Population Origin–Destination Estimation Using Automatic Vehicle Identification and Volume Data

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the use of information from automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems to help estimate short-term trip origin–destination (OD) matrices in an urban environment. In this paper, a method is proposed for using sample link choice proportions and sample OD matrix information derived from AVI data sampled from a portion of vehicles to estimate population OD matrices with the AVI data collection points acting as the origins and the destinations. This method is extended to estimate ramp-to-ramp freeway OD volumes. The value of such information is demonstrated using a large urban freeway network equipped with an AVI system. Based on a comparison of the OD estimate accuracies, with and without the AVI data, it was found that using AVI data in OD estimation improves significantly the accuracy of the OD matrix estimates.