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Title: Travel in the Denver Region: Results from the 1997 household travel survey and 1998 roadside survey

Author: Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG)

Subject: Travel behavior in the Denver Region

Date: May 2000

Source of Copies: Public Information OfficeDRCOG2480 West 26th AvenueSuite 200BDenver, Colorado 80211(303) 455-1000www.drcog.org

Number of Pages: 36

Abstract: Report to the public concerning travelbehavior as derived from household surveys conducted in 1997 and roadside surveys conducted in 1998.

A B S T R A C T T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

P. 2 Introduction

P. 5 Section One: Travel Within the Region –

Results from the 1997 Household Survey

1. The Travelers - p. 062. Motor Vehicles Available - p. 103. The Amount We Traveled - p. 124. Why We Traveled - p. 175. Where We Traveled - p. 196. When We Traveled - p. 227. How We Traveled- p. 238. Household Survey Summary Data - p. 28

P. 29 Section Two: Travel Into, Out of, and Through the

Region – Results from the 1998 Roadside Survey

9. Travel Near the Region’s Border - p. 30

P. 33 Glossary

P. 36 References

L I S T O F T A B L E S

P. 8 Table 1 Employment and Student Characteristics

P. 9 Table 2 Household Resident Characteristics by Development Areas

P. 21 Table 3 Geographic Distribution of Trips by Development Areas

P. 27 Table 4 Number of People who Travel by Modes per Day

P. 28 Table 5 Regional Travel Statistics

P. 31 Table 6 Small Motor Vehicles Passing Through the Region

Preparation of this report has been financed in whole or in part throughgrants from the Federal Transit Administration and the FederalHighway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

P. 2 Figure 1 Household Survey Area

P. 6 Figure 2 Travelers and Non-Travelers by Age

P. 7 Figure 3 Household Life Cycle and Household Size

P. 7 Figure 4 Trend of Average Household Size

P. 8 Figure 5 Annual Household Income

P. 9 Figure 6 Development Areas

P. 10 Figure 7 Households by Motor Vehicles Available

P. 10 Figure 8 Trend of Motor Vehicles per Household

P. 11 Figure 9 Motor Vehicles and Licensed Drivers per Household

P. 11 Figure 10 Motor Vehicle Types

P. 11 Figure 11 Motor Vehicles per Household by Development Areas

P. 12 Figure 12 Demographic and Motor Vehicle Trends

P. 13 Figure 13 Daily Trips per Person

P. 13 Figure 14 Trend of Daily Trips per Person

P. 14 Figure 15 Daily Trips per Person by Income

P. 14 Figure 16 Daily Trips per Person by Motor Vehicles Available

P. 15 Figure 17 Daily Trips per Person by Household Life Cycle

P. 15 Figure 18 Daily Trips by Distance

P. 16 Figure 19 Daily Trips by Duration

P. 16 Figure 20 Percent of Vehicles by Daily Miles Driven

P. 17 Figure 21 Trips by Purpose

P. 17 Figure 22 Trend of Work Oriented Trips per Person

L I S T O F F I G U R E S

P. 18 Figure 23 Daily Trips per Person by Purpose and Gender

P. 18 Figure 24 Average Trip Duration by Purpose

P. 19 Figure 25 Travel Analysis Subregions

P. 20 Figure 26 Number of Daily Trips Between Subregions

P. 21 Figure 27 Daily Trips that Stay within Subregions

P. 22 Figure 28 Trips by Starting Time by Destination Purpose

P. 22 Figure 29 Trends of Trips by Time of Day

P. 23 Figure 30 Trips by Mode of Travel

P. 23 Figure 31 Daily Trips by Mode by Destination Purpose

P. 24 Figure 32 Mode of Travel to Work by Workplace Location

P. 24 Figure 33 Motor Vehicle Occupancy by Driver Purpose

P. 25 Figure 34 Trend of Average Motor Vehicle Occupancy

P. 25 Figure 35 Trend of Public Transit Use

P. 26 Figure 36 Walk and Bicycle Trips by Purpose

P. 27 Figure 37 Bicycle and Walk Trip Duration

P. 30 Figure 38 Types of Vehicles Near the Region’s Border

P. 30 Figure 39 Vehicle Traffic Volumes at Survey Sites Near the Region’s Border

P. 31 Figure 40 Purpose of Small Vehicle Trips Near the Region’s Border

P. 32 Figure 41 Occupancy of Small Vehicles Near the Region’s Border

P. 32 Figure 42 Time of Day Traffic Volume Near the Region’s Border

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1

To reveal the nature of travel that occurs in theDenver region, the Denver Regional Council ofGovernments (DRCOG) conducted surveys in late1997 and 1998 as part of an overall Travel BehaviorInventory (TBI) project. The TBI surveys provide asnapshot view of travel data for a specific time andcan be used to better assess the demands placed on thetransportation system. The results also aid planners inforecasting travel. Local and regional decisionmakerscan use travel behavior characteristics to assist inallocating resources for improving transportationfacilities. The TBI surveys were sponsored byDRCOG, the Regional Transportation District (RTD),

I N T R O D U C T I O N

the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT),and the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC).

This report presents the results from two of thesurveys conducted for the TBI. Section 1 presentsresults from the household travel survey. The eight-county household survey area is depicted in Figure1. Section 2 presents results from roadside surveysthat were conducted near the external borders of theDenver region. A survey of commercial vehicle travelwas also conducted and will be reported separately.Two supplementary studies of transit users and sur-vey non-respondents were also conducted.

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285

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225

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HOUSEHOLD SURVEY AREA

A D A M S

A R A P A H O E

D O U G L A S

J E F F E R S O N

C L E A R C R E E K

G I L P I N

B O U L D E R

D E N V E R

FIGURE 1

2

The household survey sample data was expandedto reflect estimated regional totals, and the roadsidesurvey was factored to reflect estimated total trafficvolumes at the survey sites. The statistical validity ofboth surveys was examined. It can be inferred thatboth surveys provide reasonable data, as presented inthis report, that is representative of the region duringthe survey period. Values for key variables fromboth surveys were found to fall within a “95 percentconfidence range” of the statistical estimates. Thestatistical confidence for some truck categories in the roadside survey did not fall within that confidencerange. Complete technical documentation of thesesurveys is provided in the DRCOG TBI reports“Household Survey Report” and “Front Range Travel Survey”.

Section 1 Household Survey Results

Chapters 1-8 present results for travel done bypeople who live in households in the Denver region.This survey represented a snapshot of householddemographics and travel characteristics for an averageweekday in the fall of 1997. Daily travel surveys werecompleted for the occupants of 3,824 randomly selectedhouseholds. In addition, historical trends based onhousehold surveys conducted in 1959, 1971, and1985 are presented.

Key Points to Remember Regarding the Household

Survey Data

• The data represents an average weekday in the fallof 1997.

• The data were tabulated based only on responses ofpersons who live in households.

• Persons who reside in group quarters such as nursinghomes, correctional facilities, or dormitories or inhouseholds without a phone were not surveyed.

• The data are for persons of all ages, unless otherwise noted.

