Portfolio case study · National travel survey

How income and vehicle access shape the commute.

A weighted analysis of the 2022 National Household Travel Survey, built across SAS, SPSS, Python, Power BI, and Excel.

Verified rebuild 10 automated tests V2.1 public use
01 · Mode split 90.5%

of reported usual commutes are by private vehicle.

02 · Access gap 18.6%

of low-income households have no vehicle.

03 · Conditional model 1.68×

high-vs-low transit/shared odds when vehicle count is held constant.

Analysis snapshot

One survey, three analytical levels.

The analysis keeps households, people, and trips separate so each estimate uses the correct weight and denominator.

Households7,893WTHHFIN
People16,997WTPERFIN
Travel-day trips31,074WTTRDFIN
Mode model6,044complete commuters

Weighted descriptive results

The commute is car-dominant. Access is not evenly distributed.

Income band

Usual commute mode

All reported commuters

Weighted share

Whisker labels show Taylor-linearized 95% confidence intervals.

Vehicle access

All households

Household level
8.4% of households have no vehicle
Mean household vehicles 1.83

95% CI: 7.5%–9.3%

18.6%

of low-income households have no vehicle, compared with 2.9% of high-income households.

Weighted multinomial logit

Income effects after adjustment.

Private vehicle is the reference outcome. Low income is the reference income band. The model also controls for age, sex, education, household vehicles, and urban residence.

Comparison Adjusted odds ratio

Analysis integrity

The result has an audit trail.

Sample exclusions, model diagnostics, sensitivity analysis, source checksums, and numerical regression tests are generated with the results.

Model sample flow

Primary model diagnostics

Household clusters4,255
Design strata20
McFadden R²0.168
Gradient norm1.4e-7

Sensitivity check

What changes without vehicle count?

Household vehicle count may partly sit on the pathway between income and mode choice. The alternate model removes it while retaining the same 6,044-person cohort.

Reproducible workflow

One question, five tools.

Each tool has a defined role, and every published metric traces back to the official V2.1 public-use files.

  1. 01SAS

    Survey-weighted estimates, Taylor standard errors, and sample sizing.

  2. 02SPSS

    Portable weighted NOMREG specification; Python remains the primary complex-sample inference.

  3. 03Python

    Data validation, clustered sandwich inference, automation, and tests.

  4. 04Power BI

    Star-schema extracts and DAX measures for an interactive report.

  5. 05Excel

    Executive summary, editable charts, model tables, and sample calculator.

Methods that hold up in an interview

The design is part of the answer.

The 2022 public-use release does not contain replicate weights. Estimates therefore use the survey design variables and Taylor-series linearization recommended in the official weighting documentation.

View the official NHTS source
Income
Imputed household income grouped into <$50k, $50k–$99,999, and $100k+.
Variance
STRATUMID with HOUSEID clustering for person-level estimates.
Mode groups
Private vehicle, transit/shared, and walk/bike.
Validation
Source-file checksums, unique keys, positive weights, sample flow, numerical baselines, optimizer convergence, and automated output tests.

Inspect the work

Download the complete analysis package.

Includes official source data, reproducible Python, SAS and SPSS programs, Power BI extracts, the Excel dashboard, sensitivity analysis, provenance manifest, tests, survey instrument, and interview guide.

Download complete project ZIP