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A major regional transportation survey is underway across the Washington area, with planners seeking responses from about 300,000 randomly selected households to help guide future investments in roads, transit, bike routes and sidewalks.
The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board launched the Regional Travel Survey on April 8 in partnership with transportation agencies across the District, Maryland and Virginia — including WMATA and the Virginia departments of transportation and rail. Data collection runs through June, with a second wave planned for the fall.
The survey is the first of its kind since 2017-18 and the first conducted since the coronavirus pandemic. It also marks a structural shift in how the region collects travel data — moving from a once-a-decade approach, which the TPB has used since 1968, to a new four-to-five-year survey cycle. It is also the first to offer a smartphone app option alongside the traditional web-based survey. The app-based survey records trips over multiple days, while the web-based version captures a single travel day.
Unlike surveys focused on a single mode of travel, the Regional Travel Survey captures the full range of how residents get around — by car, bus, train, foot, bike, micromobility, rideshare and delivery. The survey covers a broad geographic area stretching from the Pennsylvania border to the Chesapeake Bay, Southern Maryland, Fredericksburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains, encompassing jurisdictions including Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Montgomery, Prince George's, Loudoun, Prince William and the District of Columbia, among others.
"We rely on the responses from this survey to understand how people travel and how to improve access to jobs, schools, healthcare, and leisure activities across the region," said Kenneth Joh, principal statistical survey analyst at the Council of Governments.
Selected households will receive a postcard in the mail with instructions on how to participate. Signing up takes about 10 minutes, and households will record trips taken on their assigned travel date. Participants will receive $5 to $10 per person as a thank-you for their time. Information collected will be privacy-protected and kept in strict confidence, according to the TPB. Initial analysis from the survey is expected to be released in 2027.
For Alexandria residents, responses could directly influence future investments in Metro service, DASH bus routes, the Mount Vernon Trail, and pedestrian infrastructure citywide. More information is available at the TPB's website.
