Fatima Kabir Sharna
Transportation is considered as
an essential part of human life and backbone of national, regional and local
economy. Transportation sector plays a crucial role in boosting up the life
styles of common men by providing facilities and accessibilities as required to
them.
Deprived rural regions are always struggling from services and facilities aspects due to their remote and scattered locations. Transportation is a tool, which can mitigate rural regional problems by providing proper accessibilities and links to employment, health, education and services.
Deprived rural regions are always struggling from services and facilities aspects due to their remote and scattered locations. Transportation is a tool, which can mitigate rural regional problems by providing proper accessibilities and links to employment, health, education and services.
Our transportation systems
influence virtually every aspect of community life. They are the means for
moving people, goods and services throughout our communities, the region, and,
increasingly, to destinations around the world. Of equal importance, these
systems have played a significant role in shaping patterns of growth,
facilitating economic prosperity, and influencing the character and livability
of our communities.
As a result, transportation
planning is a particularly important component in the overall planning for what
we want our communities to be. In particular, land use and transportation are
inextricably linked. Past decisions about transportation system development
were not always based on a comprehensive review of the diverse needs and
interrelationships that influence whether we achieve both effective
transportation systems and livable communities. Decisions were not necessarily
based on a clear vision about a community's future. Instead, much of our
current inventory of transportation facilities was built on a
project-by-project basis, often in reaction to traffic congestion or other
problems. Planning, development and operational responsibility for various
pieces of the transportation network has been divided among federal, state, and
local government agencies, regional transit agencies, port districts, and the
private sector. The efforts of these various agencies have not always added up
to an efficient, seamless system.
Transportation planning is a
process. Its means that it consists of well-defined tasks that must be
accomplished before the final set of information is presented to those who must
decide which course of action is best for an agency, region, or community. Thus
transportation planning is primarily a process of producing information that
can be used by decision makers to better understand the consequences of
different courses of action.
Transportation Planning can play
an important role in an agency’s or region’s strategy to improve the
performance of the transportation system. In its very simplest form,
transportation planning consist of those activities that collect information on
the performance of the existing transportation system; forecast future
performance levels given expected changes to key factors such as land use,
price of fuel, and growth in employment ; and identify possible solutions to
expected problems in system performance.
Decisions about future transport
strategy rely upon good information about the journeys currently being made by
travellers. Safety to the staff involved and the general travelling public can
be mitigated and data integrity improved by following the advice in this
document.
The first stage\in the
formulation of a transportation plan is to collect data on all factors that are
likely to influence travel pattern. The work involves a number of surveys so as
to have an inventory of existing travel pattern, an inventory of existing
transport facilities and an inventory of existing land use and economic
activities. This stage of the planning process entails voluminous work and may
take as much as two years for completion. The cost involved is also very high
and this underlines the need for proper organization and careful planning. It
is for this purpose that standardized procedures and guidelines have been
established.
All persons involved in transport
and land-use planning will at some stage be involved with data collection. Even
if not directly concerned with the design and conduct of surveys, they will
certainly wish to use data at some time, and at that stage they will realize
what should have been done in the design and administration phases of the
survey. Each individual's introduction to survey data may have widely differing
emotional connotations. For some, it may be a horrific experience as they try
to grapple with data which has been collected by someone else, only to find
that the documentation associated with that dataset is incomplete, misleading
or simply nonexistent. For others, who face the prospect of collecting a new
set of data, it may be a challenging professional experience with ample
opportunity for initiative and the exploration of new frontiers of knowledge in
survey methodology.
Regardless of the subject matter
to be covered within a survey, transport surveys may serve several purposes,
either alone or in combination. First, they may merely attempt to describe
existing conditions at a given time in order to ascribe an order of magnitude
to various transport phenomena. Secondly, they may seek to establish causal
explanations of conditions at a given time so that greater understanding of
transport system behavior may be obtained. Thirdly, it may be desired that
after analysis of the survey results, predictive models will be derived so as
to forecast future transport conditions or to predict the effects of system
changes. Fourthly, rather than predict the effects of system changes, it is
often more appropriate, or convenient, to measure the effects of system
changes. In this case, before-and-after surveys may be used to assess the
effects of these system changes. Fifthly, an extension of the before-and-after
concept (where surveys are generally conducted at two points in time) is the
establishment of a regular series of monitoring surveys whereby changes in
transport system characteristics or behaviour may be established over a long
period.
In addition to the
above-mentioned purposes, surveys may also play two further roles which, while
perhaps technically undesirable, should be clearly recognized. Surveys, for
example, may often be used as "report padding" to fill an otherwise
empty document and to lend weight to the conclusions or opinions contained in
it. Alternatively, the conduct of a survey may be a convenient method of
putting off a decision. The use of surveys in this way, as an aid to
procrastination, may often be embedded within the more general gambit of
calling for a Committee of Inquiry when decisions are not wanted (yet). A clear
recognition of the purpose of a survey, in terms of any one of the above seven
categories, can greatly aid in the initial selection of the survey technique,
the design of the survey method and the later interpretation of results. This
is not to imply, however, that the latter two survey purposes should be
accepted unquestioningly by the professional transport surveyor. If the purpose
of the report appears to be report-padding or procrastination, the client
should first be questioned more insistently on the objectives of the survey. If
no professionally acceptable objectives can be specified, then you, as the
survey designer, may face a difficult decision. You can either refuse to carry
out the survey or else agree to design the survey (perhaps under protest). The
grounds for refusing to carry out the survey are not simply academic piety;
rather it is for the highly pragmatic reason that if too many such surveys are
carried out, the whole area of transport surveys may be brought into ill-
repute in the public mind. If, however, the conduct of the survey is
inevitable, either by you or by someone else, then you should attempt to make
the most of the situation and try to incorporate as much experimentation into
the conduct of the survey as possible. As will be seen later, there are many
ideas in survey design and administration which require empirical validation.
