/6 of the sample • representative at regional level in the Netherlands since late 90's • France: 5% in 1993/94, 43% in 2007/08 • about half of the sample in Belgium and Germany (MiD), • New Panel Surveys (MOP) for Frankfort, Manheim and Stuttgart
How comparable are they? Several European Countries have established a long tradition in household travel surveys. But : • Often influenced by cultural, geographic and administrative backgrounds of the country. • Often, these surveys have proven useful within the borders of each country, While on the other hand, there are comparability problems over the national borders due to differences in methodology, definitions and contents
Toward an European Travel Surveys? Eurostat is faced with a demand for harmonized travel data Eurostat wishes to run a pan-European travel survey on mobility (about 2014) and on a longer term: wishes to run a mandatory collection based on legislation. But how to run a pan-European travel survey that satisfy all countries (including those having a long tradition of national travel surveys)?
Opportunities with new technologies Mobile communication technologies including GPS (GALILEO), GSM and Radio Data System (RDS) • demonstrate great potential as survey instruments for tracking individual travel behaviour as well as freight movement • provide more accurate data on the spatial and temporal framework of travel, with a relative low burden for interviewees. • allow surveying during longer period • prices are decreasing • We are at a turning point to propose guidelines towards an European harmonised travel surveys
