Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
This dataset consists of five separate surveys with varying purposes, as described below. (a) Pilot survey at a central London office: to test both the method of distributing and collecting questionnaires via the internal mail system of the participating organisation and to assess the style and content of the questionnare. (b) Central London Office employees survey: to gather information about those characteristics of individuals and attributes of their journey to work which might play an important role in determining their choice of home, or workplace, and means of commuting to work. Information was sought on those factors which may influence an individual's response to changes in the cost of rail travel and service level changes. (c) Workplace interviews of recent home movers: to investigate aspects of the residential search process. (d) Hertfordshire rail commuters survey: to investigate the impact of rail fare increases and service level changes on the locational and commuting behaviour of Central London commuters. (e) Household and (f) Individual interviews in Hertfordshire: to obtain a detailed history of the household's composition since its formation (or within the last ten years, if shorter), enabling decisions about location or mode choice to be viewed against the appropriate circumstances.
Main Topics:
Variables (a) Pilot survey at a Central London office: Previous and present home locations, previous and present workplace locations, dates of moves for both home and work, occupation, tenure, household composition, car and car availability, characteristics of the journey to work, availability and takeup of housing and travel assistance from the employer, willingness to be interviewed in depth. (b) Central London office employees survey: Present home location, previous home location, date of move, number of moves in last ten years, household tenure and composition by age, sex and economic status, number of cars and vans available, previous and present workplace locations with dates of moves, occupation, modes used in the journey to work with times and availability of assistance towards home and travel costs from the employer. (c) Workplace interviews of recent home movers: The geographic extent of the search, the number of homes considered, the factors perceived as important in the selection of area and dwelling, the reasons for the search, the reasons for the eventual choice of residence, the journey to work before the move, immediately after the move and the current journey, car availabiltiy, the acceptance of assistance towards housing and travel costs from the employer, income and cost of house purchase together with the source of funds. (d) Hertfordshire rail commuters survey: The type of information gathered corresponds to that collected in the Central London office employees survey (b). (e) Household and (f) Individual interviews in Hertfordshire: Home and workplace locations for each member of the household over time, car ownership over time, reasons for locational changes, characteristics of the dwelling including cost and source of funds for purchase, occupation, income and journey to work characteristics, type of ticket and licence held, housing and travel assistance.
No sampling (total universe)
Quota sample
One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
No sampling was done for (a) and (b).A systematic random sample was drawn for (c) and (e).A quota sample was drawn for (d): 500 per station, approximately two thirds current monthly or longer period ticket holders and one third lapsed users of such tickets.In addition, all weekly ticket purchases over a given weekend were sampled.
Face-to-face interview
Postal survey
Face-to-face interviews were conducted for (c), (e) and (f); postal surveys were done for (a), (b) and (d).
