GIS Applications for Origin-Destination Surveys

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GIS Applications for Origin-Destination Surveys
Greg Spitz and John Lobb Resource Systems
Group gspitz_at_rsginc.com jlobb_at_rsginc.com Daniel
Jacobs MTA Bridges Tunnels Wayne
Bennion Wasatch Front Regional Council
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Origin-Destination (OD) Data

• Critical basis of knowledge for transportation
  operations, modeling, and future planning
• Essential for all transportation modes
• Often collected by DOTs and transit agencies, but
  not (yet) often analyzed with GIS
• OD data are inherently spatial, and visualization
  is key to understand them, thus the need for GIS

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Origin Destination Surveys

• Provide insights to
• Who the customers are
• Why customers are traveling
• How long they are traveling, and
• Where they are traveling, etc.
• Labor intensive data collection efforts
• Used to understand current demand and plan for
  future demand
• Critical data for calibrating travel models

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GIS Tools in action

• MTA Bridges and Tunnels largest toll agency in
  US
• Wasatch Front Regional Council Utah Transit
  Authority transit on-board survey
• Two different agencies, modes, and application
  purposes
• GIS the common denominator to solve issues for
  these different purposes

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2004 MTA BT Origin Destination Survey

• Conducted roughly every 8-10 years
• 2004 Study
• 304,000 surveys distributed in CASH lanes
• 329,000 surveys mailed to E-ZPass customers
• Control Data collected in both CASH and E-ZPass
  lanes with Pocket-PCs
• E-ZPass sample from BT, PANYNJ, NYSTA, NYSBA,
  and NJRSC comprising 99 of all transactions
• Survey period 6AM to Midnight Weekday, Saturday,
  and Sunday

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MTA BT Survey TAZ Structure

• All zones are based on zip codes
• Geocoding of survey data only necessary to the
  zip code level
• Aggregations of zones used to form super zones

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GIS using static maps

• Static analysis with better presentation
• Easy to put together quickly
• Becoming more and more typical

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Survey Zone Map Close-up
DRAFT
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Super Zone Map
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Example of Static Map using super
zonesBronx-Whitestone Bridge Bronx Bound
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GIS Tool Purpose

• Take geospatial data and make it easier to
  visualize, analyze, and interpret
• Allow more in depth analyses beyond static
  reports
• Make the tool easy to use, so even a (skilled)
  monkey can use it
• Leverage GIS experts skills without taking too
  much of their time

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How was the tool made?

• ArcMap extension
• Access DB backend
• Currently developed to be a stand alone tool
  (could be made to be network/web enabled)
• Simple user interface created using VB
  development environment

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Income Distributions by Origin Zones
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Vehicle Occupancy by Origin Zone
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Specific Trip Analysis
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Travel Pattern Analysis
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2006 WFRC On-Board Transit Survey

• 3 surveys conducted in last 15 years
• Data primarily used for travel model development
  and forecast refinement
• 2006 survey
• Surveyed riders on 90 bus routes and the TRAX
  rail system
• Collected 5,600 surveys

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OD Data Mining is Cumbersome

• Survey database has over 100 columns and 5600
  rows (difficult to view all relevant variables at
  once)
• TAZ number and/or address text may not be
  immediately recognizable (data is spatial)

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GIS Tool Purpose (WFRC)

• Preliminary review of the data suggested that the
  2006 survey transfer rates were unreasonable
• Interest in examining individual survey records
  efficiently

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GIS tool (WFRC)

• Goals
• Local QA/QC
• Efficiently examine each record
• Easy data editing/entry
• Gain confidence in the data used for model
  calibration (e.g. transfer rates)

• Features
• Custom ArcGIS application
• Visualize transit path details for one record at
  a time
• Routes
• Origin/Destination
• Boarding/Alighting
• Data viewing/editing window

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Screen capture of GIS Tool
Reported data
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Survey Errors Identified

1. People reported multiple paths they sometimes
   take, rather than simply their current path
   (question 7)
2. Inconsistency between routes and OD pair
3. Geocoding errors
4. Illogical route sequence

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Example of Multiple Paths between same OD Pair
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Another example of multiple paths between same OD
pair
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Summary

• Application clearly identified obvious
  inconsistencies and errors, resulting in a more
  reliable database.
• Visualization of these records would also be
  extremely helpful in assessing survey design and
  reducing respondent error.

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User-friendly GIS tools developed for planners
and analysts

• GIS tools allow planners and others to drill down
  on the data
• Tool interface confines the problem (both a good
  and bad thing)
• Interface makes analysis much easier and doesnt
  require in-depth software/data knowledge
• Tools allow analysts to get more out of their
  data collection investment

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Questions ?

• Please use the Microphone.