DLR MOVING LAB

Until now, people’s mobility behaviour has been surveyed in the form of trip diaries. Participating persons report on which trips they took, for example on a specific reference date. At the same time, attributes such as trip purpose, the mode of transport used, arrival and departure time and trip length are surveyed.

However, the recorded trips show a high level of inaccuracy. The survey is normally limited to only one day or very short periods of time.

By surveying mobility data using smartphones and other mobile devices, completely new possibilities are opened up. The precise position of a person can be defined several times per minute using positioning and movement sensors.

Changes in positions create acceleration profiles which indicate the use of a certain mode of transport. The advantage to this method is the automatic, precise recording of trips including all used modes of transport, change and stop points. Participants only need to carry the device with them and enable tracking. The low amount of effort required on the part of participants enables long-term surveys and additional questionnaires, for example about new mobility concepts and offers.

The DLR MovingLab provides a survey method which is based on mobile devices for questions concerning transport and mobility research.

The fundamental characteristics of trips such as start and completion times, the stage-for-stage course of routes and the use of modes of transport can be automatically determined by logging and processing movement data. In addition, a wide range of additional questionnaire content, such as the purpose of the trip for example, can be surveyed via app-based and web-based interactions. This information can be applied to analyse the surveyed trip data as well as the observed mobility behaviour.