If the survey can be used to test several survey design hypotheses, then that
survey will have gained a legitimate (research) objective.
The basic
movements for which survey data are required are:
•
Internal to
Internal
•
Internal to
External
•
External to
Internal
•
External to
External
For large urban areas, the
internal to internal travel is heavy whereas for small areas having a small
population says less than 5000) the internal to internal-travel is
insignificant. The internal to internal travel is best studied by the home
interview technique with checks by screen-line surveys .The internal-external,
external-internal and external-external travels can be studied by cordon
surveys. The internal to external travel can also be surveyed by home interview
technique.
I.
|
Home interview surveys
|
II.
|
Commercial vehicle surveys
|
III.
|
Taxi surveys
|
IV.
|
Road-side interview surveys
|
V.
|
Post card questionnaire surveys
|
VI.
|
Registration number surveys
|
VII.
|
Tag surveys
|
VIII.
|
Public transport surveys.
|
IX.
|
These are dealt in detail in
subsequent sections
|
Home-interview survey is one of
the most reliable typo of surveys for collection of origin and destination
data. The survey is essentially intended to yield data on the travel pattern of
the residents of the household and the general characteristics of the
household influencing trip-making. The information on travel pattern includes
number of trips made, their origin and destination, purpose of trip, travel
mode, time of departure from origin and time of arrival at destination and so on.
The information on household characteristics includes type of dwelling unit,
number of residents, age, sex, race, vehicle ownership, number of drivers,
family income and so on.
In the home interview survey
information is collected by the interview. It is impractical and unnecessary to
interview all the residents of the study area. The size of the sample is
usually determined on the basis of the population of the study area, and the
standards given in Table.
Population
of Study Area
|
Sample
Size
|
Under
50,000
|
1 in 5
households
|
50000-150000
|
1 in 8
households
|
150000-300000
|
1 in 10
households
|
300000-500000
|
1 in 15
households
|
500,000-1,000,000
|
1 in 20
households
|
Over
1,000,000
|
1 in 25
households
|
There are
generally two techniques for Home Interview Survey. They are:
•
Person to
person full interview technique
•
Home
questionnaire technique.
Full interview technique involves
interviewing as many member of the household as possible and directly recording
all the information. In the Home questionnaire technique, the interviewer
collects only details of the household characteristics, leaving forms for
household residents to complete in regard to travel information. The completed
forms are collected by the interviewer after a day or two.
•
In full
interview technique all information is recorded directly, so here the accuracy
of information is height.
•
In this type
of survey interviewer and respondent are in the face to face position. So
respondent can easily understand what the interviewer wants to know.
•
It is time
consuming as it may possible to collect possible to collect the needed
information only at the rate of eight interviews per eight hour day per
interviewer.
•
Full
interview technique is more expensive.
•
It more
speedy than the full interview technique
•
By this
technique we can collect detail information about household characteristics,
leaving forms for household residents to complete in regard to travel
information.
•
In this type
of survey interviewer and respondent are in the face to face position. So
respondent can easily understand what the interviewer wants to know.
•
For this type
of survey it is very difficult to predict about the accuracy of the data
•
Sometime
respondent are not interested to respond
•
In this type
of survey interviewer and respondent are in the face to face position. So
respondent can easily understand what the interviewer wants to know.
Excluding
those survey there are also two types of survey. They are -
In the former the questionnaire
is sent out by post before the survey data and the replies are elicited by
telephone. This method can be successful only in areas of high telephone
ownership. In the postal survey method, the questionnaire is mailed and the
households are requested to send their replies by post in reply-paid envelopes.
•
The
telephone survey method has a number of advantages which include:
•
The
telephone survey offers the possibility of wide geographic coverage
-particularly in a given urban area where rates for phone calls frequently do
not vary with distance. This method minimizes cost.
•
Because telephone
interviews are usually performed from a central location, it is possible to
have much better supervision of the interviewers in order to maintain a higher
level of quality control on the completed interviews.
•
Telephone
surveys are generally cheaper than personal interview surveys because of the
reduction in labor needed to conduct the survey and the absence of field and
travel costs associated with having interviewers in the field.
•
This method
achieves an almost 100% response rate and has the advantage of significantly
increasing the validity of results, with minimal additional cost.
•
In
conducting surveys in today's multilingual societies, dealing with people who
do not speak the language of the interviewer occurs fairly often. Telephone
surveys offer an effective method of dealing with these occurrences.
•
Because of
the speed and low cost of contacting households, it is sometimes possible to
use a telephone survey to identify rare populations.
•
There is a
limit on the length of survey which can be successfully completed over the
phone. While some individuals will be willing to spend as much as 20 minutes or
more being interviewed by telephone, the overall response rate drops rapidly
after about 10 to 15 minutes.
•
The number
of people in a household with whom it is possible to carry out the interview is
almost always limited to one.
•
Because of
the fact that only those households with phones can be included in a telephone
survey, there is an obvious potential for sample bias to occur.
•
Unlike other
forms of survey, there is no chance of follow up for non respondents in a
telephone survey.
•
Because of
the nature of a telephone survey, no visual aids can be employed in such a
survey. All communication to and from the respondent must be by means of the
spoken word, and this results in severe limitations on how questions can be
asked and answered.
•
It may often
be found that response to the postal survey technique will be a low level in
spite of wide prior publicity.
•
It is
generally time consuming, in such condition if the respondent make delay to
respond
•
Sometime
respondents are not interested to replay the questionnaire.
•
In many case
respondents may not clear about the question, and they cannot give the answer.
