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Inference of activity patterns from urban sensing data using conditional random fields

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  • Yi Zhu

Abstract

The study of human activity–travel patterns for urban planning has evolved a long way in theories, methodologies, and applications. However, the scarcity of data has become a major barrier for the advancement of research in the field. Recently, the proliferation of urban sensing and location-based devices generates voluminous streams of spatio-temporal registered information. In this study, we propose an approach using the linear-chain Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) model to learn the spatio-temporal correspondences of different types of activities and the inter-dependencies among sequential activities from training dataset such as the household travel or time use surveys, and to infer the hidden activity types associated with urban sensing data. The performance of the CRFs model is compared against the Random Forest (RF) model, which has been used in a number of existing studies. The results show that the linear-chain CRFs models generally outperform the RF counterparts with respect to classification accuracy of activity types, in particular for those travelers having more outdoor daily activities. The proposed methodology is demonstrated by reconstructing the activity landscape of the surrounding area of a major Mass Rail Transit station in Singapore using the transit smart card transaction data. The inferred activities from the transit smart card data are expected to complement the ground surveys and improve our understanding of the interactions of different components of activities/travels as well as the relationship between urban space and human activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Zhu, 2022. "Inference of activity patterns from urban sensing data using conditional random fields," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(2), pages 549-565, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:49:y:2022:i:2:p:549-565
    DOI: 10.1177/23998083211016863
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zhu, Yi & Diao, Mi, 2016. "The impacts of urban mass rapid transit lines on the density and mobility of high-income households: A case study of Singapore," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 70-80.
    2. Mi Diao & Yi Zhu & Joseph Ferreira Jr & Carlo Ratti, 2016. "Inferring individual daily activities from mobile phone traces: A Boston example," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(5), pages 920-940, September.
    3. Bowman, J. L. & Ben-Akiva, M. E., 2001. "Activity-based disaggregate travel demand model system with activity schedules," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-28, January.
    4. Chen, Cynthia & Gong, Hongmian & Lawson, Catherine & Bialostozky, Evan, 2010. "Evaluating the feasibility of a passive travel survey collection in a complex urban environment: Lessons learned from the New York City case study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 830-840, December.
    5. Yi Zhu, 2020. "Estimating the activity types of transit travelers using smart card transaction data: a case study of Singapore," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2703-2730, December.
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