Information about human travel behaviour is of great importance for monitoring and planning. In the Netherlands, like in many other countries, travel data are collected by filling out a travel diary. In the Dutch National Travel Survey (OVG), this has to be accomplished by the respondents during one day. New technologies are becoming available now which enable to record travel behaviour automatically with the aid of GPS (Global Positioning System). Using GPS implies that respondents are equipped with a GPS receiver that automatically records the changes in positions of the respondents out of home together with time information. This method has important advantages compared to traditional methods, such as a reduction of the burden on the respondent, an increase of the quality of the data, and improved possibilities for analysis. In this experiment, the emphasis lays on the possibilities for monitoring different transport modes (car, bicycle, walking, and public transport), where most other experiments look into the monitoring of only car trips. For the project a specific device is developed and tested in the pre-pilot phase. The results from this phase indicate that it is indeed possible to record all kinds of transport modes, although under some conditions receiving the signals is impossible. Especially in public transport and, for instance, in tunnels there is no signal. The device developed is too heavy according to users (4 kg), and needs to be more user friendly in the following pilot project. See also IRRD E103863 (see C 15162).
Abstract