Analysis of smart card data for understanding spatial changes in consumption-oriented human flows

Takashi Nicholas Maeda, Junichiro Mori, Fujio Toriumi, Hirotada Ohashi

Abstract: This paper studies how commercial facilities and events change the spatial structures of consumption-oriented human flows. We utilize the smart card data of public transportation in the Kansai Area, Japan. In this paper, we develop a method to understand the main purpose of daily human flow from a station to another station by classifying the time series distributions of the number of passengers. We distinguish consumption-oriented human flows from human flows with other purposes, by checking the shapes of time-series distributions of passengers and examples of destinations. For example, the main purposes of human flows whose destination stations are near sightseeing resorts or amusement parks can be regarded as consumption. Then we extract clusters of departure stations sharing the same destinations in consumption-oriented human flows. Finally, we utilize the results for understanding how openings and expansions of commercial facilities affect the spatial clusters of consumers' mobility and what kind of stations are likely to be the origins of human flows to events such as art exhibitions and sport competitions by using some case studies.