[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 91 (Friday, May 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26862-26864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9064]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2007-28076]


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 of Request for Reinstatement of a previously approved 
collection for which approval has expired.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's

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(OMB) approval for reinstatement of a previously approved collection 
for which approval has expired: It is summarized below under 
Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in 
the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by July 10, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
FHWA-2007-28076 by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
    <bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    <bullet> Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room 401 
on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

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, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., 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 The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity 
Act: A Legacy for Users of 2005 (SAFETEA-LU) in Title 49, U.S.C. 301. 
In addition, Title 23, Section 307 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. 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 Department of 
Transportation 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:
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> 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 and other personal 
business, and social and recreational travel;
    <bullet> Forecast trends in highway transportation in light of 
projected demographic changes;
    <bullet> Obtain the public's response to changes in transportation 
systems and services;
    <bullet> Evaluate factors relating to the safety of the surface 
transportation system;
    <bullet> Provide data for the evaluation of the impacts of various 
policy initiatives; and
    <bullet> 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 socio-economic 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, and 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 2-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 (stage 2) 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 2 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.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is

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necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated 
burdens; (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 electronic technology, without 
reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will 
summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's 
clearance of this information collection.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 23 U.S.C. 307; 
49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued On: May 4, 2007.
James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. E7-9064 Filed 5-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P