SANDAG launched the second phase of the San Diego Regional Transportation Study, inviting approximately 200,000 households in San Diego County to participate in a survey of their travel behaviors.
The first phase of the study occurred in fall 2016, during which time about 45,000 households were invited to participate. Between both phases, one in five households in the region will be randomly selected to join the study.  A similar study for the San Diego region was completed in 2006. SANDAG typically conducts a study of this magnitude every 10 years.
“SANDAG is doing this study to better understand the regional travel behaviors,” said SANDAG Principal Regional Planner Elisa Arias. “We want to know how, why, and when people travel in San Diego. We want to know if people travel alone or if they carpool, we want to know if people walk, bike or use the public transit.”
Some of the 200,000 households invited already received their invitation. The rest of the invitations will arrive in the following weeks.
“The household participants were randomly selected to have an even representation of all the different communities in the region, and to include the different demographics that represent San Diego County,” Arias said. Households participating in the study will receive a $20 gift card.
The results will be used to help develop infrastructure projects and programs to better meet regional transportation needs.
The information gathered as part of the study will be presented in summary fashion and will not contain any personally identifiable information.
All of the data is anticipated to be collected by the end of March 2017. The information gathered is vital for state and local planning agencies to understand how the transportation system is coping with growth, development, and other changes across the region.
“We are working with different community organizations to engage more people in the community,” Arias added. “For us is very important to have the participation of the Latino community and from all the different communities in San Diego.”
According to SANDAG, this local agency is committed to protecting the privacy of survey participants. The agency will not sell, trade, or share any personal information collected in its surveys with any third party.
People interested in participating in the San Diego Regional Transportation Study, that didn’t receive an invitation, can visit www.sandag.org/study or call 1 (844) 468-2570 for more information.