01520324

Component

The democratization of ICT in the form of GPS, motion detection technologies, and internet connectivity in smartphones has led to a proliferation of mobile applications which can detect and record an individual’s travel behaviors. Compared with common methods of collecting transportation data, such as travel diaries and single-purpose gadgets (e.g. pedometers), the use of smartphone features can make data collection both more accurate and easier for both researcher and participants. In order to enable these benefits, ongoing research has focused on the software design for the collection of this data as a primary effort. Commercially available apps with similar functionality have found market niches in the ‘fully instrumented’ or ‘Quantified Self’ movement as enablers of physical fitness tracking. This paper outlines a web application prototype that interfaces with one such third-party tracking application, Moves, to automatically collect travel data in a format convenient to both users and researchers. The prototype application registers a participant with a research study and guides them through the process of authenticating researcher access of their Moves data. While dedicated travel survey apps aim to replicate the functionality of apps like Moves, they require separate installation and additional attention from study participants. The described web application, combined with Moves, requires almost no additional user interaction. This method is a lightweight, flexible solution for researchers looking to quickly test new hypotheses, allowing the researcher to progress rapidly from concept to research. Using data in this fashion expands the universe of travelers that researchers can reach.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABJ40 Travel Survey Methods.

01503729

14-4111

English

20p

2014

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References (19)

Connectivity; Data collection; Intelligent transportation systems; Internet; Motion perception; Smartphones; Software; Technological innovations; Travel behavior; Travel diaries; Web applications; Websites (Information retrieval)

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I70: Traffic and Transport

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2014 Paper #14-4111

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 3:25PM