Driving Distances and Travel Time to Saltwater Fishing Sites on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
The datasets available on this website contain the driving distance in miles and hours from select ZIP codes to each Access Point Angler Interview Survey (APAIS) site in NOAA’s Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). All ZIP codes within 150 miles of an interview site are included.
The datasets were created to facilitate travel cost modeling of recreational fishing demand with MRIP data, but could be useful in other analyses of angler behavior. All states on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are included with the exception of Texas which does not participate in the MRIP. The data were created using the 2013 APAIS site list and can be used to determine travel distances for any APAIS record.
The datasets are provided as SAS files and comma delimited files, and are organized by state where the APAIS site is located. Note that the file Florida includes all sites on the east and west coast of the state. Driving distances and travel time were calculated using Arc GIS based on road distances between the center of a ZIP code and the point on a public road that is nearest to the coordinates of the APAIS site. Information about the interview sites is available in the APAIS site registry.
Description of Variables and Merging with MRIP Data
The APAIS sites in MRIP datasets and the travel distance datasets are identified by state (ST), county (CNTY), and a four digit site code (INTSITE). The ZIP code of residence for each angler interviewed in the APAIS is recorded the ZIP field. Distance is recorded in the travel distance datasets as miles (DISTANCE) and hours (TRAVELHOURS) between each ZIP, APAIS site pair. Site codes are not unique across states so the travel distance files should be merged with APIAS data files using the ST, CNTY, INTSITE, and ZIP variables.
For more information, contact Sabrina Lovell at sabrina.lovell@noaa.gov.
Site_distances_CSV.zip
Site_distances_SAS.zip
