Applied Geomatics· 2026Q2
Analysis of Italian mobility patterns using institutional and networked data
- 0citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Web scraping of BlaBlaCar travel routes in Italy reveals distinct mobility patterns compared to traditional ISTAT census data, with BlaBlaCar reflecting longer, voluntary travel and ISTAT capturing routine commuting.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Web scraping of BlaBlaCar offers a new source of geospatial mobility data.
- BlaBlaCar data captures longer, voluntary travel, contrasting with ISTAT's routine commuting data.
- Both data sources provide valuable, complementary insights into population movements.
- A gravity model combining web data and demographic/economic variables can estimate internal migration flows.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Traditional data sources, such as population censuses, have several limitations, including long update times, huge costs, and measurement bias, which can lead to gaps in understanding population dynamics. The aim of this article is to assess the quality of new technologies and the usefulness of the Web as a source of massive amount of geospatial data for mobility analysis. To this end, we would like to compare data obtained through web scraping with available population censuses to identify similarities or possible new trends. We will explore the travel routes offered on the carpooling site BlaBlaCar in Italy and compare them with data coming from the commuting matrix for study or work purposes elaborated by ISTAT(Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), a public research organization that produces and disseminates official statistics in Italy. Finally, we will use a gravity model by combining other open data on the web to try to estimate internal migration flows based on demographic and economic variables. While institutional data capture dense, routine commuting, BlaBlaCar data reflect longer, voluntary travel behaviours. Despite structural differences, both sources offer valuable insights into population movements.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Applied Geomatics, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Transportation
TransportationSocial Sciences