Freight Truck Volume Origin-Destination Analysis
Using INRIX vehicle probe data and the analytics software platform Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS) managed by the University of Maryland’s CATT Lab, the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning was able to perform an analysis of truck trip origin and destination data to determine truck volumes and movements in Rhode Island.
The purpose of the analysis included answering the following questions:
Where and how were freight origins and destinations concentrated? Where and how were they concentrated and distributed? What municipalities, roadways, and facilities hosted the highest truck origin volume? And lastly, which municipalities and roadways should be targeted for further study to better manage truck freight traffic?
Using RITIS’s Trip Analytics Tools and features, staff decided that “heat maps” of the truck origin and destination clusters would improve data visualization. Staff created statewide and community-specific heat maps based on data which was extracted from Trip Analytics and geocoded by TAZ. The top municipalities for truck freight traffic were noted and analyzed to assist in other elements of freight transport.
Based on the data exports, staff was able to analyze both medium and heavy truck origins and destinations by municipality in Rhode Island. Some of the primary origin and destination locations were at the Port of Providence and the Port of Davisville, CVS Health’s headquarters in Woonsocket, as well as some other locally based businesses such as Ocean State Job Lot and The Okonite Company. Knowing the distribution of these origin and destination locations gives the State the ability to better plan its transportation projects as well as address concerns from municipalities and the public.
Statewide Planning has presented this as a case study at various transportation forums, including the INRIX user group and to the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
For more information on our ongoing origin/destination freight analysis, please email: Mason Perone, Principal Planner or Josh O’Neill, AICP Supervising Planner