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MassDOT wants to know how you travel. The results will help decide infrastructure funding

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3 months ago

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MassDOT wants to know how you travel. The results will help decide infrastructure funding

Do you drive around Massachusetts all the time? Or are you more of a walker than a driver? Transportation officials in Massachusetts want to know your habits.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is monitoring the way you travel to make “travel improvements” around the Bay State.

A new study has been launched by MassDOT, and people around the state will be randomly selected to participate in travel surveys via the U.S. Mail or smartphone.

So, what’s the point of this new study? Here’s what to know.

What is the Massachusetts Travel Study?

The study is to better help the officials decide where to put money for future infrastructure improvements.

To know where they will get the most bang for their buck, the state wants to better understand how people are getting around right now.

“This latest statewide household travel survey is designed to measure and better understand changing travel patterns across the Commonwealth,” according to the MassDOT website. “To ensure a sample that is representative of the Massachusetts population, each randomly selected household is asked a series of detailed questions about their socioeconomic characteristics and access to transportation – before recording on a specific, designated travel day(s) – where, how, and when they travel.”

The website says the study will specifically help the state understand how state residents use local roads, highways, public transportation, bike lanes and sidewalks.

The overall mission of the study is to make “transportation improvements” around Massachusetts, making the roads safer, and moving along conveniently.

“Your input has a big impact because only a limited number of households are invited to participate in the study,” according to the Massachusetts Travel Study website.

Do we get compensated in any way for taking part in the study?

Yes, but it depends on your “role” in the study, according to Mass.gov. You will receive a gift card, regardless. Here’s what you will get depending on who you are:

  • Household member: You’ll receive a gift card for “select retailers.”
  • Student: You’ll receive an MBTAgifts E-Gift Card, which can be used online or at the MBTAgifts retail store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But you can’t use this card to travel on the MBTA. 
  • Senior citizen: You’ll receive a 30-day temporary reduced fare CharlieCard while your new pass is mailed to you. 

How do we know if we are ‘invited’ to participate?

MassDOT stated that invitation letters to the study “are currently being distributed to households and will continue to arrive in mailboxes all across the state throughout the fall.”

The department added that some people will be invited to take part in the study through the “rMove” app.

“After you download rMove and sign up, rMove will log your trips for one week while you go about your daily life,” MassDOT stated on the project website. “Each day you’ll be asked to complete a short daily survey about your travel habits as well as a trip survey about each trip you make.”

The information people provide in the surveys are confidential, according to MassDOT.

“We will not disclose or share personal information we collect from you except as required by law,” the project website states.

How long does the survey take?

MassDOT stated that it takes about 10 minutes to complete the survey that is sent via mail.

Where can we find more information?

For more information about the study, visit https://www.mass.gov/massachusetts-travel-study  

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