[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 145 (Monday, July 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41580-41581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14643]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2007-28797]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for 
Reinstatement of a Previously Approved Collection for Which Approval 
Has Expired

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request 
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for approval of a reinstatement of a previously approved collection for 
which approval has expired. We published a Federal Register Notice with 
a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on May 
11, 2007. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal 
Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by August 29, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments within 30 days to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention DOT Desk Officer. 
You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, 
including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the 
FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways 
for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized, 
including the use of

[[Page 41581]]

electronic technology, without reducing the quality of the collected 
information. All comments should include the Docket number FHWA-2007-
28797.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Contrino, 202-366-5060, or 
Ralph Gillman, 202-366-5042, Office of Highway Policy Information, 
Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Household Travel Survey.
    OMB Control #: 2125-0545.
    Background: The collection of passenger travel data is authorized 
in Title 23, Section 502, which authorizes the DOT to engage in studies 
to collect data for planning future highway programs. The 2008 National 
Household Travel Survey (NHTS) will provide an updated benchmark of 
travel activity and a measure of the impact of household travel 
behavior on system performance including safety, accessibility, 
economic factors, and congestion. This continuity is important in 
identifying, assessing, and forecasting travel trends. The many changes 
in travel and the related social patterns point to the need for a 2008 
NHTS. Continuing changes in household structure, commuting levels and 
patterns, the location of households and workplaces, and increases in 
the mobility of the older population, as well as issues of air quality 
and traffic congestion, have all resulted in significant changes in 
travel in recent years. Historically, FHWA has had the responsibility 
for the administration of the NHTS; however, FHWA coordinates with 
other agencies within the DOT on information needs and program 
applications. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) have provided supplemental funding in past NHTS 
program activities. In addition, several organizations outside DOT rely 
on the NHTS for transportation information relating to health (Centers 
for Disease Control), energy consumption (Energy Information 
Administration), and emergency planning (Department of Homeland 
Security). The DOT has a continuing need for current and improved data 
to determine the nature and extent of present travel needs and to plan 
for meeting the nation's travel needs of the future. Specifically, data 
is needed to:
     Examine the availability and use of transportation to 
various population groups, including those whose mobility has 
historically been lower than that of the general population, such as 
the elderly, low-income, people of color, and new immigrants;
     Identify factors affecting the use of private vehicles and 
other means of transportation as they relate to trip purposes including 
travel to work, school, shopping, medical care, other personal 
business, social and recreational travel;
     Forecast trends in highway transportation in light of 
projected demographic changes;
     Obtain the public's response to changes in transportation 
systems and services;
     Evaluate factors relating to the safety of the surface 
transportation system;
     Provide data for the evaluation of the impacts of various 
policy initiatives; and
     Provide cost-effective information that supports 
transportation planning and decision making by Federal, State, and 
local governments.
    The DOT uses the data to analyze the amount and nature of household 
travel, the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and 
travel patterns, and trends in passenger travel. Because demographic 
information is collected on each person and each household surveyed in 
the NHTS, the dataset is excellent for describing travel behavior of 
population groups. The transportation community has seen the influence 
of changes in travel behavior on the amount and type of travel demand, 
including the increasing participation of women in the workforce, trip 
chaining for other purposes as part of the work journey, an increase in 
single-occupant vehicles, increased development of the outer suburbs 
and exurbs, and changes in household structure. NHTS is also critical 
in assessing emerging travel roles of older populations and how this is 
changing over time, as the older cohort is more and more composed of 
those who have grown up driving. Understanding household travel today 
means understanding the complexity and variety of travel needs under 
these changing conditions. As our society addresses air quality and 
congestion issues, it is vital that the various trends be understood 
along with their implications for the different segments of the 
population.
    Respondents: Approximately 25,000 households will complete the 
survey. The survey households will be selected using random digit 
dialing (RDD). The NHTS is a two-stage study. In the first stage, 
households are contacted via computer assisted telephone interviewing 
(CATI) to collect basic information about the household and its 
vehicles. During this initial contact, households are recruited to 
participate in the diary phase (second stage of the study). Each 
household is assigned a specific travel day and asked to record details 
about each trip taken on that day. The stage two trip information is 
obtained via computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
    Frequency: The NHTS has been conducted by the DOT every 5-7 years 
since 1969. The 2008 NHTS will be conducted during calendar year 2008.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: The estimated burden per 
household averages 68 minutes, which includes interviewing an average 
of 2.5 persons per household. The burden per person averages 20 minutes 
for the interview and another 7 minutes for keeping the diary.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated total annual 
burden hours are 28,333.
    Electronic Access: Internet users may access all comments received 
by the U.S. DOT Dockets, by using the universal resource locator (URL): 
http://dms.dot.gov, 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Please 
follow the instructions online for more information and help.

     Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: July 23, 2007.
James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
 [FR Doc. E7-14643 Filed 7-27-07; 8:45 am]
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