All -
There has been substantial interest in and discussion about the next NPTS on several listserves. Many of you want to know more about being an Add-On jurisdiction in the next survey, including costs, timing, and any additional flexibility in the Add-on program. We are seeking input on both the potential costs and other elements of the next survey.
Survey Costs
FHWA has let a "Request for Information" (RFI) on the potential costs of the next NPTS. Although content and approach for the next NPTS have not been finalized, more information is needed on potential survey costs, especially for states and MPOs who are seriously considering the Add-on program. The approach taken in the Request for Information is to use the content and methods of the 2001 NHTS as a strawman survey, and to obtain separate costs for the GPS subsample, the nonresponse followup survey, and collecting and geocoding trip origins and destinations.
The Request for Information, posted at:
http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DOT/FHWA/OAM/Reference%2DNumber%2DDTFH61%2D05%2DRFI…
If the link does not work, try:
http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DOT/FHWA/postdatePrevDays_1.html,
Click on "Request for Information for Costs of Conducting the NPTS 01" under June 24, 2005.
The RFI will remain open for 30 days (until July 24, 2005).
Survey Design Elements
We encourage all who have questions, comments and suggestions for the next survey to submit their input. We need to know more about:
o current data users and their experiences with the survey series,
o non-users and the reasons they don't use the data series
o modelers needs and the changes in travel demand modeling
o data needs on specialized topics in personal travel, such as walk & bike, elderly mobility issues, etc.
There is a discussion forum called the Community of Practice where you can post questions, suggestions etc. The URL is http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/hcx.nsf/home?openform&Group=Household%20…
If the link does not work, please try:
http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/hcx.nsf/home
Scroll to the bottom, and click on "Household Travel Data Program"
Thank you
Nanda Srinivasan (On behalf of Susan Liss, FHWA)
We'd prefer to have the ACS five-year average tabulated using the "new"
TAZ definitions.
Laura Chen
Senior Transportation Planner
Atlanta Regional Commission
404-463-3173
-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net
[mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Murakami, Elaine
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 5:34 PM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: [CTPP] TRB Census conference and ACS questions
These questions were recently sent in by Laura Chen, from Atlanta
Regional Commission and I thought I'd share my responses with the
listserv. Note: I have a question for listserv members at the end!
Q. Will the recommendations from the Irvine conference be available for
viewing?
A. Yes, but I don't know WHEN they are expected. I have left a message
for Tom Palmerlee at TRB to find out the status of the committee
recommendations from the Census conference.
Q. Will the 2006 release of the 2005 ACS includes tabulations at the TAZ
level?
A. No, the EARLIEST there could be TAZ tabulation will be either an
accumulation of ACS data from 2005 thru 2009, or 2006 thru 2010. There
MUST be 60 months of data accumulation before any small area data is
released by the Census Bureau.
For 2005 ACS tabulation, the data release will be limited to geographic
units with population of 65,000 or over. For example, a COUNTY total or
a CITY total, NOT for any small geographic units like census tracts
within that area.
Q. What has been decided on the inclusions of TAZ tabulations in
the ACS reports? Which TAZs would be used, existing 2000 TAZs or newly
defined TAZs?
A. We had a post-conference meeting with Bob LaMacchia from the CB's
Geography Division. It looks like 2008 would be the time for defining
new TAZs. The CB will be developing a GIS software for local entities to
submit geographic area boundaries. (This assumes that there will be an
AASHTO pooled fund project similar to CTPP2000 using ACS data). Because
of disclosure avoidance issues, I am thinking that there might need to
be one set of tables for small geography (TAZs, and tracts), and a
different set of tables for a larger geographic unit (like a SuperTAZ or
SuperTract) that would allow tabulation by household income (for
example). So, the TAZ definition process MIGHT include both "small"
TAZs as well as "SuperTAZs".
However, the earliest that these newly defined TAZs could be used for
tabulation would be 2010. That is, if 2005-2009 ACS were tabulated, the
CB would ONLY be able to use the 2000 TAZ definitions.
