We’re beginning to work on the region’s next long-range transportation plan and wanted to find out what the region thinks. So, the TPB launched a region-wide public opinion survey at the end of September. The survey will provide input for the update of Visualize 2045, the region’s long-range transportation plan. It is seeking information about changes in travel habits during the COVID-19 pandemic and will also explore what the region’s residents want our transportation future to look like over the next 25 years. In addition to probing concerns about public health, the survey will ask about external forces such as climate change, driverless cars, and concerns about equity. The survey collection, which was scientifically designed to be statistically significant, will close at the end of October.

TPB staff hired consultants who have been contacting randomly selected participants through the mail and asking them to complete the survey online using a unique code provided to each respondent. The survey team has a goal to reach 2,000 respondents for a statistically significant sample of people in the region. As of early October, more than 1,500 surveys had been completed.

Once the survey is complete, the research team will review the responses. TPB staff plan to share the survey results, which will be available at the county level, at the December TPB meeting.

The survey is one of the first activities in the process to develop the 2022 update to the region’s long-range transportation plan, Visualize 2045. Staff are in the process of developing outreach activities to inform and involve the public.