• The data does not include non-household based travelsuch as commercial vehicles operating internally to the region, and tourists or businesspeople stay-ing in hotels.

• The data are primarily presented for total "persontrips" which include all modes of travel (e.g. motorvehicle driver or passenger, bus, light rail vehicle,bicycle, walking, taxi, etc.), unless otherwise noted.

• A glossary of definitions of specific data items isprovided for reference.

Section 2 Roadside Survey Results

Chapter 9 presents results from the externalroadside survey. Completed surveys were obtainedfrom the drivers of 9,659 vehicles near the border ofthe Denver region. Information was obtained ontravelers coming into, going out of, or going throughthe Denver region.

Important Findings from the Surveys

Overall Survey Data and Trends for the Denver Region

• The average number of motor vehicles per house-hold continued to increase.

• There are now more household motor vehicles thanlicensed drivers.

• There were over 42,000 households that did nothave a motor vehicle.

• Sport utility vehicles made up nearly 15 percent ofall household motor vehicles (one in seven vehicles).

3

In the Denver Region on a Typical Weekday:

• Over 88 percent of all trips were made in motorvehicles.

• Of the total household population, 57 percent drovea motor vehicle, 28 percent were a passenger inmotor vehicles, 14 percent made a trip by walkingor bicycling, 4 percent rode on an RTD bus or lightrail vehicle, and 11 percent did not travel.

• The typical (median) trip was 3.4 miles in distanceand took 14 minutes.

• The average household motor vehicle was drivenabout 28 miles.

• About 21 percent of household motor vehicles werenot driven at all.

• Trips to work took the longest time (averaging 22minutes) and trips to shop were the shortest (12minutes).

• Over 65 percent of all trips began and ended in thesuburban areas of the region.

• The afternoon rush hour really lasted for three hours.

• Nearly 8 percent of all trips were made by walkingor bicycling.

• About 9 percent of all households had someone thatused RTD transit.

• About 79 percent of workers drive to work alone.

• The average occupancy for household motor vehicletrips was 1.38 persons.

• The average walk trip took eight minutes.

• The average bicycle trip took 13 minutes.

• Over 15 percent of the vehicles traveling into/out ofthe Denver region were large trucks.

• About 9 percent of the vehicles entering the Denverregion were passing through.

Data Implications

The surveys verified several current thoughts ontravel in the Denver region and also shed light oncurrent or upcoming trends.

The number of motor vehicles per householdhas continued to increase. The private motor vehicleis the most common method of travel and its use is

4

growing faster than the population. This has causedtravel demand to exceed the capacity of the highwaysystem in many parts of the Denver region. Severecongestion affects vehicles, goods, and people (dri-vers, passengers, and pedestrians), often for muchlonger than the traditional rush hours. Clear trafficpeaks also occur around the noon hour.

Suburb-to-suburb travel is a significant portionof the travel in the Denver region. The “through-road” system in many suburban areas is not adequateenough to efficiently handle the number of people invehicles that desire to travel between places in thesuburban areas. Demand for suburb-to-suburb tran-sit service exists, but it is often difficult to provide inan efficient manner due to the lower densities ofhousing and more widespread employment sites.

One out of every seven residents of the Denverregion made a walking or bicycling trip each weekday.These comprised nearly 8 percent of the trips madein the region and do not include segments of multi-modal trips, such as walking to or from the bus. It isimportant that comfortable and safe on-street andoff-street accommodations are provided for bicyclistsand pedestrians.

The number of elderly persons has increasedgreatly and will continue to do so. Persons aged 65and over now account for about 10 percent of thepopulation, which is expected to increase to over 14percent by 2020. Different types of transportationservice needs must be considered for this population,especially as the elderly population increases in themore difficult to serve suburban and rural areas.Safety and wheelchair friendly design features mustalso be incorporated as part of street, transit andpedestrian facilities, and private developments.

Sixty percent of the Denver Central BusinessDistrict workers drove alone to work, while 84 percentof workers in the suburban areas drove alone. Thissuggests that such factors as parking supply and costand more efficient transit service due to highly con-centrated employment sites, and pedestrian and bicyclefacilities can help reduce the number of single occu-pant vehicles.

S E C T I O N O N E

Travel Within the RegionResults from the 1997 Household Survey

T H E T R A V E L E R S

The characteristics of population, households,and employment influence travel behavior. Forexample, a person’s age, the household size, or thefamily life cycle stage may influence travel patterns.Life cycles are the different family stages of life asdefined as households composed of working age

adults only, households that include children, andhouseholds with retired adults only.

For this report, population is defined as thosepeople residing in households (as opposed to groupquarters such as dormitories, nursing homes, and jails).

Age 0-4 5-15 16-21 22-35 36-64 65+ Total

TRAVELERS AND NON-TRAVELERS BY AGE

■ Travelers ■ Non-Travelers

27,700 18,700 11,100 38,700 88,000 46,500 230,700

114,600 343,000 104,700 392,000 852,000 130,500 1,936,800

142,300 361,700 115,800 430,700 940,000 177,000 2,167,500

The total population in households in the regionwas estimated at 2,169,400 (as of January 1, 1998).While most people made at least one trip on a typicalday, 230,700, or about 11 percent, did not travel. Theage group with the highest percentage of non-travelers,27 percent, was those persons aged 65 and over.

Since 1970, the proportion of the region’s total population aged 65 or over has increased from 7.7 percent to 10.0 percent. By 2020 it is expected to reach 14.3 percent.** Source: U.S. Census data and DRCOG estimates.

Notes: Data represents householdmembers of all ages livingwithin the eight-county Denverregion. Does not include resi-dents who did not report age.

Source: 1997 household survey,DRCOG.

CHAPTER 1

6

FIGURE 2

HOUSEHOLD LIFE CYCLE AND HOUSEHOLD SIZE

■ Adults ■ Adult(s) with Child(ren) ■ Adult(s) Retired

TREND OF AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD SIZE

Persons per Household

Notes: Data represents households in the eight-county Denverregion. Children = persons underthe age of 18.


Notes: Data represents all house-holds in the surveyed area. Theareas varied among each survey.There are also minor definitionalvariations among the surveys.

Source: 1959, 1971 and 1985Denver travel surveys, 1997household survey, DRCOG.

5+ Persons 4 3 2 1

64,640 115,030 101,010 34,700

330 3,400 30,890 254,940 213,150

490 53,700 43,930

There were 916,200 households in the Denverregion. Most households (66 percent) had no childrenunder the age of 18. About 11 percent of householdshad retired adults only.

Single parent households accounted for about one-fifth of all households with children.

The average number of persons per householdhas been declining. The average household size in thesurvey was found to be 2.4, down from 3.4 in 1959.

The national average household size recorded bythe U.S. Census has dropped from 3.3 in 1960 to 2.6 in 1997.

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

3.4

3.1

2.52.4

7

FIGURE 3

FIGURE 4

Notes: Data represents allhouseholds in the eight-countyDenver region. Survey reflects1996 annual income.


