Method and system for using cellular data for transportation planning and engineering

Abstract

Using data from a wireless telephony network to support transportation planning and engineering. Data related to wireless network users is extracted from the wireless network to determine the location of a mobile station. Additional location records for the mobile station can be used to characterize the movement of the mobile station: its speed, its route, its point of origin and destination, and its primary and secondary transportation analysis zones. Aggregating data associated with multiple mobile stations allows characterizing and predicting traffic parameters, including traffic speeds and volumes along routes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for providing an origination-destination matrix comprising the steps of:
 identifying, by a computer, a trip initiation event for a trip associated with a mobile station;   determining, by the computer, a transportation analysis zone associated with the trip initiation event;   identifying, by the computer, a plurality of location records associated with the trip for the mobile station, wherein the location records comprise locations of the mobile station after the trip initiation event;   identifying, by the computer, a destination point associated with the trip, wherein the destination point comprises one of the plurality of location records and the location record represents the final location of the mobile station;   determining, by the computer, the transportation analysis zone associated with the destination point; and   recording, by the computer, the origination and destination of the trip in the origination-destination matrix, the origination being the transportation analysis zone associated with the trip initiation event and destination being the transportation analysis zone associated with the destination point, wherein the origination-destination matrix comprises at least two dimensions wherein a first dimension comprises a plurality of transportation analysis zones within a geographic area associated with an origin of a trip and the second dimension comprises a plurality of transportation analysis zones within a geographic area associated with a destination of a trip.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of estimating, by the computer, the movement of traffic through a geographic region comprising the transportation analysis zone associated with the trip initiation event and the transportation analysis zone associated with the destination point within a certain period of time. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of characterizing, by the computer, the purpose of the trip. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of characterizing the purpose of the trip comprises determining, by the computer, whether the trip is to the user of the mobile station's location of work. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of determining, by the computer, if the location associated with the trip initiation event is the residence of the user of the mobile station and determining, by the computer, if the location associated with the trip initiation event is the either the workplace of the user of the mobile station or a commercial retail location visited by the user of the mobile station. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of determining, by the computer, a primary transportation analysis zone for the mobile station. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
 identifying, by a computer, a plurality of location records associated with a first trip for a mobile station, wherein the location records comprise locations of the mobile station after a first trip initiation event;   identifying, by the computer, a plurality of location records associated with a plurality of subsequent trips for the mobile station, wherein, for each subsequent trip, the location records comprise locations of the mobile station after a trip initiation event for that subsequent trip;   determining, by the computer, a transportation analysis zone for each of the location records; and   assigning, by the computer, a primary transportation analysis zone for the mobile station based on the determined transportation analysis zones for each of the location records.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the step of characterizing, by the computer, the primary transportation analysis zone. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the characterization step comprises determining if the primary transportation analysis zone is a work place, residence, or commercial retail location. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising the step of assigning, by the computer, at least one secondary transportation analysis zone for the mobile station based on the determined transportation analysis zones for each of the location records. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
 a) identifying, by a computer, a node within a transportation analysis zone, wherein the node is characterized by a geographical area;   b) at the beginning of a time interval, determining, by the computer, a number of mobile stations within the geographic area associated with the node during the first time interval; and   c) recording, by the computer, the number of mobile stations within the geographic area associated with the node at the beginning of the time interval.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the computer extracts data from a wireless network to determine the location of the mobile stations. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the node comprises an intersection of at least two streets. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the node comprises a point of interest. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the step of repeating steps  1 ) through c) for a plurality of nodes within the transportation analysis zone. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the step of adjusting, by the computer, the value recorded at step c) by a factor to account for the number of an entity within the geographic area associated with the node that do not have active mobile stations. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the entity is a motor vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the entity is a person. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
 a) identifying, by a computer, a node within a transportation analysis zone, wherein the node is characterized by a geographical area;   b) during a time interval, determining, by the computer, a number of mobile stations that enter the geographic area associated with the node during the time interval; and   c) recording, by the computer, the number of mobile stations that entered the geographic area associated with the node during the time interval.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the computer extracts data from a wireless network to determine the location of the mobile stations. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the node comprises an intersection of at least two streets. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the node comprises a point of interest. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising the step of repeating steps  1 ) through c) for a plurality of nodes within the transportation analysis zone. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising the step of adjusting, by the computer, the value recorded at step c) by a factor to account for the number of an entity within the geographic area associated with the node that do not have active mobile stations. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the entity is a motor vehicle. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the entity is a person. 
     
     
         27 . A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
 a) identifying, by a computer, a node within a transportation analysis zone, wherein the node is characterized by a geographical area;   b) during a time interval, determining, by the computer, a number of mobile stations that depart from the geographic area associated with the node during the time interval; and   c) recording, by the computer, the number of mobile stations that departed from the geographic area associated with the node during the time interval.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the computer extracts data from a wireless network to determine the location of the mobile stations. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the node comprises an intersection of at least two streets. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the node comprises a point of interest. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising the step of repeating steps  1 ) through c) for a plurality of nodes within the transportation analysis zone. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising the step of adjusting, by the computer, the value recorded at step c) by a factor to account for the number of an entity within the geographic area associated with the node that do not have active mobile stations. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the entity is a motor vehicle. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the entity is a person. 
     
     
         35 . A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
 a) identifying, by a computer, a plurality of node within a transportation analysis zone, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is characterized by a geographical area;   b) assigning, by the computer, a designator to each of the plurality of nodes;   c) determining, by the computer, the designator for the node associated with a first location for a first mobile station;   d) determining, by the computer, the designator for each subsequent node associated with locations at subsequent times within a time interval for the first mobile station;   e) determining, by the computer, a route for the first mobile station, wherein the route comprises a sequence of node designators comprising the designator for the node associated with the first location for the first mobile station and the designator for each subsequent node associated with locations at subsequent times within the time interval for the first mobile station in time order;   f) repeating steps c)-e) for a plurality of additional mobile stations; and   g) identifying, by the computer, mobile stations with common routes;   wherein the computer extracts data from a wireless network to determine the locations of the mobile stations.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the nodes comprise an intersection of at least two streets. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the nodes comprise a point of interest. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein a portion of the locations are determined by the computer based on historical data extracted from the wireless network. 
     
     
         39 . A computer-implemented method for providing an origination-destination matrix comprising the steps of:
 identifying, by a computer, a trip initiation event for a trip associated with a mobile station;   determining, by the computer, a transportation analysis zone associated with the trip initiation event;   identifying, by the computer, a plurality of location records associated with the trip for the mobile station, wherein the location records comprise locations of the mobile station after the trip initiation event;   identifying, by the computer, a destination point associated with the trip, wherein the destination point comprises one of the plurality of location records and the location record represents the final location of the mobile station;   determining, by the computer, the transportation analysis zone associated with the destination point; and   recording, by the computer, the origination and destination of the trip in the origination-destination matrix, the origination being the transportation analysis zone associated with the trip initiation event and destination being the transportation analysis zone associated with the destination point, wherein the origination-destination matrix comprises at least two dimensions wherein a first dimension comprises at least one transportation analysis zone within a geographic area and a second dimension comprises a plurality of transportation analysis zones within a geographic area.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the first dimension comprises the transportation analysis zone within a geographic area associated with an origin of a trip for the mobile station and the second dimension comprises a plurality of transportation analysis zones associated with a destination of a trip. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the first dimension comprises the transportation analysis zone within a geographic area associated with a destination of a trip for the mobile station and the second dimension comprises a plurality of transportation analysis zones associated with an origin of a trip.