In such condition accuracy of survey is reduce.
This type, survey can generate with low cost.
•
Relatively
easy to administer.
•
Higher
accuracy rate can be obtain by this type of survey
•
Numerous
questions can be asked about a subject, giving extensive flexibility in data
analysis.
•
In general,
higher response rates may be obtained from personal interview surveys than from
other surveys
•
The home
interview survey allows for considerable flexibility in the type of information
collected. Attitudes, opinions, open-ended verbal answers and other
non-quantitative information are much more readily collected in a personal
interview survey than in a questionnaire survey.
•
The presence
of an interviewer means that explanations can be given regarding the meaning of
questions or the method in which answers are to be given.
•
It is
relatively time consuming.
•
Respondents
may not be fully aware of their reasons for any given answer because of lack of
memory on the subject, or even boredom.
•
If sample is
selected in an unbiased way, the survey data is not correct.
•
This type of
survey is more expensive than other survey type
•
In some case
there is scarcity of skilled manpower.
The information to be collected
from the home-interview survey can broadly be classified under two groups,
household information and journey data. The household information contains
information such as address, size of household, age and sex structure of
household, earning members, occupation, and place of work number of motor vehicles
owned, household income, and so on. The journey data contains information on
all journeys made during the previous 24 hour period, including the origin and
destination of journeys, purpose of trip, mode of travel etc. The survey forms
are generally standardized for the purpose and the questions are structured
carefully to avoid ambiguity. The usual practice is to have the household
information in the front
of the form and the trip
information on the back of the form. The form should design so that the data
can be easily coded. The application of home interview survey measures the
relationship with household characteristics for future demand.
Title:” LIFE-CYCLE CONCEPT: A
PRACTICAL APPLICATION TO TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.”
The usefulness of the family
life-cycle concept in trip-generation procedures is examined. A lifecycle
classification scheme is constructed after consideration of important
components and data availability. The Automatic Interaction Detector program is
used to determine which variables are important in affecting the number of
trips taken by a household. These variables are then calculated in light of
published census tract information. The stages in the classification scheme are
designed to be compatible with census categories, thus ensuring the usefulness
of the scheme. Trip-generation tables based on stage in the life cycle and
vehicle ownership are developed by using data from the 1973 Niagara Frontier
Transportation Committee home-interview survey. These tables are compared with
trip-generation tables based on household size and vehicle ownership. Analysis
of variance is used to compare the life-cycle-based scheme and the
household-size-based scheme. The applicability and reliability of the lifecycle-based
trip- generation tables are also tested by using data from the 1974 Rochester,
New York, home- interview survey. Results indicate that the life-cycle-based
trip-generation procedure produces accurate results and has several advantages
over other procedures. An example of an application at the town level in Albany
County is briefly described.
Commercial vehicle surveys are conducted to
obtain information on journey made by all commercial vehicles based within the
study area. The addresses of the vehicle operators are obtained and they are
contacted. Forms are issued to drivers with a request that more they record
particulars of all the trips they would make. A typical questionnaire which
elicits information on the origin and destination of each trip is given in the
following table:
Typical form for commercial
vehicle survey:
Firm/Owner
|
Visit
|
Time
|
Date
|
Interviewer’s
Name
|
Sheet of
|
Address
|
1
|
||||
2
|
Comments :
|
Ser. no:
|
|||
3
|
Zone no:
|
||||
Person
interviewed
|
4
|
||||
Telephone
no.
|
5
|
||||
A.
Nature of Business
Nature of Business
B.
Total number
of employees
C.
Number of
vehicle operating from address Cars Parked on Premises Light Parked on Premises
Goods
Heavy Parked on Premises
Goods
D.
Day of
Travel
E.
Total
numbers of trips made on day of travel
F.
Types of
number of vehicles interviewed
G.
Types of
number of vehicles interviewed
o
Vehicle no. o Vehicle Reg. no.
Vehicle trip
information
G
|
H
|
I
|
J
|
K
|
L
|
|
Vehicle
Type
|
Vehicle
Number
|
Trip
Number
|
Origin
Address
|
Destination
Address
|
Time of
Trip
|
|
Start
AM
PM
|
Finish
AM
PM
|
|||||
Nature of
Nature of business : business :
|
||||||
AM
PM
|
AM
PM
|
|||||
Nature of
Nature of business : business :
|
||||||
Trips made by commercial vehicles
are organized in three groups, based on what is being carried and what
economic, demographic and land use factors influence the magnitude and
distribution of these trips. The three groups are commercial vehicles: moving
people, moving goods and providing services.
These three groups are further
subdivided into 12 specific categories of commercial vehicles, based again on
what is being carried and what economic, demographic and land use factors
influence the magnitude and distribution of these trips. These 12 categories of
commercial vehicles are:
•
School bus;
•
Shuttle
services at airports, rail stations;
•
Private
transportation, such as taxis and limousines;
•
Para
transit, such as social service vans and church buses;
•
Rental cars;
•
Package,
product and mail delivery, such as USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.;
•
Urban
freight distribution and warehouse deliveries;
•
Construction
transport;
•
Safety
vehicles, including police, fire, building inspections, etc.;
•
Utility
vehicles, including garbage pickup, meter readers, maintenance, plumbers and
electricians, etc.;
•
Public
service vehicles, including Federal, state, city and local government; and
•
Business and
personal services, including realtors, door-to-door sales, and vehicles used
for professional or personal services. These vehicles are primarily vans,
pickups, and autos.
These 12 categories of commercial
vehicles are direct subsets of the three commercial vehicle groups, as follows:
school bus, shuttle services, taxis, Para transit and rental cars are vehicles
moving people; package delivery, urban freight distribution and construction
transport are vehicles moving goods; and safety, utility and public service
vehicles and business and personal services are vehicles providing services.
