Beijing Transportation Big Data Project

Beijing municipal government used “big data,” including basic traffic data, dynamic operating data, urban activity data, and traffic survey data, to understand traffic situations, solve problems, and make better plans for the future.

The Transportation Operations Coordination Center (TOCC) is working as an integrated transportation monitoring framework that covers road networks, public transport, intercity passenger transport, traffic hubs, slow traveling transport, and static traffic. Using floating car data, TOCC produces a transportation index to track and monitor road network congestion in Beijing. These data are used to evaluate traffic policies, determine traffic development objectives, forecast traffic patterns, and give early warnings of congestion. IC card data can be used to analyze bus operations and mobile phone signaling data can be used for demographic analyses.

This project was the first comprehensive transportation monitoring platform constructed at a provincial level. The system integrates transit-related data from several sources to allow for a comprehensive analysis of transit policies and provide dynamic traffic monitoring. The project also includes transit-related video resource management and application as well as a public early-warning system for major traffic congestion. Major breakthroughs were made in building this comprehensive, integrated system for traffic operation monitoring.