Notes: Data represents householdsand persons living in householdswithin the eight-county Denverregion.


ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME

EMPLOYMENT AND STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

■ 22%$75,000+

■ 21% $50,000 - $74,999

■ 18% $35,000 - $49,999

■ 25% $15,000 - $34,999

■ 14% Less than - $15,000

Household income also affects travel behavior.The survey showed that 39 percent of householdsearned less than $35,000 in 1996, while 22 percentearned $75,000 or more.

Travel patterns are influenced greatly by employeestraveling to work and students traveling to school.About 58 percent of the population was employed.Approximately 8 percent of persons employed hadtwo or more jobs. Only 0.7 percent reported onlyworking-at-home instead of going to work on thesurvey day. Others may have worked both at the jobsite and at home on the same day. Full-time studentsmade up 24 percent of the total household population.Note that this data does not include dormitory residents.

Total residents employed: 1,259,500

Proportion of population employed: 58%

Number of employees per household: 1.37

Share of employed persons with two or more jobs: 8%

Share of employed persons who only worked-at-home: 0.7%

Share of employees who reported availability of flex-time: 32%

Number of persons who had volunteer jobs: 15,200

Number of full-time students of all ages: 512,000

Share of population that were full-time students: 24%

Number of full-time students over age 21: 54,000

Number of part-time students over age 21: 62,000

People’s travel patterns can be influenced by the location of their household. Those living in theDenver Central Business District (CBD), for example,typically exhibit different tripmaking behavior thanpeople living in a suburban setting. Different “devel-opment areas” were designated for this report so thatdemographic and travel variations can be presented.

Average household sizes varied significantly,from 1.2 in the Denver CBD to 2.5 persons perhousehold in the rural/mountains area. About three-quarters of the region’s households were located inthe suburban area.

8

FIGURE 5

TABLE 1

DEVELOPMENT AREAS

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0 2 4 miles0 10 miles

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COLFAX AVE.

DEVELOPMENT AREAS

■ Denver CBD

■ Urban

■ Suburban

■ Freestanding

■ Rural/Mountains

Highways

HOUSEHOLD RESIDENT CHARACTERISTICS BY DEVELOPMENT AREAS

Development Areas

Denver CBD Urban Suburban Freestanding Rural/Mountains Regional Value

1.2 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.4

0.4% 13.2% 75.3% 4.8% 6.3% 100.0%

64.9% 51.5% 36.8% 53.6% 25.2% 38.9%

5.2% 8.5% 7.1% 5.6% 11.2% 8.2%

3.7% 12.4% 10.5% 8.5% 10.9% 10.6%

3.7% 6.3% 4.7% 1.5% 4.3% 4.8%

Measure

Persons per household

Share of all households

Share of households with lessthan $35,000 annual income

Share of residents age 65 or over

Share of residents that do not travel in typical day

Share of households in which noone travels on a typical day

Notes: Data represents householdsand persons living in householdswithin the eight-county Denverregion. Development areas areshown in Figure 6.


9

FIGURE 6

TABLE 2

M O T O R V E H I C L E S A V A I L A B L E

The means by which people traveled includedwalking, bicycling, transit services, and the mostcommon means, in a household motor vehicle. Accessto a motor vehicle is a major travel determinant.

For this report, a motor vehicle is defined as amotorized vehicle available to a household for travel.Commercial vehicles are not included (unlessgaraged at the household).

There were 1,697,000 motor vehicles available tohouseholds at the time of the survey. Nearly 64 per-cent of all households had access to two or moremotor vehicles. There were over 42,000 households,or about 5 percent, that did not have a vehicle.

About 55 percent of the motor vehicles were 1990or newer models; 36 percent were 1980s vintage.

The number of motor vehicles per householdhas steadily increased since the 1970s. The trend ofmore vehicles per household and fewer people perhousehold indicates an increased potential for travel.

The Denver region availability of 1.85 motor vehicles per household is slightly higher than thenational average of 1.78 vehicles per household.*

* Source: National Personal Transportation Study (NPTS), 1995.

HOUSEHOLDS BY MOTOR VEHICLES AVAILABLE

Notes: Data represents motorvehicles available for travel atall households located withinthe eight-county Denver region.


Notes: Data represents all house-holds in the survey area. Theareas varied among each survey.There are also minor definitionalvariations among the surveys.

Source: 1959, 1971 and 1985Denver travel surveys, 1997household survey, DRCOG

43,400

291,300

405,100

131,200

33,60012,500

0 1

Vehicles in Household

2 3 4 5+

TREND OF MOTOR VEHICLES PER HOUSEHOLD

Motor Vehicles per Household

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

1.16

1.751.85

1.69

10

CHAPTER 2

FIGURE 7

FIGURE 8

MOTOR VEHICLES AND LICENSED DRIVERS PER HOUSEHOLD

■ 70.6%Vehicles = Drivers

■ 16.6% More Vehiclesthan Drivers

■ 11.2% Fewer Vehiclesthan Drivers

■ 1.6% Zero Vehicles &Zero Drivers

Most households have an equal number of licenseddrivers and motor vehicles. Nearly 17 percent of allhouseholds have more vehicles than drivers. Thesehouseholds have recreational vehicles, motorcycles,collector vehicles, or extra cars for pleasure purposes.

The average number of motor vehicles per licenseddriver is 1.06.

Sedans and station wagons (autos) form themajority of motor vehicle types. Sport utility vehiclesconstitute about 15 percent of all vehicles in theregion.

Nationally, about 7 percent of all vehicles are sportutility vehicles (1995 NPTS).

Among the five development areas, motor vehicleavailability varies significantly. Households in theDenver CBD have few motor vehicles while those inthe rural/mountains area have the most motor vehi-cles per household.

Notes: Data represents motorvehicles available for travel atall households located withinthe eight-county Denver region.


MOTOR VEHICLE TYPES

■ 61.0%Auto

■ 14.6% Sport Utility

■ 14.2% Pickup

■ 7.5% Van and Minivan

■ 2.0% Motorcycles

■ 0.8% Recreational

Notes: Data is for motor vehiclesavailable at all households inthe eight-county Denver region.


MOTOR VEHICLES PER HOUSEHOLD BY DEVELOPMENT AREAS

■ Denver CBD ■ Urban ■ Suburban■ Freestanding ■ Rural/Mountains■ Communities

0.64

1.38

1.91

1.43

2.31

Notes: Data is for motor vehiclesavailable at all households inthe eight-county Denver region.


11

FIGURE 9

FIGURE 10

FIGURE 11

T H E A M O U N T W E T R A V E L E D

The amount of travel can be reported in manyways, including the number of trips, trip time dura-tion, trip distance, and motor vehicle miles traveled.These measures can be described with regional totalsor on a “per trip” or “per person” basis.

For this report, the travel data represents anaverage weekday. Unless otherwise noted, trips aredefined as the movement of a person of any age fromone place to another by any means of travel. MotorVehicle driver trips are also displayed in some charts.These represent trips made as a driver of a motorvehicle available to the household.