My question to the listserv members is (assuming an AASHTO pooled fund
for a CTPP-like product), would you want an ACS tabulation of 2005-2009
using the 2000 TAZ definitions, and then, one year later, an ACS
tabulation of 2006-2010 using the "new" TAZ definitions, with the
2006-2010 weighted/controlled to 2010 decennial census population
counts?
Elaine Murakami
FHWA Office of Planning
206-220-4460
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
Received this Census News Brief from Terri Ann Lowenthal. Things are
looking rather bleak at the moment....
SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE SLASHES FY06 FUNDING
FOR 2010 CENSUS AND AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY;
FINAL FIELD TEST AND 2010 IMPROVEMENTS AT RISK
The Senate subcommittee responsible for Census Bureau funding yesterday
slashed the Bush Administrations budget request for fiscal year 2006 by
$150 million, leaving the future of many planned improvements for the
2010 census, as well as the American Community Survey, in doubt for
now. The appropriation of $727,385,000 for all Census Bureau programs
is not only $85 million below the House-passed level of $812,237,000, it
is below the 2005 funding level of $744.798 million.
The Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
allocated $144.059 million for the American Community Survey (ACS),
roughly the same amount as in 2005. The bureau needs about $170 million
to add group quarters, such as nursing homes, military barracks,
prisons, and college dorms, to the survey for the first time. Without
group quarters, ACS data cannot be compared to data from the Census 2000
long form, and complete five-year averages for smaller geographic areas
would not be available in 2011, as originally planned.
The panel, chaired by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), appropriated $162.990
million for redesigning a short form-only 2010 census. The
Administration requested roughly $213 million to plan and prepare for a
streamlined count. The redesign effort includes the final census field
tests, in Travis County, Texas, and on the Cheyenne Indian Reservation
in South Dakota. Key design changes scheduled for testing include the
use of hand-held computers to collect information in the field from
households that do not respond by mail; dual English-Spanish language
questionnaires; and a targeted second mailing to unresponsive
households. Hand-held computers would eliminate most of the paper
handled by enumerators during the non-response follow-up phase of the
census, saving time, office space, and processing costs. The Census
Bureau has said it will not incorporate any changes in the 2010 census
that have not been fully and successfully tested in advance.
The subcommittee also reduced funding for the Salaries & Expenses
account, which includes ongoing surveys and population estimates
programs, by more than 50 percent.
The Census Bureau has not yet formally commented on the impact of the
Senate subcommittee funding level. However, the bureau said at least
one 2006 test site could be canceled after the House of Representatives
cut $10 million last week from 2010 census redesign funding. A funding
cut on the magnitude proposed by the Senate panel would likely
jeopardize the entire test. The field test cannot be delayed until 2007
because the Census Dress Rehearsal, a dry-run for the actual count,
takes place in 2008.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the
Commerce-Justice-Science funding bill tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon.
New web site for census stakeholders: The Communications Consortium
Media Center, which organized the Census 2000 Initiative several years
ago, has launched a new web site to keep stakeholders informed about key
policy and operational decisions affecting the American Community Survey
and Census 2010 planning.
The Census Project is a coordinated effort by a wide range of
stakeholder organizations to support a comprehensive American Community
Survey and accurate 2010 census. Stakeholder letters to policymakers,
Census News Briefs, and other relevant information are posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
708-283-3534 (V)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FHWA RC-TST-PLN
19900 Governors Dr
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
These questions were recently sent in by Laura Chen, from Atlanta Regional Commission and I thought I'd share my responses with the listserv. Note: I have a question for listserv members at the end!
Q. Will the recommendations from the Irvine conference be available for
viewing?
A. Yes, but I don't know WHEN they are expected. I have left a message for Tom Palmerlee at TRB to find out the status of the committee recommendations from the Census conference.
Q. Will the 2006 release of the 2005 ACS includes tabulations at the TAZ level?
A. No, the EARLIEST there could be TAZ tabulation will be either an accumulation of ACS data from 2005 thru 2009, or 2006 thru 2010. There MUST be 60 months of data accumulation before any small area data is released by the Census Bureau.
For 2005 ACS tabulation, the data release will be limited to geographic units with population of 65,000 or over. For example, a COUNTY total or a CITY total, NOT for any small geographic units like census tracts within that area.
