German Mobility Panel

Summary

The MOP surveys multiday and multi-period travel data for the household population in Germany. A unique characteristic of the MOP is the trip diary over the course of a week. The MOP can be used as a basis for descriptive mobility statistics, such as the general development of travel demand over time. The data can also be used to estimate long-term changes in transport demand under changing general conditions. Analysing the individual daily trip data allows for a description of the mobility of socio-demographic sub- and age groups. Since the individual data can be linked to regional data on mobility, individual and objective data on mobility can be associated. But there are some weaknesses in the MOP. Older persons, small households and households without a car are underrepresented in the survey. Furthermore, very active (mobile) participants are less likely to participate in the panel due to the high survey burdens of the trip diary. The potential to analyse the specific behaviour, needs and expectations of the elderly for travelling and transportation is limited, as the survey focuses on mobility of persons before retirement age (questions asked for distance to work, school, kindergarten, etc.). Information on health and other life domains is very limited, thus the possibility for examining underlying mechanisms is limited as well.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Self administered questionnaire

Access to data

Conditions of access
Available for scientific, non-profit use via Clearing House of Transport Data at the Institute of Transport Research (http://www.dlr.de/cs/en/desktopdefault.aspx/1177_read-2160/)

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
anoymised microdata

Formats available
SAS, SPSS, Text

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Data collection is ongoing since 1994. MOP94: Households n= 239, persons n = 517, trips = 12,380 MOP95: Households n= 385, persons n = 744, trips = 16,816 MOP96: Households n= 748, persons n = 1,487, trips = 37,233 MOP97: Households n= 764, persons n = 1,523, trips = 38,262 MOP98: Households n= 746, persons n = 1,500, trips = 36,770 MOP99: Households n= 1,013, persons n = 1,888, trips = 46,387 MOP00: Households n= 837, persons n = 1,618, trips = 38,273 MOP01: Households n= 1,122, persons n = 2,015, trips = 49,603 MOP02: Households n= 982, persons n = 1,774, trips = 43,219 MOP03: Households n= 1,103, persons n = 1,996, trips = 46,192 MOP04: Households n= 1,033, persons n = 1,838, trips = 44,384 MOP05: Households n= 967, persons n = 1,727, trips = 42,177 MOP06: Households n= 907, persons n = 1,555, trips = 38,246 MOP07: Households n= 904, persons n = 1,567, trips = 37,520 MOP08: Households n= 1,062, persons n = 1,783, trips = 43,029 MOP09: Households n= 982, persons n = 1,630, trips = 39,014 MOP10: Households n= 1,042, persons n = 1,768, trips = 42,131 MOP11: Households n= 1,074, persons n = 1,800, trips = 42,594

First year of collection
1994

Stratification if applicable
household size, regional type, car ownership

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national, NUTS3

Age range
every household member independent of age, e.g. MOP11 age range: 0-92 years (children under the age of 10 do not fill out a person questionnaire and a trip diary)

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Information is gathered via a household questionnaire, a personal questionnaire and a trip diary. The rotating panel survey provides information on household characteristics, socio-demographics, travel behaviour, trips and types of transportation, use of transportation, transportation available on site, reasons for trips, environmental characteristics on site. Additionally in the trip diary, every household member over the age of 10 records each trip with reason, mode of transportation, distance, duration of trip. The MOP data allows trend analysis over time in use of transportation, ownership of cars, etc. Individual mobility over a period of one week can also be analysed. Individual (changes in) mobility over a period of 3 years can be analysed for all panel participants.

Linkage

Standardisation
Assessment of mobility profile is comparable to international research

Possibility of linkage among databases
Only regional linkage on district level via NUTS3-level (Kreise) is possible.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Raw data is cleaned by project organisers and checked for inconsistencies.

Breaks
The surveys aim at being comparable in regard to methodological issues and content. Questions have only been altered minimally since 1994.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Data set is still carried out in the way it was planned; the consistency of terminology and coding is very high as there were only minimal changes over time.

Governance

Contact information
Dr.-Ing. Bastian Chlond, Dr.-Ing. Martin Kagerbauer, Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Wirtz
Institute for Transport Studies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Otto Ammann-Platz 9
76128 Karlsruhe Germany Phone: 49/721/608-42251
Email: panel(at)ifv.kit.edu
Url: http://mobilitaetspanel.ifv.uni-karlsruhe.de/en/index.html

Timeliness, transparency
The scientific use file is available about 1 year after data collection.