On design and implementation of an object-relational spatial database for activity/travel behaviour research

The development of micro level models of urban processes has partially been facilitated by increased availability of detailed activity/travel survey data. Managing and exploring these data can be resource intensive and time consuming. Researchers and municipal planning organizations increasingly face information management challenges. This paper reviews an experiment in design and implementation of an object-relational geographic database using the principles of object-orientation. A data model is specified using the Unified Modeling Language notation and a visual modeling tool, and then implemented as an object-relational spatial database. The resulting database acts as an information foundation capable of supporting empirical research and application development. The experience suggests that a formal approach to information management can enhance our understanding of complex activity/travel data contributing to informed application of these data to transportation research questions.The authors would like to thank Metro for the provision of data and supporting documentation. They are also thankful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The second author, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Spatial Analysis, is grateful for the support of the SSHRC Canada Research Chairs program.