On the relationship between the activity at point of interests and road traffic

Abstract

The estimation and analysis of road traffic represent the preliminary steps towards satisfying the current needs for smooth, safe, and green transportation. Therefore, effective traffic monitoring is an essential topic alongside the planning of sustainable transportation systems and the development of new traffic management concepts. In contrast to classical traffic detection solutions, this study investigates the correlation between travelers' social activities and road traffic. The s's primary goal is to investigate the presence of the relationship between social activity and road traffic, which might allow an infrastructure-independent traffic monitoring technique as well. People's general activities at Point of Interest (POI) locations (measured as occupancy parameter) are correlated with traffic data so that, finally, proper proxys can be defined for link-level average traffic speed estimation. The method is tested and evaluated using real-world traffic and POI occupancy data from Budapest (District XI.). The results of the correlation investigation justify an indirect relationship between activity at POIs and road traffic, which holds promise for future practical applicability.