•
Commercial
vehicles should be categorized with this survey for providing schedule time for
different sectors to avoid traffic congestion.
•
Easily
estimate the commercial vehicle of a specific area.
•
Estimate the
percentage of commercial vehicle and non-commercial vehicle.
•
Individual
counting of commercial vehicles are helpful to find out inadequate amount of
individual categorized vehicle.
•
It is a time
consuming survey.
•
Field
classification becomes hard during signal.
•
Sometimes
people don’t want to give personal information.
Commercial vehicles that did not
fit into one of the four vehicle type categories, such as tractor- trailers,
buses, or heavy trucks, were not included in the survey. It is also used to
measure the rate of commercial goods carrying vehicles of a city. It is used to
measure the parking areas of commercial vehicle of a city or specific area.
This type of survey method conducts the study of parking supply assessment,
parking demand model development, and drivers’ needs and preferences of
commercial vehicles.
One additional category of
commercial vehicles is public and private buses. These vehicles were not
evaluated in this study because some metropolitan transportation agencies are
already modeling public and private buses as part of the multimodal demand
forecasting process. These would be modeled as part of the development of the
transit network; bus vehicle miles traveled can be estimated from the bus services
coded in the transit network. Private buses are not as frequently modeled in
urban transportation.
Establishment-Based Survey of
Urban Commercial Vehicle Movements in Alberta, Canada: Survey Design, Implementation,
and Results.
It describes a project to develop
a more complete understanding of the nature of urban commercial vehicle movements
in the Calgary and Edmonton regions, the two principal urban regions in the
province of Alberta, Canada, each with a population near 1 million. It covers
the design and implementation of the survey and an overview of the results. The
survey was done to obtain indications of the full range of commodities being
transported, including goods and services, together with descriptions of the
associated person and vehicle movements arising with this transportation
activity.
Commercial
vehicle survey data has been applied in Detroit, Atlanta, Denver and the
Piedmont- Triad area (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point).
Large urban areas usually have a
sizeable amount of travel by taxis. In such cases, a separate taxi survey is
necessary. The survey consists of issuing questionnaires or log sheets to the
taxi drivers and requesting them to complete the same.
Taxi survey
is used -
•
To determine
origin-destination of taxis.
•
To estimate Parking duration; accumulation of taxis at points
of interest.
•
To observe
the turning Movements of taxis at intersections.
•
Patronage on
board counts.
•
Taxis rank interviews of passengers for route choice,
last trip, next trip suburbs of origin and destination.
•
To estimate Queue Delays of taxis and other road based
vehicles at various road interfaces, particularly road intersections.
•
To define Queue Length of taxis or other road vehicles.
•
To interview surveys of potential new
passengers.
•
To define
Speed of taxis and other road users.
•
To define Travel Times of taxis and other road users.
•
Provision of
taxis’ can be increased from the survey data.
•
This survey
is beneficial to the business travellers.
•
Relatively
easy to survey method.
•
Can be
developed in less time (compared to other data-collection methods).
•
Provide
insight into prospective customer’s preferences and thought processes.
•
Help to
analyze proper prices through that mode.
•
Taxi vehicle
design and specification; can be organized on the basis of this survey report.
•
Include
information about taxi rank locations on town and city maps.
•
It creates
trouble to the surveyor to catch out taxis from the whole traffic.
•
It is very
time consuming and high budgeted survey procedure.
•
Relatively
easy to survey method.
•
Can be
developed in less time (compared to other data-collection methods).
•
Victorian
Taxi Industry Inquiry
•
In Ireland
(An Analysis on Taxi Operation
Status during Good Luck Beijing)
For the purpose of formulating
the policy for the management of taxi operation during the Beijing Olympic and
Paralympic Games, a survey has been conducted on the taxi operation in Beijing
during Good Luck Beijing. Per findings of the survey, this paper compares and
analyzes the taxi operation status before, after and during the events of Good
Luck Beijing, aiming to providing a basis for making a policy on the management
of taxi operation during Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as
providing reference for the management of taxi operation during other large
special events. By comparison, it is observed that during the event, the
unloaded ratio of taxis declined and their average occupancy remained
unchanged, but such indices as their daily passenger volume, daily average
operation time, daily average operation frequency, average travel distance,
average travel speed and mileage utilization ratio have all increased to
different extents. Based on the above analysis, the paper sets forth the
proposals for the management of taxi operation during the Olympic Games.
Road-side interview survey is one
of the methods of carrying out a screen-line or cordon survey. The road side
interview survey can be done either by directly interviewing drivers of the
vehicles at selected survey points or by issuing prepaid post cards containing
the questionnaire to all or a sample of the drivers. Some important definitions
which are essential for road side survey are given below:
By-pass
Lane:
A traffic lane established with
cones to allow non-interviewed traffic to pass the interview station.
Census
point:
The position on the highway where the
interviewing and counting takes place.
Cordon:
A ring of census points
surrounding an area that is designed to intercept the majority of traffic
entering or leaving that area.
Highway
Authority:
It is defined by the New Roads
and Street Works Act 1991, as having the meaning given in the Highways Act 1980
the meaning of ‘roads authority’ as given in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.
Interview
Bay:
This is the section of the site
where vehicles are stopped for interviews to take place. The number of bays may
vary between sites and peak and off-peak times.
Interview
Site:
The section of road covered by
the traffic management (traffic signs and cones) and including the interview
station.
Motorists
are stopped at roadside locations and the information obtained may include:
S Type of vehicle S Number of persons in vehicle S Origin and
destination of trip S Purpose of trip S Parking locations S Intermediate stops
S Routes traveled
Interview sites include
boundaries of zones, safety of both the interviewer and the motorist and signs.