DEMOGRAPHIC AND MOTOR VEHICLE TRENDS

Population, Employment and Motor Vehicles

Population Employment Motor Vehicle

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Daily Vehicles Miles Traveled

VMT

3,000,000

2,500,000

2,000,000

1,500,000

1,000,000

500,000

01950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

60 million

50 million

40 million

30 million

20 million

10 million

0

Notes: Data is for eight-countyDenver Region (VMT is forMetropolitan DenverTransportation ManagementArea only and includes travel byall types of Motor Vehicles)

Source: 1960, 1970, 1980 and1990 U.S. Census; 1997DRCOG household survey; 1998DRCOG estimates and DRCOGtravel demand model results.

Vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) is one measure oftravel. It represents all of the travel on our roadways,including non-household motor vehicles. Since 1960,daily VMT grew by about 4.7 percent annually, sur-passing the growth rates of population (2.3 percent)and employment (3.5 percent). Motor vehicles grewby 4.9 percent annually.

12

CHAPTER 3

FIGURE 12

DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON

■ Percent of Persons

Notes: Data represents all tripsmade entirely within the eight-county Denver region by allpersons living in or visitinghouseholds.


Notes: Data represents all house-holds in the surveyed area. Theareas varied among each survey.There are also minor definitionalvariations among the surveys.


The number of trips that people made per dayvaried considerably. While two trips a day was themost common (28 percent of the population), almostas many people (24 percent) made 6 or more tripsper day.

About 8,236,500 total person trips were madewithin the region each day by household membersand guests.

On average, people made significantly more tripsper day in 1997 than in previous survey years. Between1959 and 1997 the rate nearly doubled, from 2.2 to3.8 trips per day per person. Many factors accountfor this increase, and it is not just due to “people driving more.” For example, in 1959, children underthe age of 16 made up a much greater proportion ofthe population in the Denver region, 34 percent,compared to 24 percent in 1998.

Nationally, according to the National PersonalTransportation Studies, the daily trip rate per per-son increased 14 percent between 1990 and 1995.

TREND OF DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON

Daily Trips per Person

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

2.2

3.1

3.8

2.8

10.6%

0.7%

27.6%

9.0%

18.0%

9.8%8.4%

5.1%4.2%

2.4%4.0%

None 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Trips

6 7 8 9 10+

13

FIGURE 13

FIGURE 14





DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON BY INCOME

■ Trips per Person

< $15,000 $15,000 –

$34,999

$35,000 –

$49,999

$50,000 –

$74,999

$75,000 +

Income has a strong effect on travel. Trip ratestended to increase with higher household income,even among households with the same number ofworkers.

The number of trips per person increased as thenumber of motor vehicles per household increased.Persons living in households without access to amotor vehicle made significantly fewer trips.

2.99

3.57 3.683.85

4.23

DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON BY MOTOR VEHICLES AVAILABLE


Vehicles - 0 1 2 3 4

2.85

3.46

3.90 3.844.04

14

FIGURE 15

FIGURE 16

1996 Annual Household Income



Notes: Data represents all tripsmade entirely within the eight-county Denver region by all personsliving in or visiting households.Distance data from survey is stillbeing reviewed and subject tofuture minor adjustments


DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON BY HOUSEHOLD LIFE CYCLE


3.72 3.68

3.95 3.91

3.40

2.70

1 Adult

0.01-1

1.01-2

2.01-3

3.01-4

4.01-5

5.01-6

6.01-7

7.01-8

8.01-9

9.01-10

10.01-11

11.01-12

12.01-13

13.01-14

14.01-15

15.01-16

16.01-17

17.01-18

18.01-19

19.01-20

20.01-21

21.01-22

22.01-23

23.01-24

24.01-25

25.01-26

>26

2+ Adults 2+ Adultsw/ Children

1 Adultw/ Children

2+ AdultsRetired

1 AdultRetired

Households with children (under age 18) madeslightly more trips per person than those without.The lower tripmaking of single retired persons com-pared to households with 2+ retired persons mayhave been due to the slightly higher average age(71.2 versus 68.4). It also supports the view thatretired couples may be more active than retired per-sons living alone.

The average person made 3.8 trips per day.

Most trips were relatively short. As the distanceincreased, the number of trips decreased steadily.

The average trip distance was 5.8 miles; the median trip distance was 3.4 miles (half were less and half were more than 3.4 miles).

DAILY TRIPS BY DISTANCE

■ Trips

1,800,000

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

Miles

15

FIGURE 17

FIGURE 18

Notes: Data represents trips madeentirely within the eight-countyDenver region by all personsliving in or visiting households.


Notes: Data represents all tripsmade entirely within the eight-county Denver region by allpersons living in or visitinghouseholds. Distance data fromsurvey is still being reviewedand subject to future minoradjustments.


0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55

Miles - 0 >0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81+

56-60 61-65 66-70 71-75 76-80 81-85 86-90 >90+

DAILY TRIPS BY DURATION

■ Person Trips Not Made in Motor Vehicles ■ Person Trips Made in Motor Vehicles

PERCENT OF VEHICLES BY DAILY MILES DRIVEN

■ Percentage of Motor Vehicles

1,800,000

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

Minutes

As with the trip distance, the number of tripsalso decreased as the travel time duration went up.Trips made in motor vehicles actually peaked at the5-10 minute interval, since many short 0-5 minutetrips were made by walking.

The average trip time duration was 16 minutes.The median duration was 14 minutes.

21.1%

14.4%15.8%

14.0%

9.0%7.6%

6.0%

3.3%2.3%

6.5%

About 21 percent of the household motor vehicleswere not driven at all on the typical survey day.Another 14 percent were driven 10 miles or less.

The median number of miles driven per motor vehicle per day (of those vehicles that were driven)was 27 miles. There were 7,257,000 trips made inmotor vehicles (drivers or passengers) per day inthe region.

16

FIGURE 19

FIGURE 20



Notes: Data represents all house-holds in the survey area. Theareas varied among each survey.There are also minor definitionalvariations among the surveys.


Home Work Shopping Drop-off/Pickup

PersonalBusiness

Social/Recreation

School Dining Other

TRIPS BY PURPOSE

■ Percentage of Trips

34.0%

16.9%

11.5%9.2% 8.7%

7.0% 6.2%4.6%

1.8%

W H Y W E T R A V E L E D

Trips are made for a variety of purposes. Theseinclude home, work, school, shopping, dropping-offor picking-up passengers, personal business, social/recreation, and dining. For this report, the trip desti-nation is used to define the purpose of a trip.

The most common trip destination was to home,at about 34 percent of all trips. Trips to workaccounted for nearly 17 percent of all trips.

TREND OF WORK ORIENTED TRIPS PER PERSON

Daily Trips per Person

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

0.5

0.8

1.1

1.3

The number of work-oriented trips (trips fromhome to work and from work to home) per personmore than doubled between 1959 and 1997. Thiswas partially because a larger percentage of the pop-ulation is employed (from 37 percent in 1959 to 58percent in 1997) and also because the percentage ofpopulation under age 16 is also much less than itwas in 1959.

