Definitions
When creating a study in iNode, you will encounter a number of common terms and settings that appear across most modules. Familiarising yourself with these will help you move through the study creation process smoothly and make informed decisions along the way.
This page covers the following definitions:
Functional Road Classes
A hierarchical design of the entire road network, ranging from highways (FRC 0) to local city roads (FRC 7).
| FRC | Short Description | Long Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Motorways, Freeways, Major Roads | All roads that are officially assigned as motorways. |
| 1 | Major Roads, less important than Motorways | All roads of high importance, but not officially assigned as motorways, that are part of a connection used for international and national traffic and transportation. |
| 2 | Other Major Roads | All roads used to travel between different neighboring regions of a country. |
| 3 | Secondary Roads | All roads used to travel between different parts of the same region. |
| 4 | Local Connecting Roads | All roads making all settlements accessible or making parts (north, south, east, west, and central) of a settlement accessible. |
| 5 | Local Roads of High Importance | All local roads that are the main connection in a settlement. These are the roads where important through traffic is possible. e.g: arterial roads within suburban areas, industrial areas, or residential areas; a rural road which has the sole function of connecting to a national park or important tourist attraction. |
| 6 | Local Roads | All roads used to travel within a part of a settlement or roads of minor connecting importance in a rural area. |
| 7 | Local Roads of Minor Importance | All roads that have a destination function. e.g: dead-end roads, roads inside living area, alleys: narrow roads between buildings, in a park or garden. |
Vehicle Types
When setting up a traffic study in iNode, you will be asked to choose the Vehicle Type(s) to include in your analysis. The options are:
- Passenger : GPS location data from non-professional, regular drivers.
- Fleet : GPS location data from professional fleet vehicles, including trucks of different sizes and weights, urban delivery vehicles, and leasing passenger cars. No vehicle type distinction is made within the “Fleet” data category.
How to Choose Vehicle Types
Passenger + Fleet (recommended for most use cases)
For general traffic analysis, it is advisable to include both Passenger and Fleet. Doing so maximizes the total sample size, captures a wider variety of vehicle movements, and improves the reliability of data insights.
Passenger (recommended for most studies)
The majority of available data comes from passenger vehicles. Selecting passenger ensures a broad sample size and is generally recommended for all traffic studies, particularly when the goal is to analyze overall traffic conditions, travel times, congestion patterns, or mobility trends.
Fleet (recommended for fleet-specific studies)
Select Fleet only when the study’s focus is specifically on professional vehicle movements, such as freight corridors, goods movement, or last-mile delivery patterns. Since the sample is smaller and more specialized, this option is best suited to targeted fleet studies.
Map Selection
Orbis vs. Genesis Map Types in iNode
iNode uses TomTom maps as the underlying road network for analysis. As TomTom upgrades its global map platform from the legacy Genesis map to the newer Orbis map, both options are available in iNode during this transition period.
Please select your preferred map type depending on your needs. Once the transition is complete, iNode will move fully to Orbis.
Orbis (Current Default Map)
Orbis is TomTom’s next-generation map and offers fresher updates, improved coverage, and more detailed road attributes. It brings together open map data and TomTom’s proprietary sources, including contributions from the Overture Maps Foundation, OpenStreetMap, partner data, and sensor-derived observations.
Orbis is best suited for new studies and environments where the road network changes frequently. It will become the default map type in iNode.
Genesis (Current Default Map)
Genesis is the long-standing map many users are already familiar with. Built primarily on proprietary and partner data, it remains fully supported during the transition and is useful when you need results that align closely with historical analyses or previously delivered outputs.
What This Means for Your Analysis
Using Orbis can improve how well traffic data aligns with the real-world road network, especially for newer roads, updated geometry, or complex intersections. Genesis, on the other hand, helps ensure continuity when comparing against older studies. During the transition, the choice gives you control over consistency versus freshness.