Carlsbad Residents May Be Selected For Regional Transportation Survey

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Some 200,000 households in the San Diego region will soon be invited to participate in a survey designed to help transportation planners better understand how, when and why residents travel in the region, the San Diego Association of Governments announced Monday.

SANDAG said starting this week, it will randomly select one in five households in the region for the San Diego Regional Transportation Study. Most participants will be asked to use a smartphone application to answer questions about their daily travel choices, with some respondents completing the study online or by phone, agency officials stated in a news release.

The results of the study will be used to help develop infrastructure projects and programs to better meet regional transportation needs.

"Good participation by San Diego County residents in this study is vital to our region’s ability to address traffic congestion," said Ron Roberts, chair of SANDAG's Board of Directors and the county's Board of Supervisors. "Without accurate and up-to-date data on how residents use the transportation network, we would not be able to develop effective solutions."

Participants will be prompted to answer questions about when and where they travel; whether they drive alone, carpool, vanpool, walk, bike, or use public transit; and how much their travel activity costs (e.g., parking and transit fares).

Participation in the confidential survey is by invitation only. The random selection process will ensure a representative sample of residents with varied demographics and travel behaviors from around the region. Participants whose households complete the study will receive either a $10 or $20 gift card per adult, depending on the method they use to complete the survey.

Residents will be invited to participate on a rolling basis, through late October. All of the data is anticipated to be collected by November.

A similar travel study for the San Diego region was completed in 2006. SANDAG typically conducts a study of this magnitude every 10 years.

SANDAG has engaged Resource Systems Group, Inc. to help conduct the study. More information can be found at Sandag.org/study.