The Central Indiana Travel Survey (CITS) was a household travel demand survey conducted in 2008 and 2009, sponsored by the Indianapolis MPO. The primary objective of the study was to obtain travel behavior data from residents in the nine-county region of Central Indiana. The CITS was the first comprehensive household travel survey conducted in Indianapolis since the Indianapolis Regional Transportation and Development Study (IRTADS) household travel survey was conducted in 1964. Small oversamples from the National Personal Transportation Study and later the National Household Travel Survey were conducted in the interim, but in the MPO’s 2006 federal certification review, a comprehensive local study was highly recommended. This study was not a comparison of household travel in 2009 to household travel in 1964, but most thoughtful readers might guess that there would be differences in the two eras necessitating a contemporary study.   

The data from the CITS has already been put to use in calibrating the Indy MPO’s travel demand forecasting model. The travel demand model requires data concerning both the number of trips different households might make, as well as their trip purposes, trip destinations, travel routes and modes of travel. These are all data used to make sure that the MPO models accurately reproduce today’s regional travel. Once the CITS was completed, the resultant data helped the MPO understand the relationship between household characteristics and travel, improving the MPO’s ability to forecast the demands of household travel on the transportation systems of tomorrow. 

A significant difference between the 2009 and 1964 studies was a change in geography. In 1964, most households lived and worked Marion County. The CITS, by contrast, drew from households throughout the metropolitan 9-county region.

Survey work began with design in September and October 2008, followed by a pilot study from November 2008 to January 2009, and full study travel days from April to December 2009. In total, 5,727 households were recruited to participate in the study (pilot and full study), and a total of 3,929 provided travel data. The overall response rate was 41 percent, which included a 59 percent recruitment rate and a 69 percent retrieval rate.

Survey methodology and results are published in the Central Indiana Travel Survey Final Report.