Regional planning commission seeks public input on travel habits and preferences.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is currently in the process of gathering detailed travel data to enhance the understanding of travel behaviors within the nine-county Philadelphia area. This comprehensive effort is aimed at obtaining vital insights regarding the locations individuals visit, the modes of transport they utilize, and the purposes of their journeys, whether by car, public transit, cycling, or walking.
This initiative is not intended to invade personal privacy; rather, it seeks to gather real-time data essential for updating DVRPC’s travel demand model. These updates will play a crucial role in guiding funding decisions for infrastructure projects and transportation initiatives over the next decade. Mike Boyer, the agency’s director of regional planning, emphasized the significant transformations that have occurred in travel patterns, particularly due to the recent pandemic.
The current household travel survey is designed to provide a clearer understanding of these changes since the last survey was conducted between 2012 and 2013, with its final report published in 2015. Typically, DVRPC conducts these surveys on a decadal basis, but this year’s data collection marks a prolonged interval of 13 years, allowing transportation trends to stabilize post-pandemic disruptions.
To recruit participants for the survey, DVRPC has initiated a process that began in January. This involves sending postcard invitations to randomly selected households in South Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, social media outreach is being employed to encourage participation. Notably, households cannot self-nominate for the survey; random selection ensures that the data accurately reflects the demographic and geographic diversity of the region.
DVRPC is targeting completion of approximately 9,000 to 10,000 surveys to accurately portray regional travel habits, with previous estimates suggesting that up to 300,000 postcard invitations may be necessary to achieve adequate participation.
The commission serves a large area that includes Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer Counties in New Jersey, in addition to Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania. The data collected will be confidentially held and anonymized, ensuring that no individual identities will be disclosed.
Respondents will track their travel over a 24-hour period through a smartphone application or paper diary, documenting details such as trip purposes and transportation modes utilized. The data gathered will not only inform the development of a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) but will also help planners assess traffic safety requirements, propose new recreational trail locations, and respond to various transportation-related scenarios.
Experts are particularly keen to explore various emerging trends, including the effects of hybrid work arrangements and e-commerce on travel frequency, public transit ridership patterns post-COVID-19, and the rise of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft within the region.
This initiative by DVRPC underscores the pressing need for localized and precise data to navigate the changing landscape of transportation in the Delaware Valley. It aims to equip planners with the critical information necessary to make informed decisions that will shape the future of transportation infrastructure and policies in the region.
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