Q. What has been decided on the inclusions of TAZ tabulations in
the ACS reports? Which TAZs would be used, existing 2000 TAZs or newly defined TAZs?
A. We had a post-conference meeting with Bob LaMacchia from the CB's Geography Division. It looks like 2008 would be the time for defining new TAZs. The CB will be developing a GIS software for local entities to submit geographic area boundaries. (This assumes that there will be an AASHTO pooled fund project similar to CTPP2000 using ACS data). Because of disclosure avoidance issues, I am thinking that there might need to be one set of tables for small geography (TAZs, and tracts), and a different set of tables for a larger geographic unit (like a SuperTAZ or SuperTract) that would allow tabulation by household income (for example). So, the TAZ definition process MIGHT include both "small" TAZs as well as "SuperTAZs".
However, the earliest that these newly defined TAZs could be used for tabulation would be 2010. That is, if 2005-2009 ACS were tabulated, the CB would ONLY be able to use the 2000 TAZ definitions.
My question to the listserv members is (assuming an AASHTO pooled fund for a CTPP-like product), would you want an ACS tabulation of 2005-2009 using the 2000 TAZ definitions, and then, one year later, an ACS tabulation of 2006-2010 using the "new" TAZ definitions, with the 2006-2010 weighted/controlled to 2010 decennial census population counts?
Elaine Murakami
FHWA Office of Planning
206-220-4460
CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
HOUSE CUTS $20 MILLION FROM CENSUS BUREAU BUDGET;
2006 CENSUS FIELD TEST COULD BE SCALED BACK
The House of Representatives approved an amendment yesterday to cut $20 million from the Census Bureau's fiscal year 2006 budget, with $10 million coming from the Salaries and Expense account, which funds ongoing demographic and economic surveys, and $10 million from 2010 census planning.
Preliminary information from the Census Bureau indicates that the 2006 Census Field Test, currently planned for Travis County, Texas, and the Cheyenne Indian Reservation in South Dakota, could be scaled back to one site if the funding is not restored. Alternatives include canceling plans to test a dual English-Spanish language questionnaire and a targeted second mailing to households that don't return the first census form. The Census Bureau is unlikely to deploy new procedures in 2010 that are not tested in advance.
The amendment to cut the bureau's funds was offered by Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA). It was approved by a vote of 260 - 168. The money was shifted to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and the Drug Enforcement Administration, both within the Justice Department. Rep. Baird said increased funds were needed for local law enforcement and international interdiction to fight the growing use of methamphetamines. He questioned the Census Bureau's need for so much money, saying the agency had already received several billion dollars since 2001. "Ask your average man and woman on the street * where should we spend the money? Billions of dollars for the census, or to intercept international narcotrafficking *?" the congressman asked during the debate. Rep. Baird also accused the Census Bureau of wasting money, saying they had handed out paperweights, calendars, and other trinkets during the 2000 census. "I used to teach research design," Rep. Baird said. "I cannot fathom that it costs this much money to modify this census."
Lawmakers speaking in opposition to the amendment were sympathetic to the need for more drug-fighting money, but they suggested that the Census Bureau also needed funds to prepare thoroughly for the next census. Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), chairman of the Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census, which oversees census programs, said, "It sounds pretty simple, paperweights versus crimefighting. * But it is just not that simple. The census provides information vital to how we as a Nation operate." Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a former ranking member of the census oversight subcommittee, concurred, noting that federal and state funds for education, housing assistance, day care, hospitals, and programs for the elderly are distributed based on census data.
The House is considering the Fiscal Year 2006 Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 2862). (Debate is continuing today.) Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Ranking Minority Member Alan Mollohan (D-WV) opposed the amendment, saying that the committee had done its best to balance competing priorities in the massive spending bill and that the Census Bureau needed the funds approved by the committee. (For further information on the committee bill, see the June 12th Census News Brief.)
Rep. Baird was the only lawmaker to speak in support of his amendment. The vote on the Baird amendment can be found at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll248.xml. A similar amendment to last year's appropriations bill, which also would have shifted funds to the COPS program, was narrowly defeated by a vote of 206 - 212.
