National Travel Survey, 2009

The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is a comprehensive nationwide survey of households designed to primarily produce quarterly labour force estimates. It also covers topics of specific social interest in additional modules each quarter. The module conducted in the fourth quarter of the 2009 QNHS was the pilot National Travel Survey (NTS), which was commissioned and part funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The NTS surveyed one randomly selected person, aged 18 years and over, from each household across waves three and five of the QNHS sample. Each person selected for the sample was asked for details of their travel for a 24 hour period, referred to as the travel reference day. This reference period commenced at 4 am on the nominated day and finished at 3.59 am the following morning. To ensure that data was collected for all seven days of the week, each person participating in the NTS was assigned a randomly selected travel reference day. Prior to their travel reference day, each participant was issued with a travel diary to record their travel details. Respondents used their travel diary to aid recall of their travel details. In the event that the NTS interview wasn’t conducted the day after the travel reference day and the participant had failed to record the required information in their travel diaries, details of their travel for the 24 hour period ending at 3.59 am on the day of the interview were collected instead. The NTS was designed to collect both household and individual level information. The household level information covered the availability of local buses, mainline trains, Dart and Luas services, together with information on bicycle ownership. The individual level information on the questionnaire covered bicycle usage, the ownership and usage of vehicles and vehicle parking at home and at work. Each individual was also asked to provide detailed information on all journeys made during their travel reference day. The information sought included the journey origin and destination, departure and arrival times, the main reason for undertaking the journey, the number of stages to each journey and the distance travelled, travel time and mode of travel used for each stage of the journey.