Over the last decade, probe data have become a common tool for measuring mobility in the United States, yet much about these innovative, yet rapidly-changing, data types remains a mystery to many of the planners and policymakers who need them for their jobs.

To help, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) created the Probe Data Learning Hub, where current and prospective users can learn more about common types of probe data in one location. Users can browse a series of user guides that outline the origin, features, and applications, shining a light on the informational “black box” that surrounds these data.

Probe data are generated by a technological device that is either carried by individuals or located on or in vehicles, vessels, or other conveyances. The devices that produce these data actively determine and emit information about their locations. That information—when responsibly monitored, collected, stored, and analyzed—can reveal the movement of the probe device through space and across time, providing innovative opportunities to measure the transportation system and generate national-level statistics on the mobility of people, vehicles, and goods in the United States.

For transportation planners, researchers, policy makers, or anyone interested in using or procuring probe-derived statistical products, BTS developed a set of six short-form user guides, each on a specific form of probe data available to the transportation sector:

1. Disaggregate location-based services (LBS)
2. Aggregate LBS and Point-of-Interest (POI) data
3. Cell phone call records
4. Connected vehicles (CVs)
5. Commercial vehicle electronic logging devices (ELDs)
6. Freight truck fleet GPS

For more information on the advantages, limitations, availability, technical details, and use cases for probe data, visit the BTS website.