Texas Travel Survey 2.6

The Household Travel Survey app aims to streamline household travel surveys for public agencies through automation. Participation is strictly by invitation, with every participant belonging to a randomly selected household that has agreed to partake in the survey. Developed by ETC Institute, the app serves as a consulting tool for conducting travel surveys on behalf of local, regional, or statewide public agencies like the Department of Transportation, who ultimately own the data. The data owner's identity is disclosed within the app and communicated to each participating household in advance.

Household members, aged 18 and above (or 13 and above with parental consent), are required to download the app, install it, and log in using a unique PIN representing their household. Subsequently, users select their given nickname or name from a list of household members to correctly allocate trips. Before installing the app, participants provide contact details through an online or phone survey—enabling ETC Institute staff to address any inquiries or updates to the user’s trip diary during or post data collection. Upon logging in, the app automatically detects and logs the user's stops within a designated timeframe, typically 24 hours. Participants then review these stops and provide brief feedback on each before submitting the completed trip diary directly from the app.

Users are informed that while using the app on their smartphone or tablet, their GPS location is utilized to record stops and map out their vehicle's rough travel route, streamlining the stop review process. Besides GPS tracking, the app requests permission from users to access their device's accelerometer and gyroscope sensors. Data from these sensors aids in confirming the authenticity of each stop made by the user. ETC Institute ensures strict privacy of all participant information, with our comprehensive data privacy policy accessible for review on our company website via a direct link on this page.