Title Elimination of the Travel Diary: An Experiment to Derive Trip Purpose From GPS Travel Data

ii Several recent pilot studies have combined Global Positioning System (GPS) technology with travel survey data collection to evaluate opportunities for improving the quantity and accuracy of travel data. These studies have used GPS to supplement traditional data elements collected in paper or electronic travel diaries. Although many traditional trip elements can be obtained from the GPS data, trip purpose has remained an important element requiring the use of a diary to continue. This paper presents the results of a proof-of-concept study conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) that examined the feasibility of using GPS data loggers to completely replace, rather than supplement, traditional travel diaries. In this approach, all GPS data collected must be processed in such a way that all essential trip data elements, including trip purpose, are derived. If this processing is done correctly and quickly, then the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) retrieval call could be shortened significantly, reducing both respondent burden and telephone interview times. This study used GPS data loggers to collect travel data in personal vehicles. The GPS data were then processed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) to derive most of the traditional travel diary elements. These derive