Modeling Trip-Length Distribution of Shopping Center Trips from GPS Data
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 145, Issue 1
Abstract
Automobile trip lengths are increasingly used in the calculation of development impact fees or bulk services contributions, affecting the revenue collected by local authorities. It is, however, difficult to obtain accurate estimates of current or predicted trip distances, and the empirical evidence base is relatively thin. Global positioning system (GPS) technology might provide a more accurate way of filling this data gap at a lower cost. The paper describes the use of mobile GPS loggers to collect and analyze trip-length data for car-based trips to and from shopping centers based on data collected from drivers in the Pretoria–Johannesburg area of South Africa. We verify the minimum stopped-time criterion used to identify trip ends under local conditions. Significant variation in trip lengths is observed, but average trip lengths vary systematically by shopping center type and size. Average GPS-derived trip lengths were found to be significantly longer than those estimated using conventional surveys in Florida, especially for smaller centers, raising the possibility that conventional methods lead to underestimation of the traffic impacts of individual centers. Although the study confirms the feasibility of using mobile GPS loggers for measuring trip lengths, several methodological questions remain to be solved to improve the robustness of the findings.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge and thank Dr. Adrian Ellison from the University of Sydney for his useful comments and The South African National Road Agency for sponsoring the original data collection.
References
Axhausen, K. W., S. Schonfelder, J. Wolf, M. Oliveira, and U. Samaga. 2003. “80 weeks of GPS traces: Approaches to enrich the trip information.” In Vol. 178 of Arbeitsbericht Verkehrs- und Raumplanung. Zürich, Switzerland: Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Transportsysteme, ETH Zürich.
Bricka, S., and C. Bhat. 2006. “Comparative analysis of global positioning system-based and travel survey-based data.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1972: 9–20. https://doi.org/10.3141/1972-04.
Bricka, S. G., S. Sen, R. Paleti, and C. R. Bhat. 2012. “An analysis of the factors influencing differences in surveys-reported and GPS-recorded trip.” Transp. Res. Part C 21 (1): 67–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2011.09.005.
Chen, C., H. Gong, C. Lawson, and E. Bailostozky. 2010. “Evaluating the feasibility of a passive travel survey collection in a complex urban environment: Lessons learned from the New York City case study.” Transp. Res. Part A 44 (10): 830–840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2010.08.004.
Citrus County. 2006. Impact fee study draft report. Lecanto, FL: Tindale-Oliver & Associates.
City of Albuquerque. 2004. Roadway facilities impact cost study. Tampa, FL: Tindale-Oliver & Associates.
Clifford, E., J. Zhang, and P. Stopher. 2008. Determining trip information using GPS data. ITS-WP-08-01. Camperdown, Australia: Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, Univ. of Sydney.
COJ (City of Johannesburg). 2008. Policy for engineering service contributions for roads and stormwater. Johannesburg, South Africa: Johannesburg Road Agency.
COTO (Committee of Transport Officials). 2012. South African traffic impact and site traffic assessment manual. Pretoria, South Africa: COTO.
COTO (Committee of Transport Officials). 2013. South African trip data manual. Pretoria, South Africa: COTO.
DOT (Department of Transport). 2005. The first South African national household travel survey 2003: Key results of the national household travel survey. Pretoria, South Africa: DOT.
Du, J., and L. Aultman-Hall. 2007. “Increasing the accuracy of trip rate information from passive multi-day GPS travel datasets: Automatic trip end identification.” Transp. Res. Part A 41 (3): 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2006.05.001.
Faghri, A., S. Aneja, and M. Vaziri. 1999. “Estimation of percentage of pass-by trips generated by a shopping center using artificial neural networks.” Transp. Plann. Technol. 22 (4): 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/03081069908717632.
Fan, H. S., and S. H. Lam. 1997. “Parking generation of commercial developments in Singapore.” J. Transp. Eng. 123 (3): 238–242. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(1997)123:3(238).
Greaves, S. P., and M. A. Figliozzi. 2008. “Collecting commercial vehicle tour data with passive global positioning system technology: Issues and potential applications.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2049: 158–166. https://doi.org/10.3141/2049-19.
Holguín-Veras, J., and E. Thorson. 2000. “Trip length distributions in commodity-based and trip-based freight demand modeling: Investigation of relationships.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1707: 37–48. https://doi.org/10.3141/1707-05.
Huang, A., and D. Levinson. 2016. “A model of two-destination choice in trip chains with GPS data.” J. Choice Modell. 24: 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocm.2016.04.002.
ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers). 2012. Trip generation manual. 9th ed. Washington, DC: ITE.
Jonker, N. J. 2016. Modelling the trip length distribution of shopping trips from GPS data. Pretoria, South Africa: Univ. of Pretoria.
Joubert, J. W., and S. Meintjes. 2015. “Repeatability & reproducibility: Implications of using GPS data for freight activity chains.” Transp. Res. Part B 76: 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2015.03.007.
