Household Travel Surveys help determine the amount of travel generated in an area by local residents. Participants use a smartphone app, website or other methods to record where, when, how and why they travel.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the North Central Texas Council of Governments wants to make transportation-related updates in your area. In order to do this, they need travel information from their residents.

TxDOT hired ETC Institute (ETC), a market research firm who focuses heavily on transportation-related research. ETC has a set of mobile apps and online tools it has branded as the "American Travel Survey". These tools, along with our U.S.-based call center interviewers, collect household travel survey data for transportation planning organizations all over the United States.

ETC has collected household travel survey data for TxDOT for nearly 20 years.

Many reasons. 1) You'll improve the roads you travel on for yourself and your community. 2) Your data will help better inform where transportation dollars are spent. 3) Whether you travel a little or a lot your travel represents what a lot of other residents do so your participation matters.

During a household travel survey, participants are asked to provide information regarding their household, household members, and vehicles. Then they select a travel date for their household. On the travel date, each household member will provide travel diary information that includes all the locations they went on their travel date along with details of those stops.

These surveys provide information about local travel patterns and needs. They help TxDOT and NCTCOG make decisions about transportation projects that impact you and your community.

Currently ETC Institute is conducting household travel surveys on the behalf of TxDOT in the following areas:

• Dallas-Fort Worth (12 Counties Total)

• El Paso

• Midland-Odessa

• Rio Grande Valley

• Grayson County

Your household may be eligible to earn up to $60 in gift cards to Amazon, Walmart, Target, Visa, and more. The amount your household receives depends on how you participate:

• $30 if no household members use the smartphone app

• $40 if one household member uses the smartphone app

• $60 if two or more household members use the smartphone app

To qualify for any reward, all household members must provide complete travel information. ​ *Incentive DisclaimerTxDOT contracts with third-parties to collect data on the travel practices of Texans on TxDOT facilities. These third-party parties may offer rewards to promote the collection of travel survey data. TxDOT is not affiliated with any of these reward programs and is not responsible for the distribution of any rewards.

You will be asked to keep track of every type of travel, including walking, bicycling, automobile, ride share, public transit, etc. Any type of travel that takes you from point A to point B.

We don't sell your personal data. ETC Institute gets paid by City, County, and State government agencies to conduct survey research. We also work with public agencies like Departments of Transportation and public transit agencies. They pay us to do research. We ask you questions and present the findings to them. They then make decisions based on the collected data that make your community better because now they know they have the information they need. If you want to read our full privacy policy, look for the black bar at the top of the website. You are never under any obligation to participate in the survey.

We have an in-house programming team that has specifically developed mobile apps and web-based tools for collecting household travel survey data.

However, if you prefer a less high-tech option, we've got you covered there as well. We can provide the survey to you via one of our US-based call centers. One of our employees can give you a call and do the survey right over the phone.

So, to answer your question, the survey is available:

1. Online

2. Over the phone with our call center

3. Mobile app

The American Travel Survey team has partnered with XOXODay. What does that mean? Well, XOXODay is one of the largest suppliers of online Visa debit and electronic gift cards in the US. So, 5-10 business days after your household successfully completes the household travel survey you will receive an email that contains a voucher. You click on that voucher and it will take you to xoxoday.com where you can select from around 100 different gift card options including a Visa debit card option. You even have the opportunity to donate your reward amount to charity.

Also, we typically email our incentives out once a week. So, you won't need to wait very long once you've completed your survey. If you don't see it in your email inbox check your spam or junk folder. If you ever have any issues, or need us to resend your incentive, just let us know and we will be happy to help.

Each household may be eligible to earn up to $60 in gift cards to Amazon, Walmart, Target, Visa, and more. The amount your household receives depends on how you participate:

• $30 if no household members use the smartphone app

• $40 if one household member uses the smartphone app

• $60 if two or more household members use the smartphone app

To qualify for any reward, all household members must provide complete travel information.

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*Incentive Disclaimer: TxDOT contracts with third-parties to collect data on the travel practices of Texans on TxDOT facilities. These third-party parties may offer rewards to promote the collection of travel survey data. TxDOT is not affiliated with any of these reward programs and is not responsible for the distribution of any rewards.

In the last 15 years, ETC Institute has surveyed over 5,000,000 people in more than 1,000 communities. Our research has laid the foundation for billions of dollars in new public investments for communities just like yours. In fact, considering how many people we've surveyed, we've likely already contributed to improvements in your city.