American Travel Survey

The purpose of this American Travel Survey app is to facilitate administration of household travel surveys. Participation in each survey is by invitation only. Every participant is part of a randomly selected household that has agreed to take part in the survey.


Household members (who are 18 and older, or 13 and older with adult permission) participating in the survey are asked to download the app, install it, and log in with a PIN that uniquely represents their household. The household member then selects their provided nickname or name from a list of household members in order to correctly assign the trips. Prior to downloading the app, household members have provided contact information via an online or over-the-phone survey which allows ETC Institute staff to contact them with any questions or clarifications to update the User’s trip diary during or after the collection period. After login, the app begins to automatically detect and record stops that the User makes during a prescribed period, usually 24 hours. The User is asked to review the stops and answer a few questions about each stop before finishing/submitting the completed trip diary directly from the app.


App users are aware that while the app is installed on their smartphone or tablet, their GPS location is used to detect and record their stops and to help draw their vehicle’s approximate travel path, which in turn facilitates the stop review process. In addition to the GPS signal, the app also uses - with the User’s permission – their device’s accelerometer and gyroscope sensors. The data from these sensors are used by the app’s logic engine to confirm that a stop has indeed been made. ETC is committed to keeping each participant’s identifying information private. Our data privacy policy is available for review on our Company’s website and can be accessed directly via a link on this page.