My household got selected to participate in the Puget Sound Regional Travel Study. I admit I felt excited to participate, because transportation is of key importance in our society. There are several studies connecting health and wellness with time of work commute. Being someone who loathes commuting with all my being, I have a particular investment in this sort of thing. Being able to bike to work has probably been the single biggest factor in my sticking with my current employer. I've been with my current employer longer than any other, so that says something. Needless to say, Seattle's roads and transit are, in my opinion, the biggest blemish keeping Seattle from being an epically beautiful place to live.
The above data says it all. Perhaps I am more sensitive to satisfaction than others, but most people look at me as though I am a bizarre alien when I admit that I've chosen jobs paying at poverty with no or next to no commute over more traditional choices for most of my adult life.
That being said, am thrilled that my choices will be counted in a study like this. However, I must admit that the study has been tedious and time consuming to say the least. I can't imagine anyone less passionate than myself actually completing it. The study is based on a phone app (rMove) that tracks your travel for a week. However, every walking and driving trip I take is mapped incorrectly, and false trips are recorded when I'm just walking around the home. The study requires that the whole household participates, and I convinced a begrudging boyfriend to participate. His app has tracked him taking out the trash, getting a shopping cart, and other short activities as "trips". Last night we took a walk around the neighborhood. The app captured our stop to pet a friendly cat as a "stop". How do we track that? Were we going to work? Home? Restaurant? Errand? The options are many, but the importance none. Luckily there are options for error correction at every turn. If you still think the study isn't consuming enough, you have to realize there are 5 PAGES OF QUESTIONS FOR EVERY SINGLE TRIP AND 5 PAGES OF QUESTIONS AT THE END OF EACH DAY. I expected the study to be similar to the app-based happiness survey I've participated in since 2009. Puget Sound Regional Council and rMove, if you have low compliance from your participants, you may want to take some notes from Matt Killingsworth. If everybody actually diligently answers all these questions, well, count me amazed. I can't wait to find out the results of the survey, and I hope the results are considered valid. Itwon't help is participants cherry-pick trips because the process is tedious. A lot has changed in Seattle since the last time the survey was completed. It's only been since 2014, but already I am seeing more cyclists every year and the urgency from King County Metro Transit's alerts to work from home every time there is a transit delay (which is nearly every day). If we all worked from home, there'd be no baristas, Seattle! C'mon, let's fix this!