Open Access

Are Mobile Device Location Data a Substitute for Travel Cost Surveys?

Jude Bayham, Aaron J. Enriquez and Leslie Richardson

Article Figures & Data

  • Figure 1

    Map of National Park Service and Mobile Sites

    Note: The national park site abbreviations are defined in Appendix Table A1.

  • Figure 2

    Consumer Surplus (CS) Per-Trip Estimates from Each Model Used in the Analysis

    Note: Mobile = models trained on National Park Service (NPS) data to predict flight probability and number of people splitting expenses; NPS zonal = aggregates trip counts to the zip code and census aggregates for controls; NPS individual = individual information when reported but imputes missing data.

  • Figure 3

    Plot of Per-Trip Consumer Surplus (CS) Estimates from National Park Service (NPS) and Mobile Device Data

    Note: The dotted line is the 45° reference line. Tuskegee Airmen NHS (TUAI) and Gauley River National Recreation Area (GARI) are omitted for clarity. NPS site abbreviations are defined in Appendix Table A1.

  • Figure 4

    Advan Mobility Data Per-Trip Consumer Surplus Estimates by Year for a Subset of National Park Service Sites, 2018–2022

    Note: The vertical axes scales differ across sites. The point of interest boundaries used to estimate visitation changed for many parks in December 2022.

  • Table 1

    Summary of Datasets Used in Analysis

    DatasetVisitsIncome and DemographicsTravel Mode and Expense Splitting
    NPS individualNPS individualNPS dataNPS data
    NPS zonalNPS aggregateACSImputed
    MobileMobile (aggregate)ACSImputed
    • Note: For “NPS data,” we impute income and demographics as well as travel mode and expense splitting when NPS respondents did not report. ACS = American Community Survey; NPS = National Park Service.

  • Table 2

    Trip and Travel Cost Average by National Park Service (NPS) Site in the NPS Zonal and Mobile Data

    Trips (Per Person per Year)Travel Cost ($)
    NPS ZonalMobile% DiffNPS ZonalMobile% Diff
    BADL1.49146791.450145
    CAHA11.43192415.0268.943
    CARE1.46.1125957.9863.210
    CATO11.62574152.2213.934
    CUVA70.5207.699279.730.2161
    DINO1.78.8134754.2451.450
    EVER2.7102.6190908.9162.5139
    GARI4.922.2128439.890132
    GRSA3.96.550980.2584.251
    GRSM1.6289.5198704.599.1151
    GRTE1.414.5164747.4918.921
    GUMO14.716.612324.247638
    JEFF1.47.2135489.0128.6117
    LAMR80.354.638199.529438
    MORU1.215171731.2548.729
    ROMO5.219.9117761.9466.648
    TUAI1.329.8183401.4265.441
    • Note: The percentage difference column compares the absolute difference in means as a percentage of the average of the means. NPS site abbreviations are defined in Appendix Table A1.

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