Collecting longitudinal data from freight operators: survey design and implementation

Abstract

Freight transport research has generally been limited by a lack of data of the breadth and quality available for passenger transport, particularly in terms of behavioural data. Although there are a number of reasons for this lack of data, the challenges of collecting freight data including the expense, participant burden and confidentiality issues are amongst the most significant. Although some improvements in technology and survey design have allowed for the collection of more behavioural freight data more improvements would be beneficial. This paper discusses the survey design and implementation of a survey intended to collect longitudinal behavioural data on the responses of freight transport firms to the introduction of environmental policies. The design of the survey is centred around a hypothetical scenario where respondents are asked how they would complete a given freight task within common constraints including time windows and delivery requirements. One of the key components of the survey design is a dynamic component that is intended to simulate the changing business environment to which firms are required to adapt. This paper also looks at the participant burden involved in completing the survey and compares how this differs depending on how respondents completed the survey.