Interview team is created by a party chief, two recorders, six interviewers and
two policemen.
This is a survey at a specific
point on the highway network where a sample of drivers is stopped and asked by
interviewers to volunteer to answer questions about their journeys. The
information usually requested from each driver includes the full address of the
start (origin) and finish (destination) points of their journey and the reason
(purpose) for making the journey.
The survey points are selected
along the junction of the cordon-line or screen-line with the roads. The
cordons may be in the form of circular rings, radial lines of rectangular
grids. For small towns, say with a population less than 5000, single circular
cordon at the periphery of the town should suffice. The internal travel being
light, the external cordon survey in that case will give the origin-destination
data.
A population in the range 5,000
to 75,000 two cordon lines is necessary, the external cordon at the edge of the
urban development and the internal cordon at the limits of the central business
district. Road side interviews at the intersection of roads with these two
cordon lines should be able to fairly assess the patterns of travel in such
cities. For large cities, the cordon-lines and screen lines may be more
complicated, and the home-interview technique cannot be dispensed with. Cordon
line and screen line surveys by the road side interview technique serve to
check the accuracy of the home interview survey data.
For dual
carriageways or roads with very little traffic the traffic in both the
directions is dealt with simultaneously. In other cases the traffic in two
directions will be interviewed at different times. If the survey covers most of
the day it may be sufficient to interview traffic in one direction only and to
assume that the journeys in the opposite direction are the same as in the
direction interviewed.
In addition
to at least one interviewer at each survey station, an observer is posted to
record the classified traffic flow concurrently with the period of
interviewing.
The period and duration of the
survey are important matters that need careful prior thought. A 24 hours count
will not normally be needed, and the survey is often restricted to 16 hour
(0600-2200 hours) or 12 hours (0700—1900 hours) in a day. For the remainder of
the day, vehicular counts are, however, made. In order to eliminate bias due to
unusual conditions on any particular day, it is the practice to obtain data for
each week day (Monday-Friday).
For complete and reliable data to
be obtained by the survey, it is necessary to frame and design the questions
with care. The enumerators must also be given adequate training and
instructions to avoid ambiguity in the answers and to ensure uniform pattern of
data from different enumerators. Pre-printed forms are used to record the
answers.
•
Road side
interview is an economic method of survey and yields accurate and reliable
data.
•
Direct and
accurate information is obtained.
•
Well suited
to conditions where personnel are limited.
•
Stopping of
drivers can create congestion and antagonize the public.
•
Only the
information about vehicular trips is obtained.
•
It is
impractical to stop and interview all the vehicles. Sampling in, therefore is
necessary. For this reason accurate results sometimes cannot be achieved.
•
The number
of samples depends on the number of interviewers and the traffic using the
road. It may become necessary to vary the sampling rate at the traffic flow
changes.
•
Since
interviews may last for several minutes, vehicles must be stopped in an
interview bay so that traffic flow is not obstructed.
•
The
interviewers have no statutory powers to stop the vehicles and question the
drivers. This makes it necessary to seek the help of the police to control and
direct the traffic for being interviewed. But sometimes it becomes hard to get
those helps from them.
•
Vehicles are
delayed when being interviewed.
•
To find out
travel pattern in an area-origin and destination of trips.
•
Interviews
needed to find out why people are travelled. (trip purpose)
•
To collect
detail of who is paying for the trip, parking location, access to the car etc.
In this method, reply-paid
questionnaires are handed over to each of the drivers or a sample of them at
the survey points and requesting them to complete the information and reply by
post. The method avoids delay caused to the drivers by the direct roadside
interview method but suffer from the disadvantage that the response may not be
good. For this reason its use is not generally recommended for developing
countries. It is possible to get a good amount of information from this method.
The method is simpler and cheaper than many others.
As regards the selection of
survey points and questions asked, the method is similar to the direct road
side interview technique. A good amount of publicity is needed before the
actual survey in order to get favorable response. It is reported that well
planned and publicized post card questionnaire surveys have yielded returns of
50% or more.
The postcard survey is designed
to capture the origin, destination, purpose, and frequency of each surveyed
motorist’s trip as well as the number of people in the vehicle and other routes
typically used to make a similar trip.
•
It saves
time.
•
It is a low
cost method.
•
The method
avoids delay caused to the drivers by the direct roadside interview method.
•
It is
possible to get a good amount of information from this method.
•
The method
is simpler and cheaper than many others.
•
Response is
not good.
•
Sometimes it
makes delay to reach the destination.
•
It contains
doubt about the accuracy level.
North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in Washington DC.
The program is run through a state-level Local Programs Management
Office. The state uses a mix of competitive and non-competitive selection
processes, and funds are distributed directly by the NC Board of Transportation
in accordance with departmental funding allocation procedures.
It funds project design,
engineering, and construction.
Registration plate surveys are
one of the most useful methods for identifying a full range of traffic
characteristics, including origins and destinations, travel times, turning
movements, and vehicle mix. Use of the technique requires the careful planning
and execution of the survey itself, the reduction and analysis of the typically
vast quantities of collected data, and the presentation of survey results.
Registration number plate survey
consists of noting the registration numbers of vehicles entering or leaving an
area at survey points located on the cordon line. By matching the registration
numbers of vehicles at the points of entry and exit from the area, one is
enabled to identify two points on the paths of the vehicles. The method neither
gives the origin or the destination of the trip nor yields any other useful
information such as trip purpose.
The area to be surveyed is
defined, and the roads intersecting the cordon line, are identified. At each
survey point, one or two observers are stationed to record the data in each
direction of travel. If two observers are available at each point, one can call
out the registration number of the vehicle and the other can record. Time
should be recorded at regular intervals. If the actual times at entry and exit
are noted, an estimate of the journey speed of the vehicles can also be had.
