Determination of origins and destinations for an O-D matrix based on telecommunication activity records

The origin-destination (O-D) matrix is a known indicator of individual and group mobility in transport science, an invaluable input for socio-economic activity assessment of the community, and a tool for strategic planning and policy developments. The abundance of mobility-related data allows for expansion of the ODM towards the description of the over-all socio-economic activity, of which the transport is just a component, thus rendering policy development and strategic planning more efficient. Determination of the sources (origins) and targets (destinations) of the socio-economic activities remains an unresolved point in the ODM estimation process. Here we present a novel method for activity spot (origins and destinations) identification from the anonymised records of telecommunications activity, and publicly available data on telecommunication network access points. Using the spatial tessellation algorithm, the origins and destinations can be effectively identified as the focal points of socio-economic activity, thus establishing the foundation for more efficient urban policy development and strategic planning.