DOT to Unveil NHTS Travel Numbers in August; Long Distance Data Will Show How America Travels

Contact BTS 08-03 Roger Lotz 202-366-2246

Monday, May 19, 2003 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that the complete National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), the most comprehensive survey of travel in the United States in more than six years, will be released in August.

The August release will combine new long-distance travel information with short-distance NHTS data released earlier this year, providing the first sweeping look at how Americans travel.

"This joint effort by the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will give unique data to decision-makers at all levels of government to help them shape the transportation system of the 21st century," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. "The NHTS is a panoramic view of how Americans travel, so it is a picture of America."

The NHTS, conducted by BTS and FHWA in 2001 and 2002, collected information about a wide range of topics, including the amount and purpose of travel, the uses of different travel modes, time and miles spent traveling and the ownership and use of vehicles in the United States. It also examines the relationships between travel and specific household and demographic characteristics.

For this survey a nationally representative sample of about 26,000 households were contacted and 60,000 individuals were interviewed. The NHTS expands on and replaces the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey and American Travel Survey.

The NHTS also focuses on new areas of interest, such as the travel by children five years old and younger, transportation issues associated with persons with disabilities, and travel by non-U.S. born residents. Additional items also include Internet use, occupation, and traveler attitudes.

The NHTS long distance travel data and an overview report of the data will be available at www.bts.gov in August.