Development of Trip Production Rates for Synthesized Households

Abstract

Survey nonresponse bias is an important consideration in the development of survey designs for transportation studies. Researchers at the University of Delaware have developed a technique for reducing the survey nonresponse, as well as the cost of the travel survey. The method involves obtaining complete household and person characteristics for each household member; however, detailed travel data are gathered for only one randomly selected household member. Although the University of Delaware survey technique provides multiple benefits with respect to survey response rates and costs, it presents complications for travel model developers, particularly with respect to the development of trip production models. Because the trip production models are typically developed at the household level, the person-level trip rates from such a survey need to be expanded to represent a household’s trip rates. A method is presented for generating synthesized household trip production rates by using the 1995/96 Delaware Household Travel Survey, which gathered travel information for only one household member.