United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
Abstract
DTFH6114F00113The 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) provides an inventory of daily travel in the US and its major Census Divisions and add-on areas. It is the only source of national-level statistics on personal travel in the US. The survey series (conducted since 1969) includes demographic data on households, people, vehicles, and detailed information on daily travel by all modes of transportation and for all purposes. NHTS survey data are collected from a sample of households and expanded to provide estimates of trips and miles of travel by travel mode, trip purpose, and other important attributes. When combined with historical data from the earlier surveys (1969, 1977, 1983, 1990, and 1995 NPTS and the 2001 NHTS, 2009 NHTS, and 2017 NHTS) these data serve as a rich source of information on the trends in travel over time. This report summarizes trends in household and personal travel patterns, including information on changes to the household-based vehicle fleet and commuting patterns. The report begins with a summary of the changes in the population, demographics, and related travel. Next, travel trends are examined at the household level, including differences between different areas of the US and by household income, for example. Next, changes in travel are summarized at the person-level, including trips by purpose and miles of travel by age and sex. Following sections detail changes in vehicle availability and usage, commute travel patterns, temporal distribution, and the travel of special populations. The 2017 NHTS was conducted with major changes in sampling strategy (an address-based sample compared to previous land-line random-digit sample) and methodology (Web-based self-reports compared to previous computer-aided interviewing). These and other critical changes are summarized here in Appendix A and in the data documentation at https://nhts.ornl.gov/. Researchers and data users are cautioned to do their best to assess how the change in methods may affect their estimates and to caution their readers about these critical changes in the data series
