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Improving Survey Design Through Community Group Input. 11 th TRB National Transportation Planning Applications Conference May 7, 2007. Overview of Presentation. HH Travel Inventory Regional Demographics Survey Participation Issues Methods to Increase Participation Public Outreach
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Improving Survey Design Through Community Group Input 11th TRB National Transportation Planning Applications Conference May 7, 2007
Overview of Presentation • HH Travel Inventory • Regional Demographics • Survey Participation • Issues • Methods to Increase Participation • Public Outreach • Pilot Survey • Implementation for Full Study
HH Travel Inventory • HH Travel Survey • 11,000 HH • Eight county Chicago region • 24 and 48 hour assignments • Travel logs • Sponsored by Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) • Union of Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) and Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) • Pilot Survey – September 2006 to October 2006 • Full Study – January 2007 to January 2008
Demographics of Survey Region • Race • 8,184,000 residents • 66% Caucasian • 19% African American • 15% Other • 17% self identify as Hispanic
McHenry Lake Kane DuPage Cook Kendall Will Grundy Demographics of Survey Region
Demographics of Survey Region African American Density
Demographics of Survey Region Latino Density
Demographics of Survey Region • Immigration • Immigration gateway for 150 years • For first time, suburbs now have more immigrants than the City of Chicago • 92% increase in immigrant population from 1990 to 2000 • Immigrant acculturation • 75% of all immigrants speak English well or very well • 69% of Spanish speaking persons speak English well or very well
Demographics of the Survey Region • Mode to Work • 81% of workers drive alone or carpool to work • 16% of workers use alternative modes: public transit, bicycle, or walk • Chicago ranks second to New York in use of alternative modes
Survey Participation • Why doesn’t everyone participate? • Apathy • Language barrier • Foreign language and illiterate • Fear • Apprehension about giving out personal information • Fear of government (immigrants) • Populations that are traditionally difficult to recruit • Transit users
Outreach • Meetings • Four community meetings held in August of 2006 in Chicago region • Goals of the effort were to . . . • Educate the public about survey effort, • Garner public support, and • Identify improvements to minimize non-response among special population groups
Outreach • Meeting format and content • Introduction of facilitators • Brief introduction • Presentation summarizing survey effort • Round table discussion regarding group specific reaction to a number of survey related topics • Including a review of materials • Thanks and provide incentive • Food provided
Outreach • What were the outcomes? • While there were a few “core issues” voiced by all groups, each meeting revealed group-specific issues that need be considered to maximize participation among all demographic sectors
Outreach • Latinos • Complete confidentiality and anonymity • Materials need to identify this quickly and clearly • Identify connection between survey participation and community well being • To combat low participation, conduct “community survey days”
Outreach • African Americans • Key to survey success is survey endorsement by civic leaders and organizations • Survey materials need to highlight lack of AA participation in last survey effort • “This is YOUR chance to make sure this does not happen again.”
Outreach • Youth • Lack of personal vehicle (or limited access) exaggerates the effect of many transportation issues on youth • Key to success is to clearly explain how the planning process works and how data being collected today will result in improved transportation infrastructure in the future
Outreach • Recommendations • Community Survey Days • Must weigh pros (more data, increased PR, etc) vs. cons (affects on “random selection”, high costs associated with conducting meetings) • Targeted mailings • Use of a “hook” to grab attention • “You have been invited to participate . . .” • “Your community needs you to participate . . .” • “You have been selected to represent your community . . .”
Pilot Survey • Pilot survey conducted in September and October of 2006, prior to implementation of community meeting findings • African Americans and Hispanics under represented
Full Study • Recruitment for full study began in January of 2007 and will continue throughout the entire year
Full Study • Phased Implementation of Community Group Meeting Findings • Phase I (currently ongoing) • Cash incentives • $5 or $10 per HH member • Quotes from prominent civic leaders supporting the survey effort • Insertion into brochure • Targeted Mailings to Census tracts with high proportions of African Americans and Hispanics • Snowball Sampling • Tailored Interviewing
Full Study • Phase II (as needed) • Community Meetings • Advertising • Newspaper • Radio • College list serves
Chris Simek, NuStats csimek@nustats.com Mary Kay Christopher, MKC Associates marykay@mkcassociates.com THANK YOU! Questions or Comments?