Skip to content

PSRC Mode Standardization

Jump to bottom
Drew C edited this page Aug 22, 2025 · 1 revision

Household Travel Survey Trip Mode Standardizaion

PSRC HTS Trip Mode and Data Processing Work

**CLICK HERE** to see details of PSRC work

PSRC trip mode question on the survey

How did <you/Name> travel on this trip?

If <you/Name> used multiple modes or changed modes during your trip, please select all modes used.

  • Walk (or jog/wheelchair)
  • Bicycle or e-bicycle
  • Scooter, moped, skateboard
  • Bus, shuttle, or vanpool (public transit, private service, school bus, or shuttles for older adults and people with disabilities)
  • Rail (e.g., train, subway)
  • Ferry or water taxi
  • Household vehicle (or motorcycle)
  • Other vehicle (e.g., friend’s car, rental, carshare, work car)
  • Uber/Lyft, taxi, or car service
  • Other

follow up questions for trip mode

Chapter 14.8 through 14.19 in the full PSRC HTS questionnaire

PSRC trip linking scripts and data preprocessing

  • trip linking SQL script

  • PSRC mode variables in final linked trips

    variable names Description
    mode_1 Primary mode
    mode_2 Second mode chosen
    mode_3 Third mode chosen
    mode_4 Fourth mode chosen

    * mode_1~mode_4 don't imply any chronological order

  • Final HTS tables use labeled values instead of numbered codes

    • to make the data available for a wider audience, PSRC decided to convert numbered codes into labeled values for all columns in our final HTS tables
    • HTS tables over the survey years (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023) are matched and combined into multi-year tables through extensive data processing
    • our variable grouping and recoding work (including mode standardization process) happen after this value labeling stage

    * example data in the final table:

    trip_id mode_1 mode_2 mode_3 mode_4
    1710024801008 Walk (or jog/wheelchair) NULL NULL NULL
    1710024801009 Walk (or jog/wheelchair) NULL NULL NULL
    1710024801010 Bicycle or e-bike (rSurvey only) NULL NULL NULL
    1710024801011 Bicycle or e-bike (rSurvey only) Urban Rail (e.g., Link light rail, monorail) NULL NULL

Mode Standardization Process with Example

The process organizes information in mode_1~mode_4 and assigns standardized trip modes to trip records

Step 1: Characterize value labels in mode_1~mode_4 into mode types

  • this step simplifies the detailed mode labels into 10 mode types

  • all value labels in mode_1~mode_4 are matched with a mode type in the following table

  • a list of all existing value labels over survey years

    mode type Drive Transit Walk Bike
    Household vehicle 1 Bus (public transit) Walk (or jog/wheelchair) Bicycle or e-bike (rSurvey only)
    Household vehicle 2 Ferry or water taxi Other rented bicycle
    Household vehicle 3 Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak) Borrowed bicycle (e.g., a friend's)
    Household vehicle 4 Other rail Standard bicycle (my household's)
    Household vehicle 5 Other rail (e.g., streetcar) Bike-share - electric bicycle
    Household vehicle 6 Urban Rail (e.g., Link light rail, monorail, streetcar) Bike-share - standard bicycle
    Household vehicle 7 Urban Rail (e.g., Link light rail, monorail) Bicycle owned by my household (rMove only)
    Household vehicle 8 Vehicle ferry (took vehicle on board) Borrowed bicycle (e.g., from a friend) (rMove only)
    Household vehicle 9 Bike-share bicycle (rMove only)
    Household vehicle 10 Other rented bicycle (rMove only)
    Other vehicle in household Electric bicycle (my household's)
    Rental car
    Carshare service (e.g., Turo, Zipcar, Getaround, GIG)
    Carshare service (e.g., Turo, Zipcar, ReachNow)
    Vanpool
    Other non-household vehicle
    Car from work
    Friend/colleague's car
    Other motorcycle/moped/scooter
    Other motorcycle in household
    Other motorcycle (not my household's)
    Other motorcycle/moped
    Personal scooter or moped (not shared)
    mode type Micromobility Ride Hail School Bus Airplane or helicopter Other Missing Response
    Skateboard or rollerblade Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab) School bus Airplane or helicopter Private bus or shuttle Missing Response
    Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor) Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service) Paratransit
    Segway or Onewheel/electric unicycle Other hired car service (e.g., black car, limo) Other bus (rMove only)
    Scooter-share (e.g., Bird, Lime) Other scooter, moped, skateboard
    Other mode (e.g., skateboard, kayak, motorhome, etc.)

