Development of the TRAISI Web Survey Builder: Designing to Reduce Bias and Respondent Burden in Household Travel Surveys

Household travel surveys (HTS) are undoubtedly the most common and amongst the largest data collection undertakings by transport agencies worldwide. Within recent years, web-based surveys have been the dominant survey mode for HTS’s. However, given the extensive detailed data collected in HTS’s, web-based HTS’s have been facing declining response rates and challenges with collecting quality data, largely due to proxy bias and poor survey designs. This study investigates methods to improve HTS data quality and reduce response burden by sharing lessons learned from the development of the TRAISI web survey builder. The study presents findings from field tests using novel features built into the platform, such as interactive maps and adaptive designs for household trip diary collection. Survey methods to reduce proxy bias, such as voluntary self and proxy reporting methods and announce-in-advance procedures, are also investigated. Overall, the study provides survey designers guidelines and recommendations for web-based HTS design.%%%%M.A.S.