Long-Distance Travel: Update from 2011 Web-Based Travel Survey for California High-Speed Rail Authority

Information on long distance travel is crucial for interregional and statewide travel forecasting. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of information regarding the frequency and travel purposes of long distance travel. Long distance trips, often defined as travel to locations more than 50 miles from the travelers home location, are made with much less frequency than the daily travel typically collected in household travel surveys. Indeed, while daily trip rates of three to four trips per person per day are typically reported for urban areas, daily long distance trip rates of two to three trips per person per year are typical. Thus, typical household survey procedures of collecting all travel for members of respondent households over a one to two day period are not adequate for the analysis of long distance travel unless survey sizes are extremely large. In May and June 2011, Cambridge Systematics (CS) conducted a web-based long distance travel survey to collect information on long distance travel characteristics of California residents. The data were used to revalidate the California High Speed Rail Ridership and Revenue Model (CAHSR3M) used to provide forecasts for California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) planning of the project. The actual survey was conducted by Harris Interactive (Harris) using Harris’ web-based polling process and their on-line panel of California residents. This paper provides a brief overview of the survey purpose, design, expansion, and results. The survey, which collected nearly 12,000 usable samples, was designed, conducted, and summarized in less than three months.