OHS OMB package-Section A 8-15-07

In 2005, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU; P.L. 109-59). SAFETEA-LU contained a number of legislative mandates including providing data, statistics and analyses to transportation decision-makers. The Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (RITA/BTS) was tasked to accomplish this legislative mandate under 49 U.S.C. 111 (c) (1). RITA/BTS plans to use the Omnibus Household Survey (OHS) to:

assess the public’s evaluation of the nation’s transportation system in light of the DOT’s strategic goals (safety, reduced congestion, global connectivity, environmental stewardship and security, preparedness and response),
provide a vehicle for the operating administrations within the DOT as well as other governmental agencies, to survey the public about current transportation issues, and
provide national estimates of transportation mode usage.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used.

The primary purposes of the OHS are to assess the public’s evaluation of the nation’s transportation system, provide a vehicle for the operating administrations within the DOT as well as other governmental agencies, to survey the public about current transportation issues, and to provide national estimates of transportation mode usage.

In addition to the core OHS items on mode usage, travel times, commuting, and telecommuting, the October 2007 OHS will also collect customer ratings of airport security and operations for TSA. The OHS data will be used in producing TSA’s Transportation Security Index (TSI). The Transportation Security Index (TSI) was created by the following calculation where “N#” is the number of respondents for each answer and “W#” is the weighted score associated with each answer choice as shown below:

For selected BTS Omnibus Household Survey Questions:

Answer #1 N1 * W1

Answer #2 N2 * W2

Answer #3 N3 * W3

Answer #4 N4 * W4

TSI = Σ(W1N1 + W2N2 + W3N3 + W4N4)

This TSI is then used to support long term outcome PART measures reported to OMB. TSA uses the data received by the BTS Omnibus Household Survey as a third party data collection tool measuring the traveling public’s perception of safety provided by TSA. The data are converted to an index using the above calculation. Currently 2 PART long term outcome measures are being supported by this survey and one long term outcome measure is underdevelopment.

The data will be delivered to TSA a few weeks after data collection ends, and will also be posted to the BTS public internet website at www.bts.gov/omnibus surveys. In addition, RITA/BTS will use the mode usage data, commuting, telecommuting, and satisfaction with various aspects of the transportation system for benchmarking and monitoring trends. These data will be available to other operating administrations within the DOT as well as other government agencies upon request.

3. Describe whether, or to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques of other forms of information technology.

The OHS is a telephone-based data collection effort. Telephone interviewers will utilize Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) that allows for rapid data collection, processing, and availability for analyses. RITA/BTS is committed to providing the public with the easiest and most efficient data collection method and or methods possible in order to reduce respondent burden.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication

The survey covered by this request does not duplicate information currently being collected by any other agency or component within the US DOT as well as other government agencies. The information to be collected by this survey is not currently available in any other format or from any other source or combination of sources.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize the burden.

The OHS will not collect information from small businesses or other small entities.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.

This data collection is required by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU; P.L. 109-59). SAFETEA-LU contained a number of legislative mandates including providing data, statistics and analyses to transportation decision-makers. RITA/BTS was tasked to accomplish this legislative mandate under 49 U.S.C. 111 (c) (1). The planned collection of data will allow RITA/BTS to continue to provide the statistics covered by this survey which are required to benchmark customer usage and satisfaction and determine if trends are changing and, if so, attempt to identify some of the factors that may be causing those changes. Less frequent data collection would not allow RITA/BTS to offer support services to other operating administrations within the US DOT as well as other governmental agencies in a timely manner, nor could RITA/BTS provide enough information to assess use of and satisfaction with the transportation system. Because this collection is expected to be an on-going effort, it has the potential to have immediate impact on the ability of the US DOT and other governmental agencies to hear the voice of the American people on important transportation issues.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines set forth in CFR 1320.6.

This information collection does not require respondents to: 1) report information more often than quarterly; 2) submit more than an original and two copies of any document; 3) retain records for more than three years; 4) prepare a response in less than 30 days; or 5) submit proprietary or confidential information. The OHS results can be generalized to the population of inference, for example age 18 and older non-institutionalized persons who live in the U.S. The Information Collection Request (ICR) will state that the survey is voluntary, and that the information will be treated as confidential. The ICR will include the authority for the data collection, principal purpose, routine uses, and assurance of confidentiality.

