MDOT and SEMCOG launch second phase public survey to collect travel data vital to transportation planning

Fast facts:

• MDOT and SEMCOG are conducting a second phase of the MI Travel Counts household survey, starting this week.
• Randomly selected households in certain areas of Michigan will have the opportunity to participate via smartphone application, online or telephone.
• Data collected from this survey will provide information on how travel behavior has changed over the past 10 years and inform forecasts to help shape Michigan's transportation system.

LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) are conducting the second phase of a household travel survey that will provide information necessary to set transportation priorities for the future. Starting April 7, randomly selected households will have the opportunity to provide details regarding their day-to-day travel. SEMCOG will focus their survey collection in Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Saint Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, while MDOT will survey other areas of the state.

The MI Travel Counts survey will be conducted by nationally recognized research firm Resource Systems Group, Inc. (RSG) on behalf of MDOT and SEMCOG. Survey results will help transportation planners better understand how, when, where and why people travel in and around the state of Michigan. Last conducted in 2015, this update will help planners account for the many changes in travel that have occurred, like the prevalence of remote work, the increase in online shopping and greater use of ridesharing and delivery services.

Randomly selected households will receive an invitation to participate in the survey via U.S. Mail, featuring survey materials available in English, Spanish and Arabic. Upon accepting the invitation, household members will provide demographic data and then report their travel either via a smartphone application, online or by telephone. The information provided to MI Travel Counts will be anonymized and aggregated to calculate statistics for study purposes.

In the first of three phases, MDOT surveyed participants statewide (not including the seven counties of southeast Michigan) in spring 2024. The second phase starts April 7, with the final phase in fall 2025.

About RSG:
RSG conducts research on behalf of public and private sector clients using software applications, smartphones, websites, surveys, computers, tablets and other means of collecting data. They specialize in designing, implementing and applying sophisticated data-driven models with in-depth analytics to help clients understand why people and systems do what they do.