Abstract
Many researchers working in the field prefer to measure travel by means of a diary. Diary surveys can be designed in many different ways. An important decision is whether travel data are collected as part of the total activity pattern (a so-called time use diary) or by using a conventional trip-based diary. This paper compares the quality of both types on the basis of some Dutch results. There exist large differences in the design of the surveys compared. Therefore, the effect on the results of using either a time use or a trip diary could not easily be determined. Nevertheless, some ideas are formulated. In general, time use diaries did not provide more valid results than the trip diary survey.