New Travel Insights from Cell Phone GPS Data

Building and operating an effective and efficient transportation system requires deep insights into how people move from place to place. These insights include long term behaviors to understand trips that happen infrequently, determining which routes people choose, and understanding how different demographics use their transit options. This project proposes to build an open-source software application programming interface (API) that will produce new travel insights from cell phone global positioning system (GPS) data. Currently available transportation data analytics packages omit important travel insights that are important for transportation research, such as long-term patterns of life, route selection, and demographically stratified travel behavior. These deeper analyses are important for planning more efficient transit. Abundant cell phone GPS data serves to replace costly travel surveys with better coverage and currency. However, GPS data is challenging due to noise, sporadic sampling, and privacy. Building on the research team lab’s extensive experience with GPS data, the researchers will create an open-source API to robustly deliver the new insights. Unlike commercially available packages, the API will be transparent and extensible. The API can serve as a platform for new algorithms and expanded insights. The project team will demonstrate the API on three National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST)-relevant mobility insights that are not possible with commercial packages: (1) Determining long term patterns of individual travel behavior, (2) detailed route selection for individuals, and (3) variations in travel behavior among different demographic groups.

• Record URL:
  • https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/project/new-travel-insights-cell-phone-gps-data

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $150,037.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DOT 69A3552348319

  DOT 69A3552344814

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of Southern California, Los Angeles

  University Park Campus
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616

  University of Southern California, Los Angeles

  University Park Campus
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089
• Project Managers:

  Cliff, Sydney

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of Southern California, Los Angeles

  University Park Campus
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089
• Principal Investigators:

  Krumm, John

  Shahabi, Cyrus

• Start Date: 20260401
• Expected Completion Date: 20270331
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Application programming interfaces; Data analysis; Global Positioning System; Travel behavior
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01985474
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Sustainable Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348319, DOT 69A3552344814
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Apr 12 2026 11:48PM