This paper addresses three questions: how accuraate is the geocoding of travel diaries; what are the relationships between different network-based distance estimates, and how exact are estimates provided by self-reported distances.
Three large-scale surveys in Norway and Switzerland demonstrate that very high precision is possible when survey protocol emphasises capture of addresses. The necessary databases and networks are available today. Crow-fly, shortest-distance path, shortest-time path, and mean UE path distances are systematically related to each other, the pattern of their relationships matching theoretical expectations and the resolution of the networks used. In the examples studied, medians of self-reported distances by distance band provide reasonable estimates of crow-fly and shortest-distance path distances
