Mining Cell Phones to Improve Multimobility

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Acquire and use cell phone data for multimodal transportation planning .
• Use the ArcGIS Hot Spot Tool data to collect data from cell phones to help you identify the most popular destinations within a study area for planning purposes.
• Contrast traditional traffic-count data with robust cell phone information to develop efficient transit and multimodal transportation recommendations tied to mode-share improvements and trip reductions.

MORE SESSION DETAILS

The Lake Tahoe Basin has realized steady growth in visitation. As the populations of California and Nevada increase, so do the annual visitors to this majestic destination offering beaches, hiking trails, waterfalls, mountain biking, snow skiing, gaming, restaurants, shopping, and accommodations. Yet the 72-mile, two-lane roadway around much of the lake cannot be expanded due to environmental and topographic constraints, making traffic congestion commonplace on hot-summer and fresh-powder days. The Tahoe Transportation District intends to create a more robust multimodal transportation system to reduce the need for a personal car once visitors arrive into the basin. By shifting visitor and local trips to frequent buses, establishing convenient bike-share stations, and encouraging walking through expanded sidewalks, the Tahoe Transportation District can reduce the congestion and help protect the environment. To successfully create a Multimodal Transportation Plan for the Tahoe Basin, the project team analyzed months of cellular device data. Learn how the information painted a more complete picture of the comprehensive travel patterns of visitors, residents, and commuters into and around the Lake Basin than traditional traffic-count data ever could.