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QUESTIONS?

About the Study

The study is collecting information on day-to-day travel all across the state of Ohio: how we travel, where we go, what it costs, etc. The goal is to get a complete picture of travel patterns across Ohio.

The study region covers the entire state of Ohio in order to improve transportation in both local and state areas. Each year the study will focus on a different part of the state. If you received an invitation to participate, then you live in this year’s study area.

We need data about residents’ travel to understand and plan for current and future transportation needs. This study will help prioritize future investments in Ohio. Your feedback will have a large impact because yours is one of a small number of households participating.

Invited households (like yours) were randomly selected from all residential addresses in your county.

This study is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Yes, if you receive an invitation at your current residential address, you should participate using the password and instructions mailed to your address (even if it is addressed to a former resident, we want to hear from current residents in your neighborhood).

That’s OK–this study is about how you actually travel during the participation period. We will also separately ask how you typically travel around the region.

Whether you make a lot of trips or stay home, information about your travel habits helps to plan transportation improvements. We also want to know about any trips you make by walking, biking, taking transit, or any other travel mode even if you don’t drive.

Pets have a significant effect on travel. Many people need to schedule their trips so that they aren’t away from home for a long time if they have a dog. Additionally, many people travel with their pet which means that their stops need to be shorter, as many establishments don’t permit pets, but pets cannot be left in a car for a long time either.

Yes. The region is currently conducting travel surveys on several different topics. This household survey is separate, and we encourage you to participate.

Once all participants in your household have completed all parts of the study, each rMove participant will receive a $20 gift card as a thank you. If your household does not use smartphones for the study and instead participates online or over the phone, your household will receive a $10 gift card as thanks. ODOT employees and their households are welcome to participate in the study but are not eligible to receive a gift card.

Please see the Ohio Long Distance Study FAQ for more information.

About Participating

Click the link in your invitation email to log into the survey.

rMove is a smartphone app designed for iOS (Apple) and Android that collects travel and trip information from invited participants.

rMove is compatible with iOS Version 14 and up, and Android version 5.1 and up. If you have an iPhone, you can check by going to “Settings”, clicking “General” and then “About.” If you have a phone running Android, you can check your Android version by going to “Settings” from your home screen and clicking “About phone”.

We still want to hear from you! rMove allows for a smartphone-owning adult to provide travel information for one other adult without a compatible smartphone. Otherwise, your household can complete the survey online or by telephone.

Please call the toll-free survey phone number at 1-888-215-8106. You can complete both the recruitment and a one-day travel survey by speaking with an interviewer, who will enter your information into the system.

Llame al número de teléfono gratuito de la encuesta al 1-888-215-8106. Puede completar el reclutamiento y una encuesta de viaje de un día hablando con un encuestador que ingresará su información en el sistema.

The data collected by the rMove app on a smartphone can provide more detailed travel information than a typical travel log. For example, information such as the travel path for each trip you make is collected. These data can be used to evaluate congestion and route choice. It can also be easier for study participants to let the smartphone app record trips instead of trying to remember or write down all the details of when and where you traveled. All of the data collected on your smartphone is strictly confidential along with the information collected in the survey. A copy of this study’s privacy policy is available here.

Before your travel date, you will receive an email with information on how to download and activate rMove. Once installed and running properly, rMove will log your travel. A few minutes after you stop traveling, rMove will create a trip survey to ask for details such as how and why you traveled. You will also be asked a few questions at the end of each day. You can answer these surveys any time during the day, but please do not answer the questions on rMove while driving!

We ask that you download the rMove app before your household’s assigned travel date. The app will automatically begin collecting trip data on your travel date (the first day of your “travel period”), and will automatically stop collecting data after seven days (the last day of your “travel period”). Once you complete all the surveys listed by rMove, you can uninstall the app from your phone.

We ask that adults in the household report when children travel with them (these trips are recorded on the adult’s smartphone). We also ask that an adult report any additional trips a child makes that is not recorded by the app (such as riding the bus to school). It is very important that all travel for all your children are recorded on the project website! Many trips in households with children are made for the children’s needs, and so it is critical that all their travel is accounted for.

Once all household participants have answered all surveys for your entire travel period, you have completed the smartphone portion of the study. We will email you after your travel dates are over with final instructions and to provide your gift card.

How ODOT will use the study results

All of your answers are strictly confidential. Your travel data is grouped with travel data from all other participating households and will not be analyzed individually. Learn more about how we protect your information on the Privacy Page.

Your household’s trips will be combined with those from other participants into a database that is expected to have around 250,000 records per year. Those trips will then be used to develop statistical models that estimate the number of trips different types of households make, how far they are willing to travel for different purposes, and how they are likely to travel to those destinations. Those modeled trips are then assigned to a transportation network, similar to how Google Maps© works.

After developing statistical travel models, those models can test different projects, such as a reconfigured interchange, a road widening, or new transit service. By comparing the congestion before and after the project, ODOT can estimate how much time and money is saved by building the project, and then compare the savings to the project’s cost. ODOT uses these models to rank projects for TRAC, and regional agencies use this data to prioritize projects as well.

ODOT also uses the statistical travel models to estimate how much traffic will want to use roads in the future, so when a project is being designed, the right number of lanes, the right length of turn lanes, and the appropriate pavement depth can be planned. Models are also used to estimate pollution from vehicles to ensure that ODOT conforms to air quality regulations.

The information collected in the Ohio Moves Transportation Study will help support planning efforts on the statewide level as well as locally. If you wish to find out more about planning activities in the state or region, please visit the ODOT website.

Participant Support

Please check your junk or spam folder. If you don’t see it there, please click here to contact us.

We want to confirm we are getting a true representation of all people living in the area. Analyzing how and where people travel can depend on certain demographic attributes and areas where they live or work.  

This information gives us a better picture of travel habits and how things can be improved in the future.

Please try turning your phone off and back on. This should reset your location settings and get the app to record your trips.

Unfortunately, we cannot remove a participating household member once the signup survey is complete. This is a household study; therefore, we require all related adult household members to participate to get accurate travel data. 

The rMove app generates a trip survey for every trip you make. This can be cumbersome for participants who make trips all day long. You can turn off the app tracking during these busy work hours and turn it back on during your normal personal trips. 

If you are using the app, we encourage you to still participate in the week-long study if you will be in town for at least one of your assigned dates.

Your trip surveys should populate when you open the rMove app. If you still don’t see any trip surveys to answer, please restart the phone.

Please allow 2-3 weeks for gift card processing after you have completed the study.

If you chose a digital gift card, please check your junk or spam folder. If you chose a physical, mailed card, please click here and provide your mailing address. 

Questions?

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