Modelling the Efficiency of Transportation Survey Recruitment and Reminder Methods

Transportation surveys are vital to generating data for informed infrastructure investment decision-making, developing travel demand models, and monitoring progress. By employing diverse recruitment and data collection strategies, it is possible to improve the overall effectiveness and accuracy of the surveys. With this motivation, this paper examines the efficiency of various survey recruitment and reminder methods. The dataset comes from a time-use survey deployed in Province of British Columbia, which utilized mail and self-registration as recruitment methods. In case of reminders, we used several methods including telephone calls, SMS, emails and social media postings. To further identify factors that influence the effectiveness of reminders and no reminders towards survey completion rates, statistical models are developed. Specifically, an ordered logit model is developed to examine households' need for frequent reminders to complete the survey. Additionally, a hazard model is developed to investigate the time it takes for the households to complete the survey without any reminders. Results indicate that among the self-registrants, about 69% of households that received an SMS completed the survey on the same day, with approximately 40.5% finishing within one hour. Results also revealed that self-registrants, older adults and single individuals are more likely to need more frequent communication to finalize the survey. In contrast, without reminders, residents of Metro Vancouver tend to complete surveys more quickly, while full-time workers may require more time. The findings of this study evaluate the effectiveness of various recruitment methods and reminder techniques, aiding in better targeting and communication to improve response rates.