Beginning April 1, motorists traveling on some roadways in Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties will be asked to participate in a travel survey being conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation.

The purpose of the survey is to collect travel data that is needed by transportation planners to study traffic levels and patterns on area highways. The survey will collect information on the amount of passenger vehicle and commercial truck traffic going into, out of, and through the three counties.

The study is being sponsored by the TxDOT in cooperation with the Beaumont Metropolitan Planning Organization. Information from the survey will be used by the TxDOT and the MPO to help prioritize and select highway improvement projects that are needed most in the planning area.

The surveys will be conducted at survey ‘stations’ that will be set-up on highways near the Jefferson, Orange and Hardin county lines. Randomly selected vehicles will be directed out of the travel lane, into a survey station and asked to participate in the survey. For motorists that choose to participate, they will be asked several questions pertaining to their travel for that day. The survey will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes to complete and then travel will be allowed to resume. For those motorists who choose not to participate, they will need to remain in the survey station for safety reasons until the motorists in front of them have completed their interview.

Video cameras will be used on IH-10 and other high volume sites for license plate match only. License plate match data is used to determine if motorists travel straight through the study area or if motorists make a stop within the study area. No names or addresses will be associated with the license plates and no surveys will be mailed out. Video cameras are used on high volume roadways for safety reasons due to the number of vehicles and the rate of speed on high volume facilities.

These ‘roadside’ surveys are scheduled to begin and conclude in the spring of 2008. According to TxDOT, the survey locations will be highly visible with ample traffic signs and orange traffic cones. TxDOT encourages all motorists selected for the survey to participate in this important study.

The roadside survey is one of four surveys TxDOT has scheduled for the region. The agency has travel surveys related to households, workplaces and commercial vehicles scheduled for 2008 and 2009.

TxDOT has conducted similar surveys in Laredo, El Paso, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley. For additional information on the survey contact Charlie Hall, TxDOT’s Travel Survey Program Manager at (512) 486-5120.