Add-On Program for National Household Travel Survey

Abstract

The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) is conducted by FHWA every 5 to 7 years to determine the travel characteristics of the American public. In 1990, FHWA began offering the add-on program, which allowed state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to purchase additional sample data for their local areas. In the 2009 NHTS, the Tennessee DOT purchased addon sample data for use by the state DOT and MPOs. To derive the most benefit from the data, the Tennessee DOT sponsored a study to determine how previous add-on program participants had used the samples and what lessons the participants had learned in those applications, as well as to identify the best practices to maximize program benefits. A literature review and Internet and phone surveys were used to ascertain this information. The major findings of the study included (a) the add-on participants' opinion that the program was a cost-effective way of obtaining data that are consistent at the local, state, and national levels; (b) the use of the data in a wide variety of transportation planning applications; (c) the handling of the encountered challenges through greater communication between the add-on participants and FHWA, particularly during the survey-planning phase; and (d) the compilation of a set of best practices to improve the add-on experience.