ACT and Queanbeyan-Palerang Household Travel Survey (ACTQP HTS)
Transport Canberra and City Service Directorate and the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council engaged Ipsos Social Research Institute in 2017 to undertake a survey that collected information about how, where and when members of a selected household travels over a single day. A total of 1,785 households and 4,611 people in both the ACT and Queanbeyan contributed to the survey and completed a travel diary for a single specified day.
Outcomes from the Household Travel Survey are being used to inform the transport planning and policy development for the ACT and Queanbeyan area.
All information collected is treated as confidential. No data that allows the identification of the person or household will be released without the consent of the household.
To learn more, see the Summary Data Dashboard below and the full summary brochure (PDF 178KB).
See below for more details of the survey.
Frequently asked questions
Who was conducting the survey?
The survey was conducted for the Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council by the Travel Survey Team from Ipsos Social Research Institute.
What was the survey about?
The purpose of the survey was to collect essential information on the day-to-day travel and activities of people living in various parts of the ACT and QPRC areas; how, where, why and when people travel.
The survey results provides a reliable picture of travel patterns occurring in different areas – information that are being used to make planning decisions about roads, public transport and other facilities in and around the local community.
How was the survey conducted?
We asked the respondents to first complete some questions about the household and themselves. We then asked them to provide information about their travel and activities on a specific 'Travel Day'. This day was indicated on their survey forms.
When was the survey conducted?
The survey was undertaken from Saturday the 7th of October until Sunday the 3rd of December 2017.
Why were the respondents asked about the people in the household?
We know that different people travel in different ways. To get a good picture of the travel by people in the area, the survey needs to get answers from all types of people and households.
This is why, in addition to asking the respondents about their travel, we also asked questions about their age, gender, occupation and income to make sure we have included all types of people. These answers were then combined with those from all other households in the survey to give a complete picture of the day-to-day travel and activities of all people in the community.
The results from this survey were compared with the results from the 2016 Census to ensure that our survey respondents are representative of the broader population.
What if the respondent drives for a living?
We realise that it would be very difficult for 'professional drivers' (those employed to move goods or people) to write down all the travel they make over a whole day and we don't expect them to do so.
Instead, we asked that they record only their personal travel – including trips from home to work and back again. However, if they are not a 'professional driver', but sometimes travel as part of their work (e.g. to go to a meeting) then we asked them to record all travel that they do as part of their work.
What about privacy?
The Travel Survey team respects the privacy of individuals. All information obtained through the survey were treated in the strictest confidence, and only analysed in combination with many other households from the wider study area.
No data that allows identification of survey participants will be released. Furthermore, no address or contact information from this project will be stored by the Travel Survey Team, unless they have explicitly agreed to participate in other transport related research.
How was the respondent selected?
No individual person had been selected for the survey. Instead, a random sample of households had been selected from up-to-date listings of street addresses in the survey area. So, the respondents (personally) were not selected personally– their address was.
But what if the respondent doesn't travel very much?
We are interested in understanding the travel behaviour of everyone selected to take part in the survey. While some people will make a lot of trips, it is just as important for us to know about those who don't travel much, or at all.
The survey was interested in all types of transport - cars, buses, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles and walking.
So, on the Travel Day, it does not matter whether the respondent:
- does not go anywhere at all
- only leave the house once or twice, or
- make lots of trips.
The respondents were encouraged to record what actually happened on the Travel Day, even if this was different from the normal daily routine.
What happened next?
On the specified weekend, a representative of the Travel Survey team delivered the survey forms to the respondent's door. This gave the respondent the opportunity to ask any questions they may have about the survey.
Then, on the following weekend, the surveyors returned to collect the completed forms. Even if the respondent didn't travel on the Travel Day or was away for the day, it was still important that they complete the forms. This ensured that all members of the community were represented.
In this way, everyone's travel needs are considered when decisions are made about transport investment and operations.
