BACKGROUND

Private-sector travel origin-destination (O/D) data has become increasingly popular in a variety of transportation planning applications, including travel demand modeling. But evolving privacy regulations, computational algorithms, and data sources may introduce uncertainties and biases in data quality and stability. The rise of new and big data sources for trip flows adds further complexity, raising concerns about sample size and data representativeness. Each provider’s O/D data has unique characteristics, making direct comparisons and validation challenging. 

State departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies need to assess/validate the quality of passenger and freight crowdsourced O/D data. Currently, limited standard guidance exists for such a validation process, leading to potential inconsistencies or biases. Additionally, discrepancies in spatial and temporal granularity, as well as in inferred trip characteristics among vendors, require adaptable guidance. Research is needed to develop comprehensive O/D data accuracy assessment and validation frameworks to support transportation planning agencies in setting data standards and adapting to evolving data sources. 

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a guide for crowdsourced vehicle O/D data assessment and validation for transportation planning applications.   

Accomplishment of the project objective will require at least the following tasks.

TASKS

PHASE I—Planning

Task 1.  Investigate how practitioners and researchers have approached validating crowdsourced O/D data in transportation planning through a literature review, surveys, and/or interviews. Information may be obtained from published and unpublished sources and through the NCHRP; the Federal Highway Administration; and other national, state, and pooled fund sponsored research. 

Task 2.  Conduct a survey of a representative sample of O/D data vendors/aggregators to understand data validation practices and current methods. It shall also include questions on primary data sources, concerns over availability and reliability of location-based services (LBS) data, and the applicability of other emerging data sources and their processing algorithms resulting from recent advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence. The survey shall be accompanied by follow-up interviews as needed. 

Task 3. Based on the results of Tasks 1 and 2, identify best practices and knowledge gaps in validating proprietary third-party O/D data used to estimate travel patterns in the following categories: characteristics of different data sources, data imputation processes (imputing mode, home/work locations, link volumes, trip records, etc.), data expansion, and spatial/temporal data granularity and extent. The knowledge gaps should be addressed in the final product or the recommended future research, as the budget permits. 

Task 4. Propose the work plan to be executed in Phase II to achieve the research objective. At a minimum, the work plan shall include: 

• Independent validation and sensitivity testing procedures that consider:
  • Passenger vs. freight vehicle data categories 
  • Different types of data (e.g., GPS data, Bluetooth data, connected vehicle data, location-based services data)
  • Sampling rate and durations 
  • Representativeness of the data at different scales (local vs. regional) in terms of sociodemographic groups, resident vs. visitor, internal vs. external trips, trip length frequency distribution, etc. 
  • Relationships between the O/D data and the production and attraction data
  • Different use cases such as planning, modeling, policy analyses, etc. 
  • Different contexts (urban vs. rural or regional vs. corridor vs. site, seasonal variations, etc.)
  • Periodic quality assurance/quality control procedures  
• Developing a guide for crowdsourced O/D data assessment and validation for transportation planning applications. The guide shall consider resources required to execute the validation plan by state DOTs. 

Task 5. Prepare a draft annotated outline for the guide. The annotated outline is intended to provide the foundation, context, and framework for the guide that will be developed in Phase II. 

Task 6. Prepare Interim Report No. 1, which documents Tasks 1 through 5 and provides an updated work plan for the remainder of the research. The updated work plan must describe the process and rationale for the work proposed for Phases II and III.

PHASE II—Execution 

Task 7. Execute the work plan according to the approved Interim Report No. 1.

Task 8. Conduct a virtual workshop to gather feedback on the draft guide from a variety of audiences (including the surveyed individuals and agencies as part of Tasks 1 and 2). Revise the draft guide according to the feedback received from the virtual workshop.

Task 9. Prepare Interim Report No. 2, which documents Tasks 7 and 8 and provides an updated work plan for the remainder of the research. The updated work plan must describe the process and rationale for the work proposed for Phase III. 

PHASE III—Final Products 

Task 10. Revise the draft guide after consideration of the panel’s review comments. 

Task 11. Conduct an overview webinar to communicate research findings and a virtual technical training session on how to apply the final guide within the last 3 months of the contract period. 

Task 12. Submit the draft final deliverables, including (1) a final report that documents the entire research effort, (2) the guide, (3) a stand-alone technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products, and (4) a PowerPoint presentation to present the research findings to the panel.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.