FAQ

What is the Halifax Travel Activity (HaliTRAC) Survey?

The Halifax Travel Activity (HaliTRAC) Survey, conducted in partnership with DalTRAC, is a voluntary survey that captures how, when and where residents travel throughout the Halifax Region.

Results from the HaliTRAC Survey will help the municipality to make informed planning investment decisions, as well as guide long-term planning for transportation infrastructure and services (including the Integrated Mobility Plan).

The HaliTRAC Survey will be completed over three to four phases:

Phase 1 (completed from May 2022 to July 2022) involved mailing post cards to 4,000 randomly selected households across the municipality, with an invitation to complete the survey online.

Phase 2 (completed from September 2022 to November 2022) included eding text messages to 16,000 randomly selected residents with an invitation to complete the survey. Residents were provided an opportunity to complete the survey either online or by phone.

Phase 3 began in November 2022 and will run until February 2023. Phase 2 includes mailing the survey to 14,500 randomly selected households across the municipality, with an invitation to complete the survey either online, by phone or mail.

Phase 3, which is tentatively schedule for spring 2023, will open the survey to all residents across the municipality.

The survey questionnaire can be found here.

Why are you doing this survey?

Data from the HaliTRAC Survey will help the municipality to understand how, when and where residents travel throughout the Halifax region.

Results from the HaliTRAC Survey will help the municipality to make informed planning investment decisions, as well as guide long-term planning for transportation infrastructure and services (including the Integrated Mobility Plan).

How are household selected to participate?

Households across the Halifax Regional Municipality were randomly selected to participate in the HaliTRAC Survey.

How did you obtain my cell phone number?

The cell phone samples were generated as Random Digit Dialing, a commonly used technique in travel surveys in the transportation planning field.

Has this survey been undertaken before?

This survey was previously conducted in 2015 and 2016 for the Province of Nova Scotia, and in 2018 for the municipality (then names NovaTRAC). The results of the 2018 survey helped to inform the development of the municipality's Rapid Transit Strategy.

Similar surveys have been conducted in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton.

How long will the survey take?

On average, the survey will take about 20-25 minutes to complete. Survey length will vary depending on your household size and number of trips your household makes. 

What is a Household?

A household is a person or group of people who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere. 

My household received an invitation to complete the survey. How can I complete the survey? Do we complete one one survey for all household members?

Each household can complete one survey on behalf of all members of the household.

Participation details are included in the invitation, including an access code.

Do I have to complete this survey?

Your participation is entirely voluntary. However, we encourage you to participate as your participation will offer valuable insights to ensure planning efforts match the needs of your community, and help the municipality make informed decisions about transportation infrastructure and services as well as anticipate future transportation needs.

A better understanding of when, where, why, and how people travel will lead to better prediction of future mobility needs.

What is a 24-hour travel log?

The 24-hour travel log will help you record and keep track of your travel on a weekday. You could take the travel log with you on your travel day and record all the trips as you make them, or you could choose to complete the travel log at the end of your day. 

Who needs to fill out the 24-hour travel log?

Each member of your household should fill out the travel log for the same travel day. Once all members of the household have completed their travel log, one adult household member should be assigned to submit the household’s travel information online, by mail or by telephone. If a member of your household is under the age of 18, please have their parent or guardian record their travel data for them. 

Can I choose which day I record my travel on?

Your household can choose any week day (excluding holidays) to record your travel activities. The weekday chosen should represent a normal travel day for the household. You cannot choose a weekend. 

I don’t travel very much (e.g., retired, don’t go out, etc.) – Should I still participate?

Yes. The HaliTRAC survey is aiming to get an understanding of transportation patterns in the municipality. It is important that we obtain information from households even if they do not travel much, as they are an integral part of the overall make-up of the general population. 

Why am I being asked personal information? 

There is a direct relationship between an individual's demographic information and the number and type of trips they make.

This information will help forecast transportation needs in the future as the demographic composition of the municipality changes.

Will my personal information be made public?

No. All information collected will be kept strictly confidential and used to produce statistical summaries only.

We will remove your identifying information at the beginning of the data processing stage. Any identifying information will be replaced by random access codes.

Although directly identifying data will be removed, indirectly identifying information may still be present in the data. Therefore, DalTRAC research students and municipal staff will maintain strict confidentiality protocols in accessing the datasets for research and transportation planning purposes.