This news item expired on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
French Broad River MPO and NCDOT are sponsoring the Western North Carolina Regional Travel Survey. The purpose of this travel survey is to collect information on local household travel behaviors. Residents of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania Counties will be invited to take part in this important survey.
Starting during the week of April 15 and continuing for a little more than a month, those households selected for the study will receive a letter in the mail with instructions about how they can participate. The survey results will help in calibrating the Travel Demand Model used by transportation planners to help the region plan for needed roadway, transit, bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
In order for transportation planners to accurately estimate the future needs of our region, we need data about how, when, where and why people travel throughout the region now. Understanding the travel behavior of real households – whether somebody is going to work, school, or to make an unscheduled stop to pick up some milk on the way home, is important and will help MPO and NCDOT staff better predict what the overall traffic might be like on important corridors in 20 or 30 years.
Westat, a consultant firm with a wealth of experience in transportation data collection and analysis, will be conducting this study on behalf of FBRMPO and NCDOT. Selected households will be able to participate online or by phone.
If your household receives an invitation letter, MPO staff would encourage you to participate to help transportation planners improve future travel experiences in Western North Carolina. Households willing to participate will be asked to complete a household background survey, to keep track of their travel for a one-day period and report about the places they went on that one day. Any personal data collected during the study will be kept confidential. Only combined, generalized travel survey results across the region will be released as part of the study final report.
Our region has some unique travel characteristics due to the presence of students, retirees and our part-time residents. The results of the survey will benefit the region in being able to build a more robust transportation network appropriate for the types and patterns of trips that occur here on a daily basis.
The household survey portion of Western North Carolina Regional Travel Survey is expected to be finished in June 2013, with a final report expected in the fall of 2013.
For more information see www.wnctravelsurvey.com or contact FBRMPO staff: lyuba@landofsky.org; 828-251-6622xt.127. You can also contact Westat staff administering the survey: wnctravelsurvey@westat.com or call 1-866-436-7828.