The types of vehicles (car, commercial vehicle, bus etc.) as well as the full
registration number (letters and figures) are noted. If some sampling is
necessary because of heavy traffic, only numbers ending with pre-selected
digits are recorded.
Manual method is organized by
allotting data from each survey point to different persons who sit around a
table. The registration numbers of vehicles are called in turn and the persons
having the survey data at exit point match them with their entries. When a
number is thus matched, the passage of that vehicle in between the two points
now known is entered on a suitable form. If any number is not matched, the
reason may be that the particular vehicle entered the survey area, but did not
move out during the survey period, or the number itself was recorded wrongly in
the field. When the movements of all the sampled vehicles have been thus
determined the true traffic movement is determined by applying the appropriate
expansion factor.
•
The
advantage of this method is that
•
The work
does not interfere with the traffic in any way. So it does not hamper traffic.
•
It
identifies the entry and exit points of traffic passing through the
conurbation.
•
The registration
number surveys can also provide journey time information for through traffic.
•
It provides
information on journeys using a network to serve a large conurbation.
•
It is useful
for checking movements using alternative routes or to provide entry and exit
information for small junction or road improvement schemes.
•
The drivers
are not inconvenienced and there is a lower unit cost of observation.
•
There are
some disadvantages of Registration Number Plate Surveys:
•
A large
number of observers are needed for this survey
•
The journey
information lacks detail about purpose and the ultimate origin and destination
of the trip.
•
The
processing of the information and analysis of the results can be complicated
•
This method
is time consuming.
•
Registration
number surveys are sometimes used for limited validation of origin and
destination information in small or closed systems.
•
Registration
Number Plate Survey is cost consuming.
•
The
procedure of this method is cumbersome if done manually and hence the use of
electronic computer is often sought.
•
Depending on
the source of temporary labor, it may be extremely difficult to locate and
question the observer in the days.
Registration number surveys are
sometimes used for limited validation of origin and destination survey.
Information in small or closed systems where RSIs are difficult to carry out.
For example, they may be useful for checking movements using alternative routes
or to provide entry and exit information for small junction or road improvement
schemes. Registration number surveys may also be useful in combination with
RSIs, for example, to provide information on journeys using a network of
motorways serving a large conurbation. Journey information for traffic joining
and leaving a motorway within the conurbation may be obtained from RSIs on
junction entry slip roads. The registration number surveys are used to identify
the entry and exit points of traffic passing through the conurbation, as
interviewing on the motorway mainline is not permitted. The registration number
surveys can also provide journey time information for through traffic. Mobile
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras can also be considered as
they greatly improve accuracy over manual number plate surveys.
“ANALYSIS OF THE UNCERTAINTIES IN
DAY-TO-DAY DYNAMIC MODELS FROM OBSERVED CHOICE RESPONSES.'’’-An extensive
registration plate survey at a number of locations, both on-street and in
parking areas, have been collected in the city of York, England.
In this method, at each point
where the roads cross the cordon line, vehicles are stopped and a tag is
affixed, usually under a windscreen wiper. The tags for different survey
stations have different shapes and/or color to identify the survey station. The
vehicles are stopped again at the exit points where the tags are removed. The
times of entering and leaving the area may be marked on the tags in order to
enable the journey times to be determined. If it is not possible to handle all
the vehicles, sampling may be resorted to. Regular sampling (such as every
second, third, fifth ... vehicle) will make it easier to determine the
expansion factor. Otherwise, an additional observer may be stationed at each
survey point to take a classified count of the traffic. The parking areas are
surveyed at the end of the study period and the tags on parked vehicles
collected
•
The analysis
of this method is simple.
•
Errors are
not very large in this survey.
•
The method
can also be extended to cover vehicles that enter the area but are parked in
the area during the rest of the study period.
•
It is a time
consuming method.
•
Some errors
are found in this method during surveying.
•
It is never
possible to survey all vehicles.
American
association of Motor Vehicle Administrators:-For motor vehicle registration
renewals, personalize plates, driving licensing, recording etc.Motor Vehicle
Registration Document and Insurance Identification Best Practices Guide for
Paper and Electronic Credentials.
In order to
assess the number of bus passengers passing through an external cordon, the
survey can either be by direct interview with the passengers or by issuing
post-card questionnaires.
An external cordon rail survey
can be carried out by interviewing the passengers on trains. Alternatively,
pre-paid questionnaires may be distributed to persons residing at stations
outside the survey area. These questionnaires may also be collected at the
stations inside the survey area.
•
Interviewers
get information by direct interview through this method.
•
It helps to
provide different types of mode which is needed to the public.
•
It helps in
transportation planning by people’s participation.
•
Direct
interview is likely to result in large delays.
•
It requires
a large number of interviews which is difficult.
•
Post-card
questionnaires also eliminate delays.
•
Post-card
questionnaires contain an element of bias.
•
It is likely
to evoke poor response.
There are
also some techniques of survey which are applicable in transportation planning.
Some of them are given below:
Intercept surveys are those
surveys which take place at a site which is not in a household - where people
are intercepted in the course of carrying out an activity of some type. They
include surveys on-board public transport vehicles, at cordon points on roads,
and at other activity sites such as shopping centers, work places or transport
nodes such as airports. The surveys which are carried out at these places can
have more or less interaction between surveyor and respondents, depending on
the objectives of the survey and the location of the intercept. All intercept
surveys, however, involve personal contact with respondents in one form or
another - either to distribute questionnaire forms or to actually ask a series
of questions.
It is moderately a cheap survey.
•
It generates
low response rates.
•
It is not
possible to encourage or remind people to respond in any way.
