Survey Data Will Guide Transportation Investments on O’ahu 

October 5, 2022 (Honolulu, Hawaii) – Reliable data about where people travel and how they get from place to place is essential for identifying transportation needs. Advanced technologies can count vehicles and project changes in population and congestion, but there is no substitute for information provided by real people when it comes to understanding driving, transit, bicycling and walking behavior. 

The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is participating in the National Household Travel Survey with support from the Federal Highway Administration and encourages residents to help us better understand how people travel on O’ahu. The results will help officials and planners determine where and how to make transportation investments, such as bridges and roads as well as facilities for bicycling, walking and transit.  

The survey began in September, when invitation letters were mailed to thousands of randomly selected households and will last through November. Although households are not required to respond to the survey, a higher participation rate will yield more accurate data for future planning efforts. 

Respondents will receive access to a secure website where they will be asked to answer questions about their household, vehicles, and daily travel. The actual number of questions asked will depend on the size of the household and the extent to which each household travels.  

If you receive an invite in the mail, please go to NextGenNHTS.com and enter the passcode indicated in your invite to take the survey. If you need additional assistance with the survey, please call 1-888-521-2520 or send an email to support@NextGenNHTS.com. 

About the National Household Travel Survey 

The Federal Highway Administration has conducted the National Household Travel Survey every five to seven years since 1969 to learn more about the travel behavior of Americans. The data collection effort asks questions about how people travel, how often they drive, how they plan daily trips to run errands and whether they carpool or use alternative modes of transportation. Survey results help planners understand changing transportation needs nationwide and in communities. To learn more about the NHTS, visit https://nhts.ornl.gov/. 

About the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization 

The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is the designated metropolitan planning organization for the island of O’ahu. Federal highway and transit statues require urbanized areas greater than 50,000 in population to designate an MPO as a condition for spending Federal highway or transit funds. It is responsible for facilitating and supporting the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive transportation planning process between the State, county, and operators of public transportation receiving federal funds.