17

CHAPTER 4

FIGURE 21

FIGURE 22

Trip Destination Purpose





Home Work Shopping Drop-off/Pickup PersonalBusiness

Social/Recreation

School Dining

DAILY TRIPS PER PERSON BY PURPOSE AND GENDER

■ Male - Trips per Person ■ Female - Trips per Person

1.39

1.27

0.710.62

0.54

0.360.45

0.25

0.380.31 0.300.26 0.240.23 0.19 0.17


PersonalBusiness

Social/Recreation

School Dining

AVERAGE TRIP DURATION BY PURPOSE

■ Trip Duration (Minutes)

19

22

12

1415

1716

14

Males and females exhibited different trip-makingpatterns. Females made significantly more trips forpurposes such as shopping and dropping-off/picking-uppassengers, while males made more trips for work.

Overall, females made 4.2 trips per day and malesmade 3.6 trips per day.

The longest (in time) type of trips people madewere for work, averaging 22 minutes. Shopping tripswere the shortest, averaging 12 minutes.

The overall average trip time duration was 16 minutes.

18

FIGURE 23

FIGURE 24



W H E R E W E T R A V E L E D

Where people traveled is revealed by the geo-graphic distribution of trips. These patterns are highlyrelated to where people lived and where they worked.For this chapter, the most populated part of the

Denver region was divided into 14 subregions toillustrate typical geographic patterns of person trips.Trips could take place between the subregions orstay entirely within individual subregions.

25

25

83

470

93

119

70

70

7685

36

287

285

85

25

25

70

36

0 5 10 miles

0 2 4 miles

N

S

W E

TRAVEL ANALYSIS SUBREGIONS

Nor theast Metro

Southeast

Metro

East

Metro

South

Metro

Southwest

Metro

West

Metro

East

Urban

South

Urban

Nor thwest

Urban

CBD

Nor th

Metro

Nor thwest

Metro

Central

Boulder

Longmont

Area

Interstate

Highways

19

CHAPTER 5

FIGURE 25

Suburb-to-suburb trips comprised the highestportion of travel between the subregions. Over 65percent of the trips made between different subre-gions began and ended in the suburban (non-urban)subregions.

NUMBER OF DAILY TRIPS BETWEEN SUBREGIONS

Longmont/Boulder Denver Central Business District Northwest Quadrant

Northeast Quadrant Southwest Quadrant Southeast Quadrant

Notes: Data represents trips madeentirely within the total area ofall subregions by all persons living in or visiting households.Does not include trips entirelywithin in subregion.


0 10 20 miles

Number of Trips

<6,000 (not shown)6,000 - 14,999

15,000 - 39,999

>40,000

Subregion20

FIGURE 26

N

S

W E

DAILY TRIPS THAT STAY WITHIN SUBREGIONS

Notes: Data is for trips madewithin individual subregions byall persons living in or visitinghouseholds.


0 5 10 miles

N

S

W E

The Boulder and Longmont subregions had thehighest proportion of their trips that stayed withintheir respective subregions. In contrast, the DenverCBD and northeast metro subregions had large pro-portions of their trips destined to or originating fromother subregions. This pattern is typical of areas thathave many more jobs than households, or vice versa.

Varying tripmaking patterns were evident in thedesignated development areas. Trips in the suburbanarea predominated since that is where most house-holds and jobs were located. Only 26 percent of tripsoriginating in the Denver CBD ended there, whileover 85 percent of the trips that began in the subur-ban area also ended there.

80%

77%

52%

59%

59%

60%

47%

50%

43%

26%

40%

37%

65%

29%

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF TRIPS BY DEVELOPMENT AREAS

Development Areas

Denver CBD Urban Suburban Freestanding Rural/Mountains Regional Value

3% 12% 74% 5% 6% 100%

17% 20% 58% 1% 4% 100%

26% 47% 87% 56% 52% n/a

Measure

Share of regional trips generated

Source of work trips destined tothe Denver CBD

Share of trips that stay within the development area

Share of All Tripsthat Remain inSubregion

■ 26 - 40%

■ 40 - 50%

■ 50 - 60%

■ 60 - 81%

Notes: Data represents all tripsmade entirely within the eight-county Denver region by all persons living in or visitinghouseholds. Development areasare shown in Figure 6.


21

FIGURE 27

TABLE 3

W H E N W E T R A V E L E D

Overall tripmaking follows distinct and consistenttime-of-day patterns. These patterns vary by trip purpose. Most of the trips that we make are associatedwith routine or scheduled daily activities such aswork, day care, or school. Fewer trips are discretionaryin nature, which are flexible and don’t have to bemade on a routine basis. Shopping and social tripscan often occur spontaneously or be canceled ordelayed, such as because of bad weather.

The phenomenon of “rush” hour can be seen inthe distribution of trips by start time. The morning

peak spikes higher on the chart, indicating a morepronounced travel peak than in the afternoon. The twopeaks in the afternoon were mostly due to ending timesat school and work. The afternoon peak was largelyattributed to return trips to home, while the morningpeak was mostly due to trips to work and school.

Daily tripmaking time patterns have remainedreasonably consistent over time. The most recentsurvey showed a more pronounced and later morn-ing peak of trip start times. It also revealed a greaterspreading of the afternoon peak to an earlier hour.

TRIPS BY STARTING TIME BY DESTINATION PURPOSE

■ Home ■ Work ■ School ■ Drop-off/Pickup ■ Other ■ TotalNotes: Data represents all tripsmade entirely within the eight-county Denver region by all persons living in or visitinghouseholds. Data was talliedby 30 minute intervals. Forexample, 8:00 am on chart =7:45-8:14. ‘Other’ includesshopping, personal business,social, and recreation.


Notes: Data represents allhouseholds in the surveyedarea. The areas varied amongeach survey. There are alsominor definitional variationsamong the surveys. Data wastallied at 60 minute intervals.For example, 8:00 on chart =8:00-8:59.


3:00 am12:00 am 9:00 am 12:00 pm 3:00 pm 6:00 pm 9:00 pm 12:00 am6:00 am

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

Time

TRENDS OF TRIPS BY TIME OF DAY

■ 1971 ■ 1985 ■ 1997


10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

Time22

CHAPTER 6

FIGURE 28

FIGURE 29

H O W W E T R A V E L E D

People travel by a variety of means: they drive,ride as passengers in motor vehicles, take RTD transitor a school bus, walk, or ride a bicycle. These meth-ods of traveling are also referred to as travel modes.

In this report, a single occupant motor vehicletrip is termed drive alone. Trips with a driver andpassenger in a household motor vehicle are termedshared ride. RTD transit refers to trips using RTD busand light rail services available to the general public.Walk and bicycle constitute non-motorized trips.

Nearly 90 percent of all trips were made inmotor vehicles. About 7.6 percent, or 623,000, weremade by walking or bicycling. RTD transit carried164,000 trips each day, or about 2 percent of all trips.

Almost 9 percent of households had a householdmember that used RTD transit each day.

