What should I actually compare between engagement platforms?

Six things, in roughly this order of how often they turn out to matter: the depth of the map-based question types, whether language access is built into the survey or bolted on as separate translated documents, whether responses can be identity-verified, whether you can export raw geometry rather than pictures, how the pricing scales as your program grows, and whether the tool can run the same instrument again next year without drift. Feature-list length is a poor predictor of any of these.

Why does map question depth matter so much?

Because transportation questions are spatial and most survey platforms are not. There is a large practical difference between "show a map with pins" and the ability to have a respondent draw an arbitrary route, rank several proposed alignments, or select one line out of a displayed network. If your study needs any of the latter three, a tool that only does the first will force you into workarounds that degrade the data.

What does TIPS charge for?

Plans are tiered on monthly usage — survey completions, Traveler profiles, email sends, users, and active surveys — with published overage rates rather than a renegotiation when you exceed a limit. Current tiers and limits are on the Services page. There is a free 14-day trial with no card required.

Can we get our data out?

Yes, at any time and without asking us. CSV for the tabular answers, GeoJSON for every map question's geometry, and a read-only JSON API for programmatic pulls. Data portability is worth checking carefully with any vendor you evaluate — it is the thing that determines how expensive it is to leave.

Is TIPS a full public-engagement suite?

No, and it is worth being direct about that. TIPS is a survey platform with deep map-based question types and reporting built for transportation research. It does not host discussion forums, idea walls, comment moderation on documents, or a public-facing project website. If your process requires those, evaluate the suites — and if what you actually need is a rigorous spatial survey with a defensible record, that is the thing TIPS is built to do.

How long does it take to get a survey in the field?

A straightforward instrument built from one of the included templates — rider satisfaction, microtransit demand, commuter mode choice, route realignment, ADA paratransit — can be customized and fielded the same day. A study with custom map boundaries, several languages, and a stakeholder mailing list is realistically a week of setup, most of which is writing the questions.

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Looking for a MetroQuest alternative?

We're not going to tell you what another vendor can or can't do — their product changes and we don't run it. What we can give you is the checklist that actually separates these tools in practice, and a straight answer about where TIPS fits and where it doesn't.

The short version. TIPS is a transportation survey platform with four map-based question types, built-in multilingual fielding, response verification, cross-channel deduplication, and unrestricted CSV/GeoJSON/API export. It is not a full engagement suite — no forums, idea walls, or project microsites. If the spatial survey is the hard part of your process, keep reading.

Six questions worth asking every vendor

Procurement for engagement software tends to run on feature-matrix comparisons, which reward whoever wrote the longest list. These six questions are the ones that predict whether you'll be happy eighteen months in.

1. How deep are the map questions?

Ask for a demo of a respondent drawing an arbitrary route, not just dropping a pin. Then ask what comes out the other end — coordinates, or a picture. TIPS has four map types (Display, Selector, Creator, Ranker) and exports full geometry as GeoJSON.

2. Is language access in the survey or beside it?

There's a real difference between a translated PDF posted next to the survey and a survey a respondent can take in their language, with the invitation email translated too, whose answers land in the same dataset as everyone else's. TIPS does the latter.

3. Can a response be verified?

When someone challenges your record, the useful answer is "here are the identity-verified responses, and they show the same result." TIPS marks responses verified when identity is established by an emailed link or a confirmed address, and reports the counts separately.

4. What does deduplication cover?

Most tools dedupe within a channel. The question is what happens when the same person answers the emailed invitation and scans the flyer. TIPS deduplicates across every channel on the collected email address.

5. How hard is it to leave?

Export terms are the real switching cost. Confirm you can pull raw response data and raw geometry yourself, on demand, without a support request. TIPS gives you CSV, GeoJSON, and a read-only API on every plan that includes API access.

6. What happens when you run it again?

Longitudinal programs die when the instrument drifts. TIPS deep-copies a survey — questions, options, and map routes — for the next wave, and snapshots the original question wording onto historical responses so editing a live survey can't retroactively change what last year's numbers meant.

Being straight about it

Where TIPS is the wrong choice.

If your process is built around a public-facing project website with document commenting, moderated discussion threads, an idea wall, or a full engagement CRM, TIPS is not that product and you should evaluate the suites that are.

TIPS is the right choice when the hard part of your process is the survey itself — spatial questions, language access, a defensible sample, and data that has to survive contact with a GIS desk and a board meeting.

Where TIPS is the right choice

Common questions

What should I actually compare between engagement platforms?: Six things, in roughly this order of how often they turn out to matter: the depth of the map-based question types, whether language access is built into the survey or bolted on as separate translated documents, whether responses can be identity-verified, whether you can export raw geometry rather than pictures, how the pricing scales as your program grows, and whether the tool can run the same instrument again next year without drift. Feature-list length is a poor predictor of any of these.
Why does map question depth matter so much?: Because transportation questions are spatial and most survey platforms are not. There is a large practical difference between "show a map with pins" and the ability to have a respondent draw an arbitrary route, rank several proposed alignments, or select one line out of a displayed network. If your study needs any of the latter three, a tool that only does the first will force you into workarounds that degrade the data.
What does TIPS charge for?: Plans are tiered on monthly usage — survey completions, Traveler profiles, email sends, users, and active surveys — with published overage rates rather than a renegotiation when you exceed a limit. Current tiers and limits are on the Services page. There is a free 14-day trial with no card required.
Can we get our data out?: Yes, at any time and without asking us. CSV for the tabular answers, GeoJSON for every map question's geometry, and a read-only JSON API for programmatic pulls. Data portability is worth checking carefully with any vendor you evaluate — it is the thing that determines how expensive it is to leave.
Is TIPS a full public-engagement suite?: No, and it is worth being direct about that. TIPS is a survey platform with deep map-based question types and reporting built for transportation research. It does not host discussion forums, idea walls, comment moderation on documents, or a public-facing project website. If your process requires those, evaluate the suites — and if what you actually need is a rigorous spatial survey with a defensible record, that is the thing TIPS is built to do.
How long does it take to get a survey in the field?: A straightforward instrument built from one of the included templates — rider satisfaction, microtransit demand, commuter mode choice, route realignment, ADA paratransit — can be customized and fielded the same day. A study with custom map boundaries, several languages, and a stakeholder mailing list is realistically a week of setup, most of which is writing the questions.

Evaluate it against your own study

The trial is 14 days and takes no card. Build the survey you're actually being asked to field and see whether the map questions and the export do what your project needs.

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