Towards Sharing Data of Private Freight Companies with Public Policy Makers: A Proposed Framework for Identifying Uses of the Shared Data

Private freight companies collect a significant amount of data by utilizing advanced information and communication tools. Sharing the freight data of these companies with public policy makers, would significantly improve transportation planning decisions in the public sector. Existing literature has shown various ways of how public sectors can use this private freight data in transportation planning. However, current literature lacks a framework that can be used to guide the public policy makers to identify the most suitable uses of the shared freight data that satisfy their planning needs. This paper addresses this research gap and presents a framework for identifying how the shared freight data can be used to satisfy the planning needs of different freight stakeholders. First, relevant studies are reviewed, including a detailed illustration of the different uses of the freight data. Based on the review results, different uses of freight data are identified and categorized into six categories: Potentials of freight data in research, patterns of freight movements, estimating Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from transportation activities, analyses of parking patterns, traffic safety analyses, and traffic planning. Second, a framework is suggested to help public policy makers in identifying the most suitable groups that satisfy their transportation planning needs.