Step 2: assign detailed trip modes (mode_class) with hierarchy logic

  • this step applies a hierarchical logic to assign trip modes to trip records (our PSRC trip mode variable is called mode_class)

  • the trip records go through each level of the hierarchy from 1 to 10. If any mode type in mode_1~mode_4 of a trip record finds a match in the hierarchy, the corresponding trip mode is assigned to the record

  • full list of value labels in mode_class

    mode_class
    Drive SOV/HOV 2/HOV 3+
    Transit
    Walk
    Bike
    Micromobility
    School Bus
    Ride hail
    Other
    Missing Response

  • hierarchy logic

    level mode type (if exist in any of mode_1~mode_4) mode_class assignment
    1 Airplane or helicopter Other
    2 School Bus School Bus
    3 Transit Transit
    4 Ride hail Ride hail
    5 Drive Drive SOV/HOV 2/HOV 3+ (*)
    6 Other Other
    7 Micromobility Micromobility
    8 Bike Bike
    9 Walk Walk
    10 Missing Response Missing Response

    * Drive SOV/HOV 2/HOV 3+ is assigned by considering travelers_total:

    \ \ - If travelers_total==1, assign Drive SOV

    \ \ - If travelers_total==2, assign Drive HOV 2

    \ \ - If travelers_total>=3, assign Drive HOV 3+

    \ \ - (All Drive SOV made by children under 16 has been replaced with Drive HOV2)

Step 3: assign 5 standardized trip modes (mode_class_5)

  • this step assign standardized trip modes to trip records. The standardized trip modes are widely used in analyses, presentations and reports

  • list of value labels grouping mode_class to mode_class_5

    mode_class_5 Drive Transit Walk Bike/Micromobility Other Missing Response
    Drive SOV Transit Walk Bike Ride hail Missing Response
    Drive HOV2 Micromobility School Bus
    Drive HOV3+ Other

Example

  1. original value labels in mode_1~mode_4
trip_ID mode_1 mode_2 mode_3 mode_4
1 Household vehicle 1 NULL NULL NULL
2 Walk (or jog/wheelchair) NULL NULL NULL
3 Walk (or jog/wheelchair) Bicycle or e-bike (rSurvey only) NULL NULL
4 Bicycle or e-bike (rSurvey only) Urban Rail (e.g., Link light rail, monorail) NULL NULL
  1. assign corresponding mode type
trip_ID mode_1 type mode_2 type mode_3 type mode_4 type
1 Drive NULL NULL NULL
2 Walk NULL NULL NULL
3 Walk Bike NULL NULL
4 Bike Transit NULL NULL
  1. apply hierarchical logic to mode types
trip_ID mode_1 type mode_2 type mode_3 type mode_4 type mode_class
1 Drive NULL NULL NULL Drive SOV/HOV 2/HOV 3+ * matched at level 5: Drive (SOV/HOV 2/HOV3+ is determined by the number of travelers in the trip)
2 Walk NULL NULL NULL Walk * matched at level 9: Walk
3 Walk Bike NULL NULL Bike * matched at level 8: Bike
4 Bike Transit NULL NULL Transit * matched at level 3: Transit
  1. group detailed trip modes (mode_class) into standardized trip modes (mode_class_5)
trip_ID mode_class mode_class_5
1 Drive SOV/HOV 2/HOV 3+ Drive
2 Walk Walk
3 Bike Bike/Micromobility
4 Transit Transit

Clone this wiki locally