8. Agency 60-Day Federal Register Notice and Consultations Outside the Agency

The 60-Day Federal Register Notice is provided as Attachment II. This Notice was published in the Federal Register February 14, 2007. There were no public comments received in response to the Notice, therefore, no action was taken by the agency. The 30-Day Federal Register Notice is provided as Attachment III and was published on April 24, 2007.

In June of 2002 BTS contracted with the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board (TRB) to review the OHS program. The TRB found that the OHS program “should continue as a relatively low budget activity that provides timely information on a range of transportation issues.”

9. Payment to Respondents

The OHS is voluntary. Respondents completing the survey will not receive any payment or gift.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The confidentiality of Omnibus Household Survey data is protected under the BTS confidentiality statute (49 U.S.C. 111 (k) and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002 (Public Law 107-347, Title V). In accordance with these confidentiality statutes, only statistical and non-identifying data will be made publicly available through reports, microdata products, and any other public documents. Further, BTS will not release to any public or private entity any information that might reveal the identity of individuals that participated in the survey. The ICR statement is provided as Attachment IV. RITA/BTS will use established procedures for survey storage and disposal to ensure that individual identifiers are protected from disclosure. RITA/BTS will also use statistical disclosure limitation methods to ensure that individual identifying information does not appear in any public data product.

11. Sensitive Questions

No sensitive information is collected in the survey covered by this request.

12. Estimates of Response Burden and Annual Cost to Respondents

The actual average time to collect OHS data from July 2001-October 2005 was 15 minutes per interviewed household, with a range from 13 to 20 minutes. The actual average time to screen households was 5 minutes per case, but much of that time did not involve the respondent. Most of the screening time resulted from repeated “no one home” calls to a given telephone number. For purposes of estimating respondent burden, we determine that of the 5 minutes screening per case, only 2 minutes involves actually talking to a respondent to determine whether the correct number is reached, whether the household is eligible for interview (e.g. not a business), and to elicit participation in the survey.

12A.

Annually:	Omnibus Households
a. # Households	5,000
b. # Mins/Screener	5,000 x 2 = 10,000 minutes
c. # Respondents	1,500 households
d. # Mins/Respondent	1,500 x 15 = 22,500
Total Hours (b+d / 60)	32,500 ÷ 60 = 542 hours

12B. Annual Cost to Respondent:

The only cost to the respondent is the time spent completing the survey (see item 12A).

Total Annual Burden Hours	Rate/Hour**	Annual Cost
542	$17.45	$9,458.00

**Based on an hourly rate derived from the average hourly earnings of the U.S. population taken from the July 2007 Economic Indicators prepared by the Joint Economic Committee using data from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

13. Estimates of Cost Burden for Collection of Information.

This survey does not require record keeping on the part of respondents.

14. Estimates of Annual Cost to the Federal Government.

The estimated annualized cost to the Federal Government for the OHS includes funding for support contracts to implement and complete the data collection, funding for RITA/BTS staff to develop the questionnaires, monitor field operations, analyze results, and develop/publish data products. Costs for support contracts are based on actual rates charged on similar projects by private Contractors. Government staffing costs are based on the 2005 Federal white-collar pay schedule for workers in the Washington-Baltimore area (see: http://www.opm.gov/oca/04tables/html/dcb.asp).

Annually:	Omnibus Household
Contractor	$165,000
BTS	$30,000
Estimated Cost:	$130,000

15. Changes in Burden

The proposed information collection is a new request.

16. Publication Plans/Time Schedule

The RITA/BTS OHS is conducted yearly. There is the potential exists that manuscripts will be submitted to appropriate professional journals or may be presented at local, national, or international conferences. RITA/BTS will release the microdata (with personal identifiers removed) to the public.

17. Approval Not to Display Expiration Date

The OHS Program is not seeking approval to avoid displaying the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement

There is only one exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions,” of OMB Form 83-I. This is a new data collection and, therefore, cannot result in a reduction of burden hours.

The point-of-contact at RITA/BTS is:

June Taylor Jones, 202-366-4743

RITA/BTS

East Building-Room E32-338

1200 NJ Ave, SE

Washington, DC 20590

File Type	application/msword
File Title	Draft copy: 11/14/97
Author	Valued Gateway Customer
Last Modified By	june.jones
File Modified	2007-08-15
File Created	2007-07-30