TRIPS BY MODE OF TRAVEL

■ 48.2%Drive Alone

■ 40.1% Shared Ride

■ 7.6% Non-Motorized

■ 2.1% School Bus

■ 2.0% RTD Transit

DAILY TRIPS BY MODE BY DESTINATION PURPOSE



■ 10.1% All Other Modes














To Work To School

To Social/RecreationTo Shop

For selected trip destination purposes, the percentof daily trips by driving alone, shared ride, and allother travel modes are shown. Over 79 percent ofwork trips were made by driving alone, while about11 percent were by shared rides in carpools. Sharing aride was the most common mode for trips to school,and social/recreation activities.

23

CHAPTER 7

FIGURE 30

FIGURE 31



UrbanSuburbanFree-StandingRural/MountainsRegionalTotal

DenverCBD

MODE OF TRAVEL TO WORK BY WORKPLACE LOCATION

■ Drive Alone ■ All Other Modes

Notes: Data represents all motorvehicle trips made by personsliving in or visiting households inthe eight-county Denver region.


79.1%

20.9%

59.7%

40.3%

77.0%

23.0%

83.7%

16.3%

66.3%

33.7%

79.4%

20.6%


PersonalBusiness

Social/Recreation

School Dining

MOTOR VEHICLE OCCUPANCY BY DRIVER PURPOSE

■ Average Motor Vehicle Occupancy

1.35

1.08

1.32

2.03

1.32

1.52

1.22

1.70

Workers in the Denver CBD had the lowest rateof driving alone to work. More than 40 percent got towork via alternative modes such as carpooling, RTDtransit, walking, or bicycling. In contrast, nearly 84percent of the people that worked in the suburbanarea drove alone to work.

The average motor vehicle occupancy varies con-siderably among the eight trip purposes. The lowestmotor vehicle occupancy was for trips to work. Notincluding drop-off/pick-up trips, dining trips had thehighest motor vehicle occupancy.

On average, 28 percent of all motor vehicle tripshad more than one occupant.

24

FIGURE 32

FIGURE 33


TREND OF AVERAGE MOTOR VEHICLE OCCUPANCY

All Trips Work Trips

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

1.24

1.63

1.14

1.45

1.32

1.13

1.38

1.08

TREND OF PUBLIC TRANSIT USE

All Trips Work Trips

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

4.5%

10.4%

1.9%

3.2%

4.6%

2.7%

4.0%

2.1%

Notes: Data represents allhouseholds in the surveyedarea. The areas varied amongeach survey. There are alsominor definitional variationsamong the surveys.

Source: 1959, 1971 and 1985Denver travel surveys, 1997household survey, DRCOG.

Notes: Data represents all householdsin the surveyed area. The areas var-ied among each survey. There arealso minor definitional variationsamong the surveys.

Source: 1959, 1971 and 1985 Denvertravel surveys, 1997 household survey,DRCOG.

FIGURE 35

The average motor vehicle occupancy in 1997 forall motor vehicle trips was 1.38; for trips to work itwas 1.08. Motor vehicle occupancies have generallydecreased since the 1960s due to factors such assmaller household sizes and increasing vehicle availability.

In 1997, 2.1 percent of all trips and 4.0 percent ofwork trips were made using RTD transit. In 1959, therespective percentages were more than twice as high.

Nationally, public transit is used for 1.8 percent ofall trips, and 3.5 percent of trips to work.

25

FIGURE 34

Home Work Shopping Drop-off/Pick-up Personal Business Social/Recreation School Dining Other

WALK AND BICYCLE TRIPS BY PURPOSE

■ Walk ■ Bicycle

Notes: Data represents all walkand bicycle trips made by persons living in households inthe eight-county Denver region.Drop-off/pick-up trips wereoften adults accompanyingchildren to school, daycare, orother activities.


There were 555,000 walk trips and 68,000 bicycletrips made daily. Other than returning home, school,work, and social/recreation were the major destina-tions for walk and bicycle trips.

26

FIGURE 36

191,820 74,220 46,210 17,850 24,330 56,420 91,290 50,550 2,190

26,640 7,340 3,130 1,880 2,690 9,850 15,720 630 130

0-5 Minutes 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 >40

BICYCLE AND WALK TRIP DURATION

■ Walk ■ Bicycle

41.3% 19.1% 21.5% 6.2% 4.1% 3.5% 1.9% 0.8% 1.8%

14.9% 22.7% 47.2% 2.8% 2.6% 4.1% 2.7% 0.5% 2.4%

Notes: Data represents all walkand bicycle trips made by persons living in households inthe eight-county Denver region.


Notes: Data is for persons livingin households within the eight-county Denver region.Percentages do not add to 100,as people can use more thanone mode per day.


Most walk trips were very short, with an averagetime of eight minutes. Over 41 percent of walk tripswere five minutes or less. Bicycle trips tended to belonger, averaging 13 minutes. Less than 18 percentof bicycle and walk trips were more than 15 minutesin duration.

The average walk trip distance was three-quartersof a mile. The average bicycle trip length was 2.1 miles.

Over 55 percent of the residents of the Denverregion drove a motor vehicle on a typical day. Over 4percent made a transit trip. Nearly 37,000 peoplerode a bicycle to a destination, and over 265,000people walked somewhere. Just over 10 percent ofthe population did not travel at all.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO TRAVEL BY MODES PER DAY

Trip Mode Number of People Share of Population

Drive a motor vehicle 1,235,105 56.9%

Passenger in a motor vehicle 608,490 28.0%

Ride RTD Transit 91,786 4.2%

Ride a bicycle 36,692 1.7%

Walk somewhere 265,598 12.2%

Don’t travel 230,826 10.6%

27

FIGURE 37

TABLE 4

H O U S E H O L D S U R V E Y S U M M A R Y D A T A

Table 5 presents a summary of basic travel char-acteristics obtained from the 1997 household surveyof travel behavior.

REGIONAL TRAVEL STATISTICS

Demographics

Household Population 2,169,400Licensed Drivers 1,604,500Number of Households 916,200Average Household Size 2.37Household Residents Employed 1,259,600Employees per Household 1.37Number of Motor Vehicles 1,697,400Motor Vehicles per Household 1.85

Numbers of Daily Trips by Mode

Total Person Trips 8,236,500 100%Drive-Alone Trips 3,962,900 48.1%Shared-Ride Trips 3,293,500 40.0%School Bus Trips 172,600 2.1%RTD Transit Trips 164,400 2.0%Walk Trips 555,000 6.7%Bicycle Trips 68,000 0.8%Other Modes 20,100 0.2%

Trips Made in Motor Vehicles(except transit) 7,257,400

Motor Vehicle Driver Trips 5,384,600Motor Vehicle Passenger Trips 1,871,800

Numbers of Daily Trips by Destination Purpose

Trips to Home 2,803,100 34.0%Trips to Work 1,391,300 16.9%Trips to Shop 947,400 11.5%Trips to Drop-off/Pick-up

Passenger 757,600 9.2%Trips for Personal Business 717,000 8.7%Trips for Social/Recreation 577,800 7.0%Trips to School 510,700 6.2%Trips to Eat Meal 379,800 4.6%Other Trips 151,800 1.9%Total Trips 8,236,500 100%

Daily Trip Rates

Trips per Person 3.8Trips per Household 9.0Trips Made in Motor Vehicles per Person 3.3Trips Made in Motor Vehicles per Household 7.9Motor Vehicle Driver Trips per Household 5.9

Trip Durations

Travel Time - Average (minutes) 16Travel Time - Median (minutes) 14Work Trip Travel Time - Average (minutes) 23Work Trip Travel Time - Median (minutes) 18Trip Distance - Average (miles)* 5.8Trip Distance - Median (miles)* 3.4Work Trip Distance - Average (miles)* 8.2Work Trip Distance - Median (miles)* 6.3

*Notes: Distance data from the survey is still being reviewed and subject to future minor adjustments.


