The Potential of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in Future Transport Systems

As transport systems are pushed to the limits in many cities, governments have tried to resolve problems of traffic and congestionbyincreasingcapacity.Miller(2013)contendstheneedtoidentifynewcapabilities(insteadofcapacity)ofthe transport infrastructure in order to increase efficiency without extending the physical infrastructure. Kenyon and Lyons (2003) identified integrated traveller information as a facilitator for better transport decisions. Today, with further developmentsintheuseofgeographicinformationsystems(GIS)andagreaterdispositionbythepublictoprovidevolunteered geographic information (VGI), the potential of information is not only integrated across modes but also user-generated, real-time and available on smartphones anywhere. This geographic information plays today an important role in sectors suchaspolitics,businessesandentertainment,andpresumablythiswouldextendtotransportinrevealingpeople’spreferencesformobilityandthereforebeusefulfordecision-making.Thewidespreadavailabilityofnetworksandsmartphones offer new opportunities supported by apps and crowdsourcing through social media such as the successful traffic and navigation app Waze, car sharing programmes such as Zipcar, and ride sharing systems such as Uber. This study aims to developinsightsintothepotentialofgovernmentstousevoluntary(crowdsourced)geographicinformationeffectivelyto achieve sustainable mobility. A review of the literature and existing technology informs this article. Further research into thisareaisidentifiedandpresentedattheendofthepaper.