Urban Mobility Pattern Detection: Development of a Classification Algorithm Based on Machine Learning and GPS

This study introduces an innovative algorithm for classifying transportation modes. It categorizes modes such as walking, biking, tram, bus, taxi, and private vehicles based on data collected through sensors embedded in smartphones. The data include date, time, latitude, longitude, altitude, and speed, gathered using a mobile application specifically designed for this project. These data were collected through the smartphone’s GPS to enhance the accuracy of the analysis. The stopping times of each transport mode, as well as the distance traveled and average speed, are analyzed to identify patterns and distinctive features. Conducted in Cuenca, Ecuador, the study aims to develop and validate an algorithm to enhance urban planning. It extracts significant features from mobility patterns, including speed, acceleration, and over-acceleration, and applies longitudinal dynamics to train the classification model. The classification algorithm relies on a decision tree model, achieving a high accuracy of 94.6% in validation and 94.9% in testing, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Additionally, the precision metric of 0.8938 signifies the model’s ability to make correct positive predictions, with nearly 90% of positive instances correctly identified. Furthermore, the recall metric at 0.83084 highlights the model’s capability to identify real positive instances within the dataset, capturing over 80% of positive instances. The calculated F1-score of 0.86117 indicates a harmonious balance between precision and recall, showcasing the models robust and well-rounded performance in classifying transport modes effectively. The study discusses the potential applications of this method in urban planning, transport management, public transport route optimization, and urban traffic monitoring. This research represents a preliminary stage in generating an origin–destination (OD) matrix to better understand how people move within the city.