28

CHAPTER 8

TABLE 5

S E C T I O N T W O

Travel into, out of,and through the regionResults from the 1998 Roadside Survey

T R A V E L N E A R T H E R E G I O N ’ S B O R D E R

survey included residents of the Denver region andalso included non-residents traveling near the border.The roadside survey conducted in April and May of1998 revealed information about the following topics:

• Types of motor vehicles

• Amount and location of cross-border travel (vehicle trips)

• Through trip percentage

• Trip purposes

• Motor vehicle occupancy

• Time-of-day of trips

Small vehicles (automobiles, vans, pickups, andsport utility vehicles) accounted for about 84 percentof the motor vehicles traveling near the region’s bor-der. Large trucks (combination tractor-trailers andsingle-unit trucks) form the remainder.

TYPES OF VEHICLES NEAR THE REGION’S BORDER

■ 41.8% - Auto

■ 20.1% - Pick-ups

■ 15.5% - Large Truck

■ 13.8% - Sport Utility Vehicle

■ 8.4% - Van and Minivan

■ 0.3% - Motorcycle

Notes: Data represents all vehiclespassing through the survey sites.

Source: 1998 external survey,DRCOG.

Notes: Data represents all vehicles passing through thesurvey sites.


287

25

25

470

83N

S

W E

0 10 20 miles

285

85

36

225

7685

93

7070

VEHICLE TRAFFIC VOLUMES AT SURVEY SITES NEAR THE REGION’S BORDER

8100

9300

160005070014900

24900

11700

54000

9000

Daily 2-way

Traffic Volume

Highways

DRCOG Region

A component of travel that occurs in the Denverregion is travel in motor vehicles into, out of, andthrough the eight-county Denver region. The inter-regional travelers who responded to the roadside

30

CHAPTER 9

FIGURE 38

Four northern highways carried almost half ofthe approximately 200,000 vehicles a day that travelednear the region’s border. Another quarter of the inter-regional traffic crossed on southern I-25. I-70 inClear Creek County had about 12 percent of the border traffic.

FIGURE 39

Notes: Data is for all small vehicle samples at the outbound andinbound survey sites.

Small Vehicles = automobiles,pick-ups, sport utility vehicles,vans, minivans, and motorcycles.

Through-Trips = Vehicles crossingthe Denver region’s border whichare passing through without stop-ping in the region.

Source: 1998 roadside survey, DRCOG.

SMALL MOTOR VEHICLES PASSING THROUGH THE REGION

Roadside Survey Location Through Trip Share Crossing Border

I-25 North, Mead 10.5%I-25 South, El Paso County 10.3%I-70 East of Byers 26.8%I-70 West of Idaho Springs 11.3%I-76 East of Hudson 12.8%SH-86, Elizabeth 3.4%US-285, Pine Junction 2.8%US-287, Larimer County 2.0%US-85, Platteville 5.7%All Sites 9.3%

About 9 percent of all the small vehicles surveyedwere passing through the region. On I-70 east ofDenver, more than 25 percent of the small vehicleswere passing through. Only 2 percent of the trips on US-287 at the Larimer County line were passingthrough.

Notes: Data represents all out-bound vehicles passing throughthe survey sites.


Home Work Shopping Social/Recreation

Drop-off/Pickup

School Dining Delivery

PURPOSE OF SMALL VEHICLE TRIPS NEAR THE REGION’S BORDER

■ Percent of Trips

44.7%

25.5%

1.8%

15.9%

1.0% 2.4%0.6% 0.9%

The purpose of most trips surveyed near theregion’s border was to go to work or return home.Social/recreation trips accounted for about 16 percent.

About 26 percent of all vehicles passing through the survey sites were being used for business purposes such as deliveries or other work tasks.

31

TABLE 6

FIGURE 40


OCCUPANCY OF SMALL VEHICLES NEAR THE REGION’S BORDER

■ 66.5% - 1 Person

■ 25.6% - 2 Persons

■ 4.8% - 3 Persons

■ 3.1% - 4+ Persons

Notes: Data is for outboundsmall vehicles for which occupancy was determined.


About two-thirds of the small vehicles that trav-eled near the border had only a single occupant, adriver. The average occupancy was 1.45 persons.

Notes: Data represents all vehi-cles passing through the surveysites. Data was tallied by 60minute intervals. For example,5:00 pm on chart = 4:30-5:29 pm.

Source: 1998 external survey,DRCOG

TIME OF DAY TRAFFIC VOLUME NEAR THE REGION’S BORDER

■ Small Vehicles ■ Trucks ■ Total


9%

8%

7%

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

Time

Trips near the region’s borders had a differenttime-of-day pattern than household based internaltrips presented earlier. The afternoon peak is similar,but the strong morning peak that occurs for internaltrips does not take place. This is due to the lowernumber of school, and drop-off/pick-up passengertrips.

32

FIGURE 41

FIGURE 42Trucks Small Vehicles Total

G L O S S A R Y

The abbreviations and technical terms used inthis report are described below.

ABBREVIATION/TERM

Adult: See Family Life Cycle.

Adult Retired: See Family Life Cycle.

Adult(s) with Children(s): See Family Life Cycle.

Commercial Vehicles: Motor vehicles owned by businesses or governments and used to transport freight or carrypeople.

Council: Denver Regional Council of Governments orDRCOG.

Current Year: The household survey was conducted in fallof 1997; the roadside survey was conducted in spring of1998. The population and other demographic estimatesreflect January 1, 1998.

Daily: The period of a typical 24-hour weekday.

Demographics: The characteristics of population, house-holds, and employment.

Denver CBD: The Denver central business district, one offive designated development areas.

Destination: The ending place of a trip.

Development Areas: Geographic areas designated for thisreport comparing and contrasting travel characteristics.

Dining: See Trip purpose.

Drive-alone: The mode of travel of driving a motor vehiclewith no passengers.

Drop-off/Pick-up: The trip purpose of dropping-off or pick-ing up people or goods.

DRCOG: Denver Regional Council of Governments (SeeCouncil).

Employed: A person is considered employed if he/sheworked or volunteered, either full-time or part-time,regardless of location.

