Authorities have invited 35,000 households in Hong Kong to take part in a once-in-a-decade survey aimed at better understanding residents’ commuting patterns and how they are affected by new technology and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commencing the four-month survey on Monday, the Transport Department said the traffic data gauged in the HK$15 million (US$1.91 million) project was necessary for future development plans.

“All those [plans] will need to conduct their own [traffic impact assessment], which will be based on our latest travel characteristics data. In other words, this data will have an impact on all developments,” said Tony Yau Kwok-ting, the deputy commissioner for transport (planning and technical services).

Yau said the information would be useful for development plans including the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project – a massive land reclamation scheme – and the Northern Metropolis, a housing plan proposed by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor when she was city leader last year. The latter aims to transform 30,000 hectares of rural area covering Yuen Long and North district near the border into an economic and residential hub, housing up to 2.5 million people in the next two decades.

The respondents will be asked about the duration of their commute journeys, their choices of transport mode, their views on transport infrastructure and if they use transport apps on smartphones, among other questions.

The government is aiming to complete the survey by December and release preliminary results by June next year.

The survey will also look into how technology, such as real-time traffic information provided on smartphone apps, has affected commuting habits, while the influence of changing lifestyles will also be studied.

“The pandemic has prompted residents to work and study from home. Our daily lives will be reshaped even after the pandemic is over,” Yau said.

The survey will also look into the impact of new transport infrastructure completed in the past decade, including the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in 2018, as well as the extension of the East Rail railway line connecting Hong Kong Island to the northeastern New Territories this year.

The government is aiming to complete the survey by December and release preliminary results by June next year, while the full report will be published some time in 2023 or 2024.

The 35,000 selected households will receive invitation letters to the survey by batches and they can choose to fill in an online questionnaire or do phone or face-to-face interviews. Participants will not need to provide personal information, such as their ID card number and full name.

The department added that it was not mandatory for residents to respond to the survey, but called for active participation as it would help in the government’s transport planning.

The surveying period could be lengthened if social-distancing curbs were tightened as the measures might affect residents’ commuting patterns, Yau said.

About 180 staff have been hired to conduct interviews with households. The department added that they would follow stringent anti-epidemic measures, such as undergoing rapid antigen tests every day before making household visits.