Citizen observatory for mobility: a conceptual framework

ABSTRACT

Citizen observatories that incorporate participatory sensing can complement traditional and automated data collection methods for mobility planning and increase the level of participation of citizens in transport planning. The process of developing such an online environment is not only time-consuming and costly, but it would also require an extensive knowledge of computer programming. This is one of the main barriers to the proliferation of citizen observatories. Therefore, this paper develops a conceptual framework of a citizen observatory platform that does not require special skills or resources. It would enable the collection, analysis and exchange of quantitative and qualitative mobility-related data by citizens. We have reviewed 69 participatory sensing applications in the field of mobility to derive the essential building stones of such an observatory. We identified the requirements considering eight criteria: campaign management, objective, context, data types, sensing technology, motivation of data collectors, validation and representativeness, visualisation and reporting. Some concerns regarding representativeness of data, motivation of data collectors, accuracy of sensors and validated algorithms for indicators are also raised.

KEYWORDS:

• participatory sensing
• citizen observatory
• mobility surveys
• smartphones
• citizen science
• citizen participation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Imre Keseru http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6267-505X

Cathy Macharis http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0702-0496

Notes

1 SUMPs have been recognised by the European Commission as an instrument to support people-centred transport planning to improve quality of life, accessibility, economic viability, sustainability, environmental quality, social equity and health (Arsenio, Martens, & Di Ciommo, 2016)

2 While there are certain applications that can utilise external sensors linked to smartphones (e.g. air quality monitor, external microphone), their usefulness for applications in the mobility domain are limited, therefore they are not included in this review.

3 http://www.sfcta.org/modeling-and-travel-forecasting/cycletracks-iphone-and-android/cycletracks-source-code

4 www.h2020-trace.eu

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency) [grant number 150044].