Blog - September 2008
Publication of findings from the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey 2007 has been delayed on account of concerns about data quality. The Survey employs a seven-day travel diary, which had been redesigned this year to make filling in by respondents easier. However, some under-recording of short trips was experienced. This will need to be understood and corrections made, so that publication of the quantitative finding will not take place until next year.
Perhaps it’s time to use technology to measure travel behaviour. There are now on the market GPS-based systems that record individual travel, see for example Trackstick for a logger and Zoomback for a locator. Carbon Diem proposes to link GPS and mobile phones to allow people to calculate the carbon used in travel.
One potential use of such automatic logging would be to validate the travel behaviour that is supposed to result from an investment in transport infrastructure or changed operational practice. So if travel time saving or carbon saving are proposed benefits, it should be possible to check these out directly by monitoring affected individuals. That would help resolve debates about the consequences of interventions.
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