Smart Phone Application to Influence Travel Behavior (TRAC-IT Phase 3)

This three-phase research study focuses on using innovative technology to better understand and pattern household travel behavior for the purposes of educating, promoting, and encouraging households to utilize other alternatives to driving alone. The scope of Phase 1 called for preliminary development and testing of a portable unit consisting of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a global positioning system (GPS) device, and a wireless card, all-in-one unit nicknamed “TRAC-IT.” Phase 2 investigated the impact of the travel feedback advisory system on household travel behavior. The objective of Phase 3 was to determine the capabilities of GPS-enabled mobile phones in tracking person movements across modes (car, bike, bus, etc.) and over extended time periods (e.g., weekly versus daily). A basic requirement of the system was that the mobile device selected had to be a commercially available, low cost, off-the-shelf, and a widely used device. The device also had to be equipped with embedded GPS capabilities for highly accurate position data, able to communicate this information wirelessly back to a server, and able to receive user input allowing the manual entry of survey data by participants that cannot be extracted from GPS data. Wireless communication features of the mobile phone were envisioned to offer the user with real-time information that could influence their current travel behavior. The use of GPS-enabled mobile phones and an application such as TRAC-IT presents a unique opportunity to collect high-resolution individual travel behavior data that are instantly transferred to a server for analysis by transportation professionals. As more “indoor GPS” (high-sensitivity) chips become available in the mobile phone market, it is expected that GPS data from mobile phones that are more accurate will be collected and these should be able to obtain location fixes where current phones cannot. Based on the continuous research of new innovative approaches to travel data collection using location-based approaches, the TRAC-IT research team concluded that GPS-enabled mobile phones will continue to be a vital tool in travel behavior data collection.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.5038/CUTR-NCTR-RR-2006-08
• 
• Record URL:
  https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/research/reports/fdot-bd549-35-rpt.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Center for Transit Research

  Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida
  4202 East Fowler Avenue, CUT 100
  Tampa, FL  United States  33620

  Florida Department of Transportation

  605 Suwannee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32399-0450

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Winters, Philip L
  • Barbeau, Sean J
  • Georggi, Nevine L
• Publication Date: 2008-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 140p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cellular telephones; Global Positioning System; Mode choice; Public transit; Smart growth; Smart structures; Surveys; Tracking systems; Transit operating agencies; Travel behavior; Travel surveys
• Uncontrolled Terms: Feedback
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01108657
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: BD-549-35
• Contract Numbers: BD 549 WO 35
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 20 2008 9:06AM