Puget Sound Regional Council to conduct regional travel study

The council is conducting the study to understand the transportation needs and preferences of residents

The Puget Sound Regional Council is conducting a regional travel study to better understand the transportation needs and preferences of the region’s residents. Between March 2017 and June 2017, thousands of residents in the area will receive invitations to participate in this important transportation study led by PSRC.

“The region has seen tremendous population and job growth in recent years, along with completion of new transportation infrastructure,” said Josh Brown, PSRC’s Executive Director. “This survey will provide an up-to-date view of how residents get around and help decision makers continue to plan improvements in the transportation system.”

Demand for travel in the Puget Sound region is expected to increase by 25% between now and the year 2040. Participation in the study can help answer questions about how the region can maintain and improve mobility, accessibility, and connectivity for residents as population grows and travel patterns evolve. The information collected will be vital for planning and prioritizing improvements for the Puget Sound region’s transportation system.

The study will help planners understand the travel behavior of real households, such as the trips people make to work, school, or shopping centers, to help decision makers prioritize transportation projects.

PSRC conducted similar studies in 2014 and 2015, so the 2017 study will provide up-to-date information and will also help planners understand changing needs over time. Redmond and Seattle are sponsoring extra data collection in their cities.

Resource Systems Group, Inc. (RSG) and ETC Institute, independent research firms, are administering the survey on behalf of PSRC. A random sample of the region’s households will be invited by first-class mail to participate in the survey and will have the option of completing the survey online or by telephone. A small number of households will also have the option to participate using their smartphones.

The survey will involve questions about general household information as well as travel details for a given weekday. All individual and household information collected in this study will remain strictly confidential. Contact information will be kept separate from the responses and destroyed after the study is over. The aggregated data will be used for analysis and modeling purposes.

For more information on the Puget Sound Regional Travel Study:

– Project Website: https://survey.psrc.org

– Project Email: help@psrc.org

– Toll-Free: 1-844-247-8189

– PSRC project contact:

– Neil Kilgren, Senior Planner (Phone: 1- 206-971-3602, Email: nkilgren@psrc.org)

– Brian Lee, Senior Planner (Phone: 1-206-971-3270, Email: blee@psrc.org)

Translation services are available. If you received the household transportation survey in the mail and need assistance to take it in your language, please contact us at 206-587-4819. Thank you for participating and helping to improve transportation in the Puget Sound region.