The Census Bureau's Salaries & Expenses account is now reduced to $198.029 million; the Administration requested $220.029 million. Funding for 2010 census planning is reduced to $453.596 million, with $10 million specifically coming from "Reengineered Design Process for the Short-Form Only Census."
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science is scheduled to consider its version of the fiscal year spending bill next week. Last year, the Senate failed to approve any increase in funds for the Periodic Censuses account, which includes the decennial census and American Community Survey. Most of the requested funds were restored in negotiations with the House, although the Census Bureau was unable to include group quarters in the first year of the ACS survey.
Proposed Constitutional amendment would exclude non-citizens from census: Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) introduced a bill to amend the Constitution, to require that only U.S. citizens be counted for purposes of apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.J.Res. 53 would change the word "persons" in the Fourteenth Amendment to "citizens." (The relevant section of the Fourteenth Amendment currently reads: "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.") There are currently four cosponsors on the bill, which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
"I find it absolutely outrageous that people who are not in our country legally are having such impact on our political system," Rep. Miller said in a press release.
Previous proposals to amend the law, most notably before the 1990 census, have sought to exclude undocumented residents, but not non-citizen legal residents, from the state population totals used for congressional apportionment. Constitutional amendments must pass both the House and Senate by two-thirds votes, and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states within seven years.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations.
I have been receiving numerous e-mails similar to the one below for which the referenced attachments are not attached.
I'm guessing that they are being removed for security reasons, which makes enough sense these days. Do you notify senders when their attachments are stripped and tell them how to send them correctly? It doesn't make much sense to keep getting e-mails that have no actual information in them.
-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-request(a)chrispy.net
[mailto:ctpp-news-request@chrispy.net]
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 10:55 AM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: ctpp-news Digest, Vol 18, Issue 4
Send ctpp-news mailing list submissions to
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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You can reach the person managing the list at
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When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of ctpp-news digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Forwarding: Census News Brief (Murakami, Elaine)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 09:46:52 -0400
From: "Murakami, Elaine" <Elaine.Murakami(a)fhwa.dot.gov>
Subject: [CTPP] Forwarding: Census News Brief
To: <ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net>
Message-ID:
<18A45F8F6378DF4EBABA64E3A04397ECE5A338(a)fhxhq2.fhwa1.fhwa.dot.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Skipped content of type multipart/alternative
-----Original Message-----
From: APDUmem-bounces(a)apdu.org [mailto:APDUmem-bounces@apdu.org]On Behalf Of Deborah Gona
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 10:16 PM
To: apdumem(a)apdu.org
Subject: [APDU] FW: TIME SENSITIVE: Census News Brief
Forward of the latest Census News Brief. The contents of the Brief have been inserted into the body of this message.
_____
From: Terriann2K(a)aol.com [mailto:Terriann2K@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 9:42 PM
To: Terriann2K(a)aol.com
Subject: TIME SENSITIVE: Census News Brief
Dear census stakeholders:
Attached please find the latest Census News Brief with information about the status of the Census Bureau's fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider the bill on Tuesday, and congressional sources have indicated that some lawmakers may offer amendments targeting American Community Survey and 2010 census planning funds to pay for other programs in the Science/State/Justice/Commerce spending bill.
Thanks,
Terri Ann
Terri Ann Lowenthal
Legislative & Policy Consultant
1250 4th St., SW
Apt. W615
Washington, DC 20024
(tel.) 202-484-3067
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com
***************************
June 12, 2005
CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
HOUSE PANEL APPROVES '06 CENSUS FUNDS;
AMENDMENTS COULD TARGET ACS, 2010 CENSUS
ON HOUSE FLOOR
The House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce approved a bill on June 7 that includes funding for Census Bureau programs in fiscal year 2006, which starts October 1. The American Community Survey (ACS) and 2010 census planning activities received roughly the amounts requested by the Bush Administration, but amendments on the House floor could target one or both accounts, as lawmakers look for ways to pay for other programs within the massive spending bill. Overall, the recommended appropriation for the Census Bureau is 12 percent above its 2005 funding level. (Neither the bill nor committee report numbers are available as of this writing.)
