OpenStreetMap for Travel Demand Modeling: An Open Approach to Derive Attractiveness for Destination Choice Models

Travel demand models require detailed information on the location and attractiveness of destinations. This paper presents a transparent and reproducible workflow for deriving destination attractiveness from OpenStreetMap data. OSM elements are classified into activity-related location types, enriched with size measures such as building or floor area, and converted into expected trip ends using category-specific attraction rates. The resulting values can be assigned to individual points of interest or aggregated to traffic analysis zones. Data quality was assessed by comparing relevant OSM-based POIs with ground-truth data. Completeness varies by category: shopping facilities are generally well represented, whereas privately operated services, such as medical practices, are captured less consistently. Applications in Hamburg, Karlsruhe, and Stuttgart demonstrate that the approach provides suitable inputs for operational travel demand models while remaining transferable, open, and adaptable to other regions.