Anonymous Cellphone-Based Large-Scale Origin-Destination Data Collection: Case Studies in China

Origin-Destination (O-D) data is one of the most important data sources in transportation planning. However, traditional O-D data gathering methods can be extremely expensive and require a great deal of effort in terms of raw data collecting and processing. Today, cellphones are widely used by the public for daily communications, even in developing countries. This enormous number of users enables the feasibility of adopting cellphones as probes to collect O-D data. Compared to traditional O-D data-gathering methods, cellphone-based technology is more cost efficient, while facilitating better coverage. However, field applications of this method are limited, especially in large scale regions with high populations. This paper describes the procedures for collecting and processing cellphone data to generate O-D information in large scale areas. Case studies were conducted in four major cities in China to assess the feasibility of the presented method in large scale field implementation. It is concluded that the presented method can generate O-D tables for large cities with high populations. By comparison, the generated results showed a good match to the results of traditional survey methods, which proves that the presented method has a reliable accuracy level.