Appropriators support shift to ACS; prisoner enumeration to be studied: The bill allocates $213.849 million -- $630,000 below the request -- to continue designing a short form-only census in 2010. The committee noted in report language accompanying the bill that a simplified, streamlined census should cost $2 billion less than repeating a traditional census with a long form. The bill also includes $79.799 million, the amount requested, for continued updates to the address list (MAF) and digital maps (TIGER system). The committee urged federal, state, and local agencies to share address and geographic information with the Census Bureau, and instructed the bureau to use currently available information whenever possible to improve the MAF and TIGER system.
The American Community Survey (ACS) received $169.948 million, the amount requested. In 2006, the Bureau plans to add group quarters (such as college dorms, nursing homes, and prisons) to the survey for the first time. The committee noted that its support for replacing the once-a-decade long form with an ongoing survey remains "steadfast."
The appropriations bill requires the Census Bureau to continue collecting data on "some other race" in the census, a directive first included in last year's appropriations bill. Before Congress intervened, the bureau had begun testing a revised census race question that eliminated the "some other race" option.
The committee report also directs the Census Bureau to evaluate a change in the way prisoners are counted in the decennial census. Current residence rules place prisoners in the institution in which they are incarcerated on Census Day. Several prison reform advocacy groups have proposed counting prisoners at their pre-incarceration place of residence. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law issued a report last year, Accuracy Counts: Incarcerated People and the Census, in which it argues that counting inmates at their prison location deprives their home communities of funding for services and programs, as well as fair political representation in state legislatures and Congress. The number of people incarcerated in rural prisons grew significantly in the 1990s, the report notes, with 40 percent of the nation's prison population now housed in rural facilities. The Census Bureau would have 90 days to complete its study of an alternative counting method for prisoners, if the final appropriations bill retains the House report language.
The Brennan Center report is available at: www.brennancenter.org/resources/cji/RV4_AccuracyCounts.pdf.
Floor amendments could target ACS, 2010 census funds: Funding for the American Community Survey or other Census Bureau programs could be at risk when the full House considers the Science/Commerce appropriations bill on June 14. Last year, ACS funds narrowly survived a vote on the House floor when Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) proposed shifting funds from the survey to a popular community policing program. Congressional sources indicate that Rep. Weiner might offer a similar amendment this year.
The Census Bureau has cautioned that key components of a redesigned 2010 census, including the ACS as a replacement for the traditional long form, could be at risk if Congress cuts funding for these programs below the requested amount. A cut of $52 million, the bureau said, would force it to abandon plans to use hand-held computers for field data collection. It also would eliminate plans for a 2006 field test on the Cheyenne Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and delay the award of a major data processing contract by six months.
If Congress cuts $26 million from the ACS, the Census Bureau said it would cancel plans to include group quarters in the survey and reduce the sample size by roughly 10 percent. The ACS could not produce reliable data for block groups and census tracts under those conditions, the Bureau warned. The bureau also would eliminate the Methods Panel planned for 2006, which is designed to test all new questionnaire wording and content before 2008, to ensure consistent data collection for the five year period through 2012, when the ACS will first produce block group and tract level data in place of the census long form.
Stakeholders urge full funding for ACS and 2010 census: A diverse group of stakeholder organizations sent a letter on June 9 to key House and Senate appropriators, urging them to reject efforts to reduce funding for the American Community Survey and 2010 census planning. "Operational risk and costs will escalate if the Census Bureau cannot thoroughly test and evaluate new methods and design features," the groups cautioned in their letter to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), chairman and ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce, and to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), their counterparts on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.
The stakeholders called the ACS "a relatively modest investment [that] will allow legislators to target more effectively hundreds of billions of dollars annually in program funds, and businesses to invest trillions of dollars more prudently, for the betterment of all communities." The full text of the letter will be available soon through the Communications Consortium Media Center ( www.ccmc.org <http://www.ccmc.org/> ), which has organized The Census Project with support from The Annie E. Casey Foundation. A second letter with additional signers may be sent this week.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations.
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