Dutch National Travel survey

What does the survey comprise?

Purpose

To compile statistical information on the daily mobility of the Dutch population for the benefit of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, other policy and research organisations, Dutch society and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) itself. This entails a description of developments in the travel behaviour of the Dutch population aged 6 years and over, by place of origin and destination, time of transport, modes of transport used and travel purposes. In addition, ample attention is being paid to background variables for mobility patterns and choices of modes of transport.

Target population

The Dutch population aged 6 years and over living in private households, excluding residents of institutions, establishments and homes.

Statistical unit

Person, trip, stage

Date/year survey started

The Dutch National Travel Survey named ODiN (Onderweg in Nederland) commenced on 1 January 2018 and succeeds the OViN (Onderzoek Verplaatsingen in Nederland) mobility survey which ran from 2010 to 2017 inclusive. The ODiN survey represents several significant changes compared to the preceding OViN survey, which means the studies are not sequentially comparable to one another. Important changes compared to the OViN survey are, for instance, that the target population no longer includes children under 6 years of age; that the method of observation and the questionnaire have changed; and that (domestic) holiday mobility is included in the study. More details about the changes visible in ODiN as compared to OViN are included in the ODiN Survey Description (Onderzoekbeschrijving): Onderweg in Nederland (ODiN) 2020, Onderweg in Nederland (ODiN) 2019 and Onderweg in Nederland (ODiN) 2018. These descriptions are only available in Dutch.

Frequency

Continuous.

Publication strategy

Published annually over a completed calendar year.

How is the survey conducted ?

Survey type

Personal survey.

Survey method

The survey is conducted using an online questionnaire. Research subjects are requested by letter to complete the ODiN questionnaire via the Internet (CAWI).

Respondents

Respondents are people aged 6 years or older. Persons residing in institutions, establishments and homes are not included in the sample.

Sample size

The sample consists of the national survey and any additional research(es). Every year, the (more comprehensive) Survey description of the ODiN states the sample size, response rate and number of respondents in the database.

Weighting

Information about the travel behaviour is collected from all respondents on one particular day of the year. In order to provide reliable statements over the whole year and about the entire Dutch population aged 6 years or older (excluding persons in institutions, establishments and homes) based on the ODiN survey, the sampling results must be extrapolated. To this end, weighing factors are calculated with a weighting according to background characteristics, which also corrects the selectivity in the sample. The background characteristics included in the weighting are characteristics relevant to travel behaviour, such as age, gender, income, urbanity and vehicle ownership.

The weighting also includes adjustment for possible additional non-response among holidaymakers using the weighting model. This is therefore a correction at the individual level that adjusts for the fact that residents of the Netherlands spend part of the year on holiday inland or abroad and therefore do not respond or respond differently than if they would stay at home all year. ODiN's correction weights reduce response selectivity around and during holiday periods. This is done by relating the observed holiday characteristics (whether the day started or ended at a holiday address) to corresponding population estimates of the number of holidaymakers from the Continuous Holiday Survey (Continu Vakantieonderzoek (CVO)).

The final weighting eventually leads to individual weights. These are the weighting factors for individual people. From this, the weighting factors for households and for trips are derived.

Grossing up

The results of the survey are 'translated' into population numbers. This is done by using the weighting factors in the database in the analyses to calculate the results.

Quality of the results

Accuracy

In sample studies, such as the ODiN, information is collected from only a part of the population. In general, the estimated outcomes based on the sample data are not equal to the actual values and therefore margins of error are included so as to indicate the reliability of the outcomes.