Abstract
Determining where trucks are traveling is crucial for planning and maintaining transportation networks. In California, information about truck movements is primarily derived from a network of fixed monitoring stations. However, the data provides limited information about trip origins and destinations and the routes taken in between stations. Estimating truck movements within a region thus largely depends on extrapolating data between known collection points. While this can be done with relative ease in simple networks containing few alternate routes, it can be a difficult task in complex networks without significantly increasing the number of fixed monitoring stations. Real-time truck tracking data (i.e., probe-data) from thirdparty commercial vendors, such as StreetLight and INRIX, can be used to fill this gap. However, their ability to produce reliable traffic volume estimates has not been well studied. The research team used StreetLight data to estimate truck movements within Caltrans District 1 to assess the potential for using probe data to provide a more accurate picture of truck travel not available from roadside monitors alone.
