Résumé
Nowadays, large transportation household surveys cannot be conducted without the help of powerful tools for management and support. Information technologies are useful for preparing, conducting and post-analysing the survey. In the Greater Montreal Area (GMA), the 2003 household survey followed the general methodology that has been developed during the last twenty years to integrate the finest software, databases and methods. These tools forming the household survey information system (HSIS) are based on the Totally Dissagregate Approach and its object-oriented extension.
This paper presents the background, the fundamentals and the assembly of the Montreal 2003 survey information system. It illustrates the functional and technical architectures that were used for this occasion. It also emphasizes on the transposability of the method to other transportation survey activities and planning tools. The following activities are presented and will feed further discussions:
- Assembly of the geographic information system for transportation (GIS-T) that is needed to support the survey. It implies the integration of external data sources, the building of georeference dictionaries (civic addresses, intersections, trip generators, postal codes) and data normalization oriented for transportation usage. This activity also considers the operation of the road and transit networks.
- Assembly of the household survey information system (HSIS) itself. Some tools of the 1998 survey were improved and adapted to better suit new information technologies. A specially developed computer-assisted telephone interviewing software (CATI) integrates both GIS-T and the questionnaire in order to validate data during the interview and to facilitate data storage and normalization. Another software is used for sampling and survey floor management.
- For 2003 survey, a Web-based tool has been developed to report survey statistics and assist the monitoring and control of daily activities. The usability of the website permit a better transparency and information over the numerous survey partners: transit authorities, transportation agency, academics.
The final discussion will focus on the strengths on the tool and the underlying methodology and will recall the "winning" elements for the conducting of a modern transportation household survey: powerful GIS-T at the base, operational data in adequate format, normalized data, intelligent CATI software, and post-survey strategies in order to gather useful and usable data. |