arXiv AI By Yiming Xu, Junfeng Jiao

Benchmarking Retrieval-Augmented Generation Strategies for Large Language Model-Based Travel Mode Choice Prediction

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The paper evaluates how Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) can improve Large Language Model (LLM) predictions of travel mode choice. Four retrieval strategies—basic RAG, balanced retrieval, cross‑encoder re‑ranking, and a combination of balanced retrieval with cross‑encoder—are tested on three LLMs (GPT‑4o, o4‑mini, o3) using 2023 Puget Sound travel survey data. Results show that RAG boosts accuracy across models, with GPT‑4o plus balanced retrieval and cross‑encoder achieving 80.8% accuracy, surpassing traditional statistical and machine learning baselines and demonstrating strong zero‑shot transfer.

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