•
There is no
information collected on those people approached who do not respond.
These are
periodic surveys of road condition, which may either be completed by visual
inspection, or using instrumentation to measure key characteristics (surface
roughness, rutting, etc.). In visual inspection a rating scale of road
condition (perhaps covering several characteristics of the road) is used to
assess the status of, or need for, maintenance. Increasingly, data from these
surveys is stored in computer-based databases, which are used to analyses the
information and help in the management of road maintenance programmers.
•
Advanced
technology is used to collect data so accuracy of those data is high
•
Road
maintenance program can be improve by conducting this type of survey
•
Road
maintenance survey is expensive
•
Instrumental
defect some time show wrong data
•
By using
unskilled surveyor some time make wrong observation
•
Skilled man power
is not always available.
Police records of road accidents
are the primary source of information on road safety. However, their records
are subject to error and omission, and furthermore may be inadequate for the
needs of the safety analyst intent on designing remedial measures. Some
progress has been made in the design of improved data capture techniques linked
to computerized databases (e.g. the TRL Micro Accident Analysis Package -MAAP),
which are simple to use and helpful to the policemen in the field. By using
graphic representation and simple 'tick-boxes', the Accident Report Form has
been made much more user-friendly and, as a result, a more reliable source
document which can pin-point both the location and the nature of an accident.
Road safety audits attempt to identify potential road hazards (and the need for
remedial measures), based on the experiences of the auditor. Such surveys could
be undertaken at the time of completing a road inventory, but require
specialist knowledge.
•
Potential
road hazard is identified by this survey
•
Advanced
technology is use for conducting the survey, so the accuracy is high
•
It is time
consuming survey
•
For this
type of survey it is very difficult to collect adequate and right data
•
Lack of
skilled manpower.
Online surveys and tend to be the
most cost-effective modes of survey research, yet this may not reach those
respondents that can only respond using alternate modes. Results of online
surveys may suffer and differ greatly if important respondents are left out of
the research.
Advanced survey software
solutions have multi-mode capabilities for online surveys giving researchers
the ability to survey even the hardest-to reach consumers, and analyze data
from all survey modes collectively.
The ability to reach respondents
is one challenge of surveys. However, surveys have several advantages and
disadvantages. They are as follows:
•
Relatively
easy to administer
•
Can be
developed in less time (compared to other data-collection methods)
•
Cost-effective,
but cost depends on survey mode
•
Can be
administered remotely via online
•
Conducted
remotely can reduce or prevent geographical dependence
•
Capable of
collecting data from a large number of respondents
•
Numerous
questions can be asked about a subject, giving extensive flexibility in data
analysis
•
With survey
software, advanced statistical techniques can be utilized to analyze survey
data to determine validity, reliability, and statistical significance,
including the ability to analyze multiple variables
•
A broad
range of data can be collected (e.g., attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values,
behavior, factual).
•
Standardized
surveys are relatively free from several types of errors Disadvantages:
The reliability of survey data may depend on
the following factors:
•
Respondents
may not feel encouraged to provide accurate, honest answers
•
Respondents
may not feel comfortable providing answers that present themselves in an unfavorable
manor.
•
Respondents
may not be fully aware of their reasons for any given answer because of lack of
memory on the subject, or even boredom.
•
Surveys with
closed-ended questions may have a lower validity rate than other question
types.
•
Data errors
due to question non-responses may exist. The number of respondents who choose
to respond to a survey question may be different from
those who chose not to respond, thus creating bias.
•
Survey
question answer options could lead to unclear data because certain answer
options may be interpreted differently by respondents. For example, the answer
option “somewhat agree” may represent different things to different subjects,
and have its own meaning to each individual respondent. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ answer
options can also be problematic. Respondents may answer “no” if the option
“only once” is not available.
•
Customized
surveys can run the risk of containing certain types of errors.
Parking surveys provide the data
upon which the parking policy for an area can be decided. The provision of
parking is obviously a major factor, primarily for private cars, in the
accessibility of an area. Parking management is also a most effective low-cost
traffic policy instrument.
Car parking spaces can be
classified into: on-street or off street; public (i.e. available to the public)
or private; formal (i.e. marked and controlled spaces) or informal. Parking and
stopping spaces must also be provided for commercial vehicles (primarily
delivering and collecting freight) and public transport vehicles (for picking
up and setting down passengers). Other characteristics of parking are:
dimensions and layout (including access roads); time controls; charges and
costs; banned and restricted locations.
Parking
demand characteristics include:
-
Accumulation:
the number of parked vehicles in an area, at any given moment. A graph showing
the variation of accumulation in a city center during the day can be compared
with the parking supply to show when there is over- or under-provision of
parking space.
-
Parking
duration: the time one vehicle remains parked in one place.
-
Parking
load: the total demand on an area over a period of time, measured in
vehicle-hours. It is the sum total of all vehicle durations, (equal to the area
under the accumulation graph).
-
Parking
volume: total number of vehicles using the parking facilities over a period of
time (usually one day).
-
Turn over:
rate of use of parking spaces, calculated by dividing the parking volume by the
number of spaces.
-
Arrival and
departure rates: which affect the design of entry and exit facilities,
particularly for off-street car parks.
Two surveys are described here:
parking inventory surveys, which determine the existing supply, by recording
the number and location of spaces; parking patrol surreys which monitor demand
and are usually for on-street (kerb side) parking but can be used for
off-street facilities. The two are usually undertaken together.
•
The number
of informal parking spaces requires some judgment which can be done with the
help of that survey.
•
It is
necessary to count the actual number of parked vehicles at a time of peak
demand.
The speed of
vehicles can be measured instantaneously (spot speed), or averaged over
distance or time. The spot speed of a vehicle varies continuously, as the
vehicle accelerates or brakes.
