Traffic Zones Discretization and Origin-Destination Matrix Estimation by means of Transport Demand and Satellite Data Fusion

The first two steps of performance analysis and design of transport systems usually consist of identifying the best spatial discretization of the considered study area, namely zoning, and of the relevant Origin-Destination (OD) matrix. In this framework, zones are generally delimited by physical obstacles such as rivers, transport infrastructures, or buildings that can be well-identified in satellite remotely sensed data. Assuming the availability of pre-existing zones and OD matrices for the considered study area, this paper defines a semiautomatic procedure that employs fusion with satellite imagery for supporting the zone discretization and the OD matrix refinement. The proposed approach is tested on a real-world case study consisting of the Italian city of Genoa.