Origin-Destination Estimation via Automatic Ticketing Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining the origins and destinations of travelers in transportation systems are inefficient, relying on costly and time-consuming surveys or manual counting, which are limited in accuracy and coverage, and fail to reflect real-time changes in transportation usage.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing automatic ticketing validation data to estimate origin and destination locations by identifying and mapping known users' paths, predicting destinations, and apportioning unknown users based on computed destination probabilities, leveraging a processor-based system with path generation, mapping, and destination probability computation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If household surveys and roadside interviews are used to identify origins and destinations, then comprehensive traveler information can be collected, but the cost and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses automatic ticketing validation data as a copy or proxy for direct survey data. Instead of conducting time-consuming surveys, the system analyzes existing ticket validation records that automatically record boarding and alighting information, providing comprehensive origin-destination data without the time and resource costs of direct traveler interviews
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical survey process (interviewers, paper forms, manual data collection) with an automated electronic system that processes ticket validation data through computer algorithms, eliminating the need for human surveyors and dramatically reducing data collection time
2Loss of information
If annual surveys are conducted to gather traveler data, then origin and destination information is obtained, but the data becomes outdated quickly and cannot reflect real-time changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous data collection by processing ticket validation records as they are generated in the normal course of transportation operations. This ongoing automated analysis ensures the origin-destination data remains current and reflects real-time changes in traveler patterns, unlike periodic surveys that create data gaps
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the transportation system's own existing ticketing infrastructure to collect the data. The automatic ticketing validation system, which already operates to collect fares, simultaneously provides origin-destination information without requiring separate survey operations, ensuring continuous and reliable data collection
3Quantity of substance
If manual counting of boarding and alighting travelers is performed, then traveler coverage is improved, but the complexity of data collection and analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the ticketing system multi-functional by using it for both its primary purpose (fare collection) and secondary purpose (origin-destination data collection). The same ticket validation mechanism that collects fares also automatically records boarding and alighting information, eliminating the need for separate counting devices or personnel
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses electronic copies of ticket validation data to represent physical traveler movements. Instead of manually counting and recording each traveler, the system processes electronic records that automatically capture boarding and alighting events, dramatically simplifying the data collection process while maintaining comprehensive coverage
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system are disclosed for estimating origin and destination locations of users of a transportation system. The origins and destinations of known users are determined during a segment of an analysis period from validation information for all users of the transportation system. The origins and destinations are then mapped to probable locations associated with the transportation network. A destination probability is then computed for each destination location of an individual origin location. A unknown users are then apportioned to each destination, which may be based on the number of unknown users on a vehicle traveling from the origin to the destination, the computed probability, and the validation information, so as to estimate the number of users traveling from an origin location to any corresponding destination location on the transportation system.