Information technologies for household survey management

Nowadays, large transportation household surveys cannot be conducted without the help of powerful management and support tools, and the information technologies are useful for preparing, conducting, and post-analyzing such surveys. In the Greater Montreal Area (GMA), the 2003 household survey followed the general methodology that has been developed over the past twenty years to integrate the finest software, databases, and methods. The tools making up the household survey information system (HSIS) are based on the Totally Dissagregate Approach and its object-oriented extension. This paper presents the background and the fundamentals of the Montreal 2003 survey information system, and describes the way in which it has been assembled, illustrating the functional and technical architectures that were used. It also emphasizes the transposability of the method to other transportation survey activities and planning tools. The final discussion stresses the “winning” elements involved in conducting a modern transportation household survey successfully.