Using mobile phones to collect data including user feedback for the analysis of urban mobility

Sensors integrated in mobile phones, such the accelerometer, gyroscope and GPS provide information that can be used to study mobility and transportation phenomena. In particular, the collected information from the signals of these sensors enables the determination of transport mode choice, movement or activity detection, route choice, etc. In this paper, we present a novel data collection platform based on a custom mobile application for Android OS devices, which integrates data from complementary sensors of the smartphone (luminosity, proximity, step counter, battery level) and other sources like the weather information. Simultaneously, data is collected by interacting with the users through a mechanism of notifications. Via this interaction, a regular feedback about the users’ mobility patterns is obtained. The feedback constitutes a first step to validate the information collected by the smartphone. The results of the data collection show how the combination of data can provide useful information in the field of mobility and transportation