Travel and activity surveys

Knowing how, when and why people travel helps transportation planners identify travel behaviour patterns and trends to forecast future travel demand. This information helps decision-makers prioritize funding for transportation infrastructure.

Information collected through these surveys is used to:

Identify travel behavior trends and patterns to inform future planning.
Update the Calgary Regional Transportation Model, a computer simulation of future transportation demand for Calgary and the surrounding region.
Measure the effects of policy changes such as parking costs and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
Support key transportation and land use studies.
Measuring progress on the 60-year Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan.

Dalhousie Survey

We're pleased to team up with Dalhousie Transportation Collaboratory and Dalhousie University to bring you the Canada Travel Activity Survey (CanTRAC). This survey helps us learn about how people move around the city and how it impacts climate change. We want to understand your household's travel habits to help us plan for the future.

For more information, please visit the official survey page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CanTRAC Calgary Survey?

The CanTRAC Survey collects information about daily travel activities from households with members over 16 years old in important Canadian cities. Right now, they’re focusing on Calgary, Lethbridge, Charlottetown & Moncton. The CanTRAC Calgary Survey specifically targets residents and nearby areas to gather transportation info for future planning.

Why am I getting this survey?

Your household is one of the many randomly chosen across Calgary.

Why should I take part?

Your participation will:

Share valuable info about your community's travel habits.
Help assess how we move around the city.
Influence decisions on future planning.
Plus, you'll have a chance to win a gift card! (one $200 and ten $50 VISA gift cards)

Do I have to complete the survey?

Your participation is entirely voluntary, but we encourage you to take part as it will give us valuable knowledge on our future planning efforts.

What is needed from my household to complete the survey?

There are two parts to the survey:

Each member over 16 will record their travel info for one average weekday.
Complete the online survey. Your info, combined with others, gives an overview of your region's travel habits.

How long will this survey take?

The survey can take 20-40 minutes to complete. We greatly appreciate your time taking the survey, as it provides very important information for us.

How will my information be used?

All information collected will be kept strictly confidential and only used to produce statistical summaries.

I don’t travel much (retired, work from home, etc.). Should I still take part?

Yes! Even if you don't travel often, your input is valuable. We want to understand transportation habits from all households to plan effectively.

My Travel Log

My Travel Log - a continuous study that will help us make important decisions as we plan and prioritize for future transportation infrastructure.

The City is conducting a continuous study on how, when and why people travel in and around the Calgary Region.

Selected households in Calgary, the Rocky View County, Wheatland County and the Municipal District (MD) of Foothills are invited to participate in the study.
Households are randomly selected to participate to ensure a statistically valid sample.
A study invitation and subsequent materials are mailed to selected households.
The continuous study will survey approximately 1,500 households each year.

For more information, visit mytravellog.ca.

Note: Only invited households are provided with a password to log in and participate.

My Travel Log documents

Travel behaviour changes over the past 40 years

Using information collected in past surveys, The City is preparing a 4-part report series (below) titled "Changing Travel Behaviour in the Calgary Region" to provide a comprehensive look at how travel behavior has changed over the last 40 years.

Description	Completion Date
Description: Report 1 includes: Contextual information such as population and employment growth High level demographic changes including age and auto ownership High level travel analysis including city wide mode split and trip rates	Completion Date: Q2 2013
Description: Report 2 includes: Reason for travel Detailed Auto Ownership analysis Detailed mode split analysis	Completion Date: Q4 2013
Description: Report 3 will include: Where people are travelling When people are travelling Detailed Active Mode analysis Detailed Transit Mode analysis Detailed Carpooling and Auto Mode analysis	Completion Date: Q4 2014
Description: Report 4 will include: Detailed employment analysis including alternative work options Regional travel analysis including travel in the region and travel between the city and the region Differences between weekday and weekend travel	Completion Date: Q4 2015

If specific analysis is required for a particular project outside of the report schedule above, please follow the procedure for requesting analysis from the Transportation Forecasting Division or email tranplanforecast@calgary.ca for more information.