Training

• What is CTPP?
• Standard Tabulations
• Data Products
• Training
• Articles
• CTPP Status Report
• CTPP Contacts
• Related Links

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Computer Labs
• Electronic Guidebook
• Using CTPP data appropriately
• Presentations and Other Resources
• Conferences

Frequently Asked Questions

Census, ACS, and CTPP: Some General Information and Trouble Shooting (March 13, 2007):

Census 2010

Census 2010 will be only a SHORT FORM Census. This means NO LONG FORM questions. The LONG FORM questions are asked in a continuous survey called the American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs/www).

For a list of questions in Census 2010, please see an article in the Wall Street Journal Feb 23, 2007. There are 6 basic questions and an additional 3 for "householder" which have not yet been determined.

American Community Survey

Please see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/census/acs.htm This link includes links to training on ACS and a new book by Cynthia Taueber.

Census Transportation Planning Package

Main website: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/

Training: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/training.htm

Some general FAQs

1. What should I do when I get my CTPP CD with the CTPP Access Tool a.k.a the Browser?

• Please see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/sr0105.htm (Article under Ed Christopher).

Also read the following for PART 3.

• Instructions for using the CTPP Access Tool for Part 3
• Errors in Part 3 Tables on the CD-ROM Version
• See Trouble Shooting with the CTPP Software Below.

2. Why do my employment numbers in CTPP look lower than total employment in my area?

Please see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/ctppatwork.htm and http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/sr0503.htm "A discussion on some Census terms"

Generally speaking, about 25 percent of workers do not provide sufficient information about workplace locations, so their workplace is imputed using travel time, travel mode, industry and occupation.

3. Why do my Part 3 tables look so odd?

SOME of the Part 3 tables were subject to THRESHOLDS. All of the CTPP is subject to ROUNDING. Part 3 Tables 1 and 2 are NOT subject to thresholds.

• Please see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ctpp/balance.htm and also see Using Tables from Part 3 of CTPP: A note of caution

However, those subject to the thresholds have a LOT of SUPPRESSION for small geography. http://www.trbcensus.com/notes/small_area_data.pdf

One way to get around rounding and thresholds for Part 3 is to use Table 3-14 and Table 3-8. For instructions, please see http://www.chrispy.net/pipermail/ctpp-news/2005-May/001338.html

Trouble shooting CTPP Software:

A copy of the tutorial is posted at ftp://ftp.camsys.com/clientsupport/CTPPdata/software/tutorial2.exe

1. XP environment: Software closes after session creation with an "Beyond 2020 caused an INI error."

Solution: This problem seems to occur only on some Windows XP platforms. In most cases, the software might have created the session, but is prevented from opening the "Open Session Table" screen. Allow the software to close, and restart the software, and double click on the open the session folder. All session tables should appear.

If tables still don't show up, click on MY DOCUMENTS on your desktop. Navigate to your CTPP Sessions folder. If this were on your hard drive as C:\CTPP\Sessions, navigate to c:\CTPP, and right click on Sessions. Click on Properties, and on the GENERAL tab. Then Click on ADVANCED, and check the box that says "For fast searching, allow the indexing service to index this folder." Click OK.

Now, re-open the session.

2. Software won't install claiming something about a 16-bit program and Auto-exec.NT file.

Solution: Refer to Microsoft instructions at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324767 . If you are unsure, please contact your system administrator.

3. Software does not go beyond the "Select Geography Screen."

Solution:

1. Make sure your data path points to the folder containing the IVT files. If E:\ were your CD-ROM drive, and you were working on New York, your Data path should be E:\NY (IMPORTANT NOT TO HAVE ANOTHER "\" "E:\NY\" WON'T WORK).
2. Similarly, make sure you have sessions folder, and the software points to it correctly. For example, C:\CTPP\Session

Computer Labs

FHWA staff periodically conduct onsite computer labs to train users on CTPP 2000, National Personal Travel Survey, and the American Community Survey. To request a class for your state or area, please contact your FHWA Division Office or Ed Christopher at the FHWA Resource Center Planning Team (708-283-3534, edc@berwyned.com).

CTPP 2000 Electronic Guidebook

The CTPP 2000 Guidebook is a CD-ROM based self-paced, individualized training on CTPP. The guidebook contains 4 modules and 5 case studies. The modules provide an introduction to Census data, including how the decennial census is conducted, introduction to CTPP 2000 including all the tables, the variable categories, and issues such as confidentiality, rounding, thresholds, etc. The 5 case studies show how the census data can be used in transportation planning applications.

A copy of the CTPP guidebook CDs were mailed to all State DOTs, MPOs and FHWA Division Office planners in 2003.

To order additional copies, please contact Ed Christopher, FHWA Resource Center Planning Team, edc@berwyned.com or 708-283-3534.

Using CTPP data appropriately

• Understanding Thresholds and Rounding
• CTPP Workers-at-Work Compared to Other Employment Estimates

Presentations and Other Resources

• Streaming Video of Presentation on CTPP 2000 and NHTS (By Elaine Murakami, and Ed Christopher)
• TRB Census Website
• Various Presentations on ACS Data

Conferences

• TRB Conference on Census Data for Tranportation Planning: Preparing for the Future