Family Life Cycle: The stages or cycles of a family as it pro-gresses from one person, through marriage, children,and finally to retirement. The household family lifecycle stages as used in this report are:

Adult(s) - Household comprised of only person(s) age18 or older and excluding adult retired households.Adult(s) retired - Household comprised of onlyadults reporting themselves as (a) retired or (b) notemployed out of the home and over 60 years of age.Adult(s) with child(ren) - Household comprised ofone or more adults and one or more children (personsunder the age of 18).

Flex-Time: An employed person’s ability to shift their workstart-time or end-time by 30 minutes or more as report-ed by the surveyed person.

Free-Standing Community: The areas of Boulder, Castle Rock,Brighton, and Longmont that form a designated devel-opment area for this report.

Group Quarters: Residence for persons in institutions, such as nursing homes, hospitals, schools, correctionalfacilities.

Household: A specific residence of a person, small group ofunrelated people or family excluding group quarters.

Household Income: Money earned annually by all membersof the household, in 1996 dollars. (See Household.)

Household Population: The population residing in households(not group quarters).(See Household and Group quarters.)

Household Size: The number of persons or members of ahousehold. Out-of-region overnight guests are notincluded in the household size.

Licensed Driver: Person with a valid full license or learner’spermit to drive a motor vehicle on the public roads.

Life Cycle: (See Family Life Cycle.)

Median: A statistical measure defined as the middle num-ber in a sequence of numbers ordered from smallest tolargest.

Mode: A means of travel from one place to another. Basictravel modes include:

Drive-alone: Travel in motor vehicles with no passengers;Shared ride: Travel in motor vehicles with passengers;RTD Transit: Travel by transit services operated byRTD that are available to the general public compris-ing the downtown Denver mall shuttle, bus service,light rail service, and access-a-Ride service;34

Non-motorized: Pedestrian and bicycle travel.

Motor Vehicle: Motorized vehicles including autos, motor-cycles, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans, mini-vans, and recreational vehicles.

NPTS: National Personal Transportation Study, conductedperiodically by the United States Department ofTransportation.

Non-Motorized: Travel by person walking or using a bicycle.

Occupancy: Number of persons in a motor vehicle.Computed as the average number of persons in a motorvehicle on a per trip or per travel segment basis.

Origin: The beginning place of a trip.

Overnight Guests: Out-of-region guests that stayedovernight with the surveyed household and who wereincluded in the household survey.

Person: A person of any age residing in the household.

Person-Trip: A trip by one person from one place to anothertraveling by any travel mode (Household Survey).

Personal Business: The purpose of trips to banks, doctors,auto repair shops, barber shops, etc.

Place: Location where travel starts or stops for a trip.

Regular Workplace: Usual place that an employed personperforms work.

Roadside Survey: Method used by DRCOG to survey thetraffic entering and leaving the region. Selected trafficat a specific location along a roadway is directed to asurvey area on the side of the roadway where the inter-viewers ask the driver about the trip.

RTD Transit: Transit services operated by RTD that areavailable to the general public comprising the down-town Denver mall shuttle, bus service, light rail service,and access-a-Ride service.

RTD: Regional Transportation District.

Rural/Mountains: A designated development area for thisreport.

Sample: A completed and usable survey.

School: Pre-school, K-12, college, university, and adulteducation.

Shared Ride: A motor vehicle trip with more than one per-son in the vehicle (excluding travel in transit vehicles).

Single-Unit Truck: All trucks with greater than one ton car-rying capacity constructed on a single frame having twoaxles. Includes heavy delivery panel or step vans.

Small Vehicle: The subset of the roadside survey motorvehicles that includes automobiles, motorcycles, vans,minivans, sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks up toone ton carrying capacity. Used in reference to the road-side survey.

Statistical Confidence: The probability that the survey sam-ple data represents the true population. The surveyswere designed to meet the 95 percent statistical confi-dence level.

Student: A surveyed person who reported as enrolled full-time or part-time in pre-school, K-12, college, university,or adult education schools.

Suburban: A designated development area for this report.

Travel Behavior Inventory: Travel behavior inventory (TBI),sometimes called regional travel behavior inventorystudy. Consists of a collection of surveys to obtain dataabout the travel within, entering or exiting the eight-county Denver region.

Time-of-Day: The time of day of trips. Trips recorded by thehousehold survey reference the start time of the trip;trips recorded by the roadside survey at the region’s borders reference the interview time.

Transit: The services provided by RTD, school districtsand other agencies to move people from one place toanother.

Transit User: A person who uses transit service to make a trip.

Travel Day: 24-hour weekday that the selected householdreported travel.

Travel Segment: Portion of a trip made by a specific travelmethod. Trips may be composed of a walk segment fromthe trip origin to a bus stop, a bus segment, and anotherwalk segment to the trip destination.

Trip: One-way travel from one place (origin) to another(destination). A round-trip in which the trip travels fromplace A to place B and returns to place A is counted as

35

two trips. A change of modes does not constitute a separatetrip, for example, switching from motor vehicle to bus.

Trip Duration: Time it took to travel from one place toanother, usually reported in minutes.

Trip Purpose: The reason a trip was made, and is definedon the basis of the trip destination. Trip purposesinclude:

Home: returning to home;Work: to work;Shopping: to shop;Drop-off/Pick-up: dropping off or picking up peopleor goods;Personal Business: to banks, doctors, auto repairshops, barber shops, etc.;Social/Recreation: to social, recreation, and enter-tainment activities;School: to pre-school, K-12, college, university, andadult education;Dining: to eat a meal.

Trip Rate: Number of person trips or motor vehicle drivertrips made per day by a person or a household.

Large Truck: Combination tractor-trailers and single-unittrucks, used in reference to the roadside survey.

Urban: A designated development area for this report.

Motor Vehicle Trip: Trip in a single motor vehicle regardless ofthe number of persons in the vehicle. An exception is thatperson trips on transit vehicles are counted as person trips.

Motor Vehicle Availability: A motor vehicle in working condi-tion that is available to the household for travel byhousehold members and overnight guests.

Motor Vehicle Occupancy: Number of persons in a motorvehicle. Computed as the average number of persons ina vehicle on a per trip or per travel segment basis.

VMT: Vehicle miles of travel – Sum of miles traveled by amotor vehicle.

Worked at Home: An employed person who reported workingat home during the survey day. Such an identified persondid not travel to the regular workplace.

Workplace: Employed person’s regular workplace.

REFERENCES

DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL Draft “Denver Regional OF GOVERNMENTS: Travel Behavior Inventory:

Household Survey,” May 2000.

DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL Draft “Denver Regional OF GOVERNMENTS: Travel Behavior Inventory:

Front Range Travel Survey,” May 2000.

DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL “Travel in the Denver Region,”OF GOVERNMENTS: February 1988.

COLORADO DEPARTMENT “Origin and Destination OF HIGHWAYS: Report,”

1962.

JOINT REGIONAL “Denver Metropolitan Area PLANNING PROGRAM: 1971 Origin and Destination

Report,”1976.

USDOT: “Summary of Travel Trends - 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey,”1999.

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DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS

2480 W. 26th Ave., Suite 200B

Denver, CO 80211-5580

(303) 455-1000

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