Spot speed surveys can be used to
establish trends (monitoring), for example in before and after studies. Spot
speeds are usually measured on links (not at junctions) and are surveyed
separately for each direction, with the surveyor normally positioned on the
side of the road of the direction being surveyed. Spot-speed data is collected
by either a radar speed gun (which gives automatic direct measurement) or
short-base methods: timing a vehicle over a known short distance, either
manually with a stopwatch or automatically using modern loop or twin-tube
devices.
Spot speed
data is used to:
•
Determine
observance of, and suitability of, existing speed limits.
•
Establish
suitable new speed limits.
•
Determine a
suitable design speed for geometric design of the highway.
•
Provide
information for use in road safety and enforcement programs.
•
Assist the
location of certain traffic signs.
•
Determine
speed-flow relationships and traffic densities.
•
The presence
of surveyors, equipment, or unusual markings on the road surface can affect
driver behavior.
•
They are
complex to use, require significant training of survey staff, and are
expensive. Documentary searches:
The subjects of the survey are
inanimate objects (documents) and there is no response required of these
objects. A documentary search is simply a search of existing published and
unpublished documents and databases in an attempt to uncover the type of
information which is required in the survey.
The subjects of the survey may be
either inanimate (e.g. roadside features in an inventory survey) or animate
(e.g. pedestrians in a pedestrian flow survey), but no specific response is
required from these objects; they are merely expected to behave in their normal
manner while they are being observed. As noted in these two types of survey
techniques are not the main focus of this book, although they are discussed
briefly in the following pages to put them in context.
Examples of indirect observational surveys
include:
•
Wear
patterns (caused by vehicles or pedestrians) which may indicate predominant
traffic flows;
•
Accident
debris or skid marks to indicate hazardous sites in a road network; and
•
Fuel sales,
and other economic indicators, to estimate total activity in various transport
sectors.
The basic concept of group
discussions is that a small number of people (usually between seven and nine)
who are specially recruited according to a predetermined set of criteria,
exchange experiences, attitudes and beliefs about a particular issue. Depending
on the survey objectives, the criteria may be that the group be similar (for example,
they may all be public transport users, or they may all live in a certain area)
or dissimilar (for example to include professional drivers, regular drivers and
those who do not have a driver's license).
•
One
respondent's experiences or feelings tend to trigger reactions from other
respondents, whereby ideas which had lain dormant in the second respondent are
now brought to the surface. It is, therefore, a good vehicle for creative
expression from all respondents;
•
The process
highlights the differences between respondents (especially if respondents have
deliberately been chosen with different backgrounds and experiences), thus
making it possible to observe a range of attitudes and behaviors in a
relatively short time;
•
Groups can
be observed (by people other than the facilitator), thus making it particularly
useful for professional staff of a transport agency who can experience
respondents vocabulary, attitudes and reactions firsthand;
•
Spontaneity
of response is encouraged in a group setting, yielding insights which may not
be available from a one-on-one interview; and
•
By careful
selection of members of the group, the social and cultural influences on
attitudes and behavior are highlighted.
•
Group processes
may inhibit the frank exchange of attitudes and beliefs, especially from
minority members of the group, and may lead to unrealistic and excessive
recounting of behavior;
•
The group
may react negatively to the facilitator, the subject matter or the discussion
environment, and may freeze up;
•
The strong
personality of one respondent may overawe the other respondents who either
withdraw or simply agree;
•
The group
may lose perspective on the real issue, by getting too close to the problem and
by discussing something in great depth which, in reality, may be more of an
instinctive reaction.
Public participation is the most
important means for discovering issues, understanding the needs of the wide variety
of community groups, testing ideas, and arriving at workable transportation
solutions. A participation program, initiated early in the process and offering
public comment opportunities at key stages, will help policymakers stay better
tuned to the needs and concerns of constituents. It can help avoid the costly
scuttling or major revision of plans further down the road. Public
participation in transportation planning survey is particularly challenging
because of the long time horizons, complex technical issues and the
requirements and involvement of federal, state and regional agencies. The
potential impact of transportation planning on economic growth, development
patterns and the environment often fuels vigorous public debate. Past
experience with major transportation projects has left many citizens skeptical
about whether they can realistically influence the process. Materials in this
section illustrate participation tools and examples of programs that can
successfully engage citizens in the transportation planning survey.
Transportation planning surveys
are appropriate tools to collect relevant data for sustainable development
(Haghshenas & Vaziri, 2012; Black, 1996) of remote regions and backward
communities. The local, regional or national economy mostly depends upon an
efficient and reliable transportation system, which is provided for
accessibility and efficient movement of people and goods (Chen et al., 2002).
Surveys are precise solutions to many problems, which can assist in collecting
and gathering socio-economic data for the well-being of aloof rural regions. It
is believed that less accessibility or inaccessibility is main hindrance in the
planned development of rural regions and their depreciation (Etter et al.,
2006). These developing world’s rural regions are suffered by physical and
socio-economic problems including inaccessibility and poverty (Gulati et al.,
2007; Castella et al., 2005; Porter, 2007). With the help of transportation
services and facilities; these remote regions can be accessed properly, which
seemed impossible in history (Masood et al., 2011). These policy based
solutions became possible with the collection of relevant data, which can
really assist in providing timely solutions to regional transportation problems.
Policymakers will need to
consider a wider range of transportation solutions than has been typical in the
past. They will need to coordinate with and involve other jurisdictions,
transportation providers and citizens to gain a fuller understanding of diverse
needs. They will also need to more fully evaluate long-term direct and indirect
effects and costs of policy decisions. Materials in this section address
factors to be considered, information needs, methods for analyzing alternatives
and other keys to more successful decisions.
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