CASE STUDY
Travel Behavior
Ensuring diverse experiences are fully reflected in the official Travel Behavior Inventory.
CLIENT: RSG
Key Points
In 2023, RSG contracted SDK to lead engagement of BIPOC residents of the Travel Behavior Inventory survey, a federal requirement for highway spending. This offshoot of the larger TBI was requested to ensure that in its transportation planning, Met Council was making decisions based on data that accurately reflects the travel needs and priorities of the previously under-represented African American, African Immigrant and LatinX communities of the Twin Cities metro area. SDK collaborated with a cohort of partner-organizations to achieve this participation and representation.
Client Need
Met Council understood that in order to make funding decisions and support its equity goals, it needed to make a targeted investment in understanding the travel needs of under-represented populations of the Twin Cities, specifically the African American, African Immigrant and LatinX communities. In order to reach these communities, RSG and Met Council contracted SDK’s expertise in engagement and longstanding community relationships to help bring these underserved communities into the process.
SDK Contributions
SDK delivered 437 individual responses to the TBI. Early in the project, SDK worked with RSG to refine the TBI to the communities they needed to reach, restructuring the program from an app that respondents downloaded to their phones to a 30-40 minute survey that could be completed online. SDK then recruited and partnered with six community organizations with deep roots in the African American, African Immigrant and LatinX communities, and designed an outreach approach and incentives tailored to community preferences. The project provided Met Council and its partners unprecedented glimpses into the daily travel habits and needs of BIPOC communities to inform future transportation funding.
