The TravelVu app uses the GPS already in our mobile phones to conduct far more detailed surveys of travel habits than previously done. The mobile phone records distances and time, and the app detects which means of travel is likely to be used. For the participants, it remains only to then correct and approve the activities of the day.

Behind the app is Trivector, which is a lunatic company that offers services in traffic, systems and business development. Trivector has found a way to combine a GPS with advanced algorithms in the analysis software to give the user a clear picture of what the movements of the day, week or month look like. There are large differences in the type of data that can be produced now compared to the old way of conducting surveys.

- The biggest difference is that you now get the whole itinerary, not just the start and destination of the trip, says Emeli Adell, Business Area Manager for Future Transport at Trivector. Now we can also see where you travel depending on whether you, for example, ride a bike, ride a car or walk. This gives a greater understanding of how we can create better conditions.

-Another difference is that you can now see how different trips are related, because often you have several errands during a trip. When we access these types of travel chains, you get a much better understanding of how to make trips in everyday life.

The new way of doing the survey provides much greater precision in distance and time than was previously possible when recording relied on individuals' memory. There is also no risk that the short journeys will be forgotten.

-Previously, we used to work with forecast control, now it is common with goal control. We go from thinking about how many people we think should drive to how many people we want to drive,” continues Emeli Adell. To cope with this, greater demands are placed on understanding what creates, for example, car journeys and what creates an opportunity to take a bike. In this work, better understanding of how people travel is very valuable.

The new way of conducting travel surveys can help municipal planners, researchers and national travel surveyors, but can also be beneficial for companies that want to inspire employees to travel in an environmental and health-promoting way. In November, TravelVu was used, for example, by K2 (Sweden's national centre for research and education on public transport), which made a measurement on travel habits ahead of the tramway expansion in Lund.

Read more at Trivectores website.

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TravelVu was also used during The SOM Project.

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