Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Understanding which transportation modes people use is critical for smart cities and planners to better serve their citizens. We show that using information from pervasive Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth devices can enhance GPS and geographic information to improve transportation detection on smar...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen, Kelton Minor, Piotr Sapieżyński, Sune Lehmann, David Dreyer Lassen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234003
_version_ 1819111570706268160
author Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen
Kelton Minor
Piotr Sapieżyński
Sune Lehmann
David Dreyer Lassen
author_facet Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen
Kelton Minor
Piotr Sapieżyński
Sune Lehmann
David Dreyer Lassen
author_sort Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen
collection DOAJ
description Understanding which transportation modes people use is critical for smart cities and planners to better serve their citizens. We show that using information from pervasive Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth devices can enhance GPS and geographic information to improve transportation detection on smartphones. Wi-Fi information also improves the identification of transportation mode and helps conserve battery since it is already collected by most mobile phones. Our approach uses a machine learning approach to determine the mode from pre-prepocessed data. This approach yields an overall accuracy of 89% and average F1 score of 83% for inferring the three grouped modes of self-powered, car-based, and public transportation. When broken out by individual modes, Wi-Fi features improve detection accuracy of bus trips, train travel, and driving compared to GPS features alone and can substitute for GIS features without decreasing performance. Our results suggest that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be useful in urban transportation research, for example by improving mobile travel surveys and urban sensing applications.
first_indexed 2024-12-22T03:59:43Z
format Article
id doaj.art-367f289d53c546d08200d86bd30c0201
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-22T03:59:43Z
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-367f289d53c546d08200d86bd30c02012022-12-21T18:39:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01157e023400310.1371/journal.pone.0234003Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.Andreas Bjerre-NielsenKelton MinorPiotr SapieżyńskiSune LehmannDavid Dreyer LassenUnderstanding which transportation modes people use is critical for smart cities and planners to better serve their citizens. We show that using information from pervasive Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth devices can enhance GPS and geographic information to improve transportation detection on smartphones. Wi-Fi information also improves the identification of transportation mode and helps conserve battery since it is already collected by most mobile phones. Our approach uses a machine learning approach to determine the mode from pre-prepocessed data. This approach yields an overall accuracy of 89% and average F1 score of 83% for inferring the three grouped modes of self-powered, car-based, and public transportation. When broken out by individual modes, Wi-Fi features improve detection accuracy of bus trips, train travel, and driving compared to GPS features alone and can substitute for GIS features without decreasing performance. Our results suggest that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be useful in urban transportation research, for example by improving mobile travel surveys and urban sensing applications.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234003
spellingShingle Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen
Kelton Minor
Piotr Sapieżyński
Sune Lehmann
David Dreyer Lassen
Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
PLoS ONE
title Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
title_full Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
title_fullStr Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
title_full_unstemmed Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
title_short Inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors: Evaluating the potential of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
title_sort inferring transportation mode from smartphone sensors evaluating the potential of wi fi and bluetooth
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234003
work_keys_str_mv AT andreasbjerrenielsen inferringtransportationmodefromsmartphonesensorsevaluatingthepotentialofwifiandbluetooth
AT keltonminor inferringtransportationmodefromsmartphonesensorsevaluatingthepotentialofwifiandbluetooth
AT piotrsapiezynski inferringtransportationmodefromsmartphonesensorsevaluatingthepotentialofwifiandbluetooth
AT sunelehmann inferringtransportationmodefromsmartphonesensorsevaluatingthepotentialofwifiandbluetooth
AT daviddreyerlassen inferringtransportationmodefromsmartphonesensorsevaluatingthepotentialofwifiandbluetooth