Kelly, P., P. Krenn, S. Titze, P. Stopher, and C. Foster. 2013. “Quantifying the difference between self-reported and global positioning systems-measured journey durations: A systematic review.” Transp. Rev. 33 (4): 443–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2013.815288.
Lu, Y., S. Zhu, and L. Zhang. 2013. “Imputing trip purpose based on GPS travel survey data and machine learning methods.” In Proc., 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Ma, X., E. McCormack, and Y. Wang. 2011. “Processing commercial global positioning system data to develop a web-based truck performance measures program.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2246: 92–100. https://doi.org/10.3141/2246-12.
Ma, X., Y. Wang, E. McCormack, and Y. Wang. 2016. “Understanding freight trip chaining behavior using spatial data mining approach with GPS data.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2596: 44–54. https://doi.org/10.3141/2596-06.
Murakami, E., and D. P. Wagner. 1999. “Can using global positioning systems (GPS) improve trip reporting?” Transp. Res. Part C 7 (2–3): 149–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0968-090X(99)00017-0.
NCHRP (National Cooperative Highway Research Program). 2014. Applying GPS data to understand travel behaviour. Volume 1: Background, methods and testing. Washington, DC: NCHRP.
Pearson, D. F., V. G. Stover, and J. D. Benson. 1974. A procedure for estimation of trip length frequency distributions. Austin, TX: Texas Transport Institute.
Prinsloo, D. A. 2010. Classification and hierarchy of retail facilities in South Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa: Urban Studies.
Putnam, R. 2000. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Quiroga, C. A., and D. Bullock. 1999. “Measuring control delay at signalized intersections.” J. Transp. Eng. 125 (4): 271–280. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(1999)125:4(271).
Reumers, S., F. Liu, D. Janssens, and G. Wets. 2014. “The annotation of global positioning system (GPS) data with activity purposes using multiple machine learning algorithms.” In Mobile technologies for activity-travel data collection and analysis, edited by S. Rasouli and H. Timmermans, 119–133. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Rodriguez, D., A. L. Brown, and P. J. Troped. 2005. “Portable global positioning units to complement accelerometry-based physical activity monitors.” Supplement, Med. Sci. Sports Exercise 37 (S11): S572–S581. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000185297.72328.ce.
SACSC (South African Council of Shopping Centers). 2012. South African shopping center directory. Johannesburg, South Africa: SACSC.
Santos, A., N. McGuckin, H. Y. Nakamoto, D. Gray, and S. Liss. 2011. Summary of travel trends: 2009 national household travel survey. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Sharman, B. W., and M. J. Roorda. 2011. “Analysis of freight global positing system data: Clustering approach for identifying trip destinations.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2246: 83–91. https://doi.org/10.3141/2246-11.
Shen, L., and P. R. Stopher. 2014a. “Review of GPS travel survey and GPS data-processing methods.” Transp. Rev. 34 (3): 316–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2014.903530.
Shen, L., and P. R. Stopher. 2014b. “Using SenseCam to pursue “ground truth” for global positioning system travel surveys.” Transp. Res. Part C 42: 76–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2014.02.022.
Smith, S. A. 1986. “A methodology for consideration of pass-by trips in traffic impact analyses for shopping centers.” ITE J. 37–40.
Srinivasan, S., S. Bricka, and C. Bhat. 2009. Methodology for converting GPS navigational streams to the travel-diary data format. Gainesville, FL: Dept. of Civil and Coastal Engineering, Univ. of Florida.
Stopher, P. R., E. Clifford, J. Zhang, and C. FitzGerald. 2007. “Deducing mode and purpose from GPS data.” In Proc., Transportation Planning Applications Conf. of the Transportation Research Board. Daytona Beach, FL: Academic Press.
Stopher, P. R., C. FitzGerald, and J. Zhang. 2008. “Search for a global positioning system device to measure person travel.” Transp. Res. Part C 16 (3): 350–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2007.10.002.
Stover, V. G., and F. J. Koepke. 2002. Transportation and land development. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Institute of Transport Engineers.
Timmermans, H., and S. Rasouli. 2013. “Assessment of model uncertainty in destinations and travel forecasts of models of complex spatial shopping behaviour.” J. Retailing Consum. Serv. 20 (2): 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.05.001.
Tindale, S. A. 1991. “Impact fees: Issues, concepts and approaches.” ITE J. 33–40.
Venter, C. J., and J. W. Joubert. 2013. “Use of multisource GPS data to characterized multiday driving patterns and fuel usage in a large urban region.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2338: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3141/2338-01.
Venter, C. J., and J. W. Joubert. 2014. “Tax or toll? GPS-based assessment of equity impacts of large scale electronic freeway tolling in Gauteng, South Africa.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2450: 62–70. https://doi.org/10.3141/2450-08.
Wolf, J., R. Guensler, and W. Bachman. 2001. “Elimination of the travel diary: Experiment to derive trip purpose from global positioning system travel data.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1768: 125–134. https://doi.org/10.3141/1768-15.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 145 • Issue 1 • January 2019
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 18, 2016
Accepted: Jul 9, 2018
Published online: Oct 31, 2018
Published in print: Jan 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Mar 31, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.