Cellphone road traffic monitoring

[Jack May]

UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing the ability of GPS in cell phones to
collect traffic data cheaply over wide areas. The test is being done in the
San Francisco Bay Area.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8215860

"Teaming up with Caltrans and wireless hardware maker Nokia, researchers
from the University of California-Berkeley subjected dozens of students to
the travails of Interstate 880 on Friday. Their mission: to develop a system
that could generate real-time traffic data to almost any location."

"The experiment is part of Nokia's effort to move beyond the realm of
phones, said Bob Iannucci, Nokia's chief technology officer, who flew in
from the company's headquarters in Finland for the event."

"Students drove 100 cars borrowed from Enterprise Rent-a-Car along the
interstate between Hayward and Fremont while their Nokia N95 smart phones
transmitted data from built-in global positioning system (GPS) devices."
"In a few years, researchers expect just about all phones sold in the United
States will have GPS technology, and motorists who carry them will be able
to contribute data to a traffic information system much more extensive than
anything now operating."

"The existing systems are expensive to deploy and maintain, and they only
cover a limited area of roadway..."

"This same technology, Weinstein warned, could be used in the same way as
red light cameras. Bayen agreed that privacy is paramount, saying that the
new system would scramble the actual identification numbers of cell phones.
Once a vehicle's progress was recorded, the information would be discarded."

"From a privacy standpoint, the less information given, the better, he said.
Cell phone users will have the option to turn off the service if they don't
want to use it or don't want their data sent."

"Even so, Weinstein said users of the system need to be informed that a
judge's order could well force the purveyors of the traffic information to
alter those protections and start collecting more specific data on wireless
users."

[Rich Piehl]

Post by Jack May
UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing the ability of GPS in cell phones to
collect traffic data cheaply over wide areas. The test is being done in the
San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8215860

They're recycling this story . Versions of it have been around for
several years.

Take care,
Rich

God bless the USA

[Jack May]

Post by Rich Piehl

Post by Jack May
UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing the ability of GPS in cell phones to
collect traffic data cheaply over wide areas. The test is being done in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8215860

They're recycling this story . Versions of it have been around for
several years.

I doubt that. There have been small tests but I think most traffic
monitoring is still done with cameras, road sensors, and toll cards.

UC Berkeley has a major transportation research group. It is unlikely they
would be unfamiliar with past work.

It looks like Nokia is looking at getting into this technology in a big way.

[Larry G]

Post by Jack May

Post by Rich Piehl

Post by Jack May
UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing the ability of GPS in cell phones to
collect traffic data cheaply over wide areas. The test is being done in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8215860

They're recycling this story . Versions of it have been around for
several years.

I doubt that. There have been small tests but I think most traffic
monitoring is still done with cameras, road sensors, and toll cards.
UC Berkeley has a major transportation research group. It is unlikely they
would be unfamiliar with past work.
It looks like Nokia is looking at getting into this technology in a big way.

It's the convergence of two fast maturing technologies - cell phones
and GPS.
(also WiFi and silent FM "broadcasting" of data to cell phones/GPS
units.

Here's one of the first GPS units.. that is supposed to be on the
market sometime in 2008.... It bills itself as "internet connected"
but the important thing to notice is the fact that it can send and
receive GPS status information.. in it's case via WiFi ..OR cell
phone.

http://dash.net/product.php

this particular product may or may not turn out to be a winner but the
technology it is using is a "bow wave" of other products on the verge
of coming onto the market.

Cell phones and their towers and GPS units are so ubiquitous that
getting reasonable numbers of status reports in most congested areas
(which is where the status info would be most helpful anyhow) but even
rural areas and minor arterial surface streets will generate enough
useful data also to help folks identify bottlenecks and incidents...
in real-time - and in time to avoid or wait it out.

One of the things that often surprises new owners of GPS units is that
the unit reports by default the shortest time route which is sometimes
different than what they had though because the unit...goes by time
and speeds rather than apparent map distance.

similarly, using real-time traffic info.. folks may be able to figure
out more about the when and where daily congestion is.. and possible
other routes ... or not.. as some congestion may well be network-wide
in urban areas.

but these units could be a boon to folks visiting or passing
through...

and for someone looking for the nearest cheapest gas.. or motel..
it'll be a snap..

and the more folks who buy these units.. the more actual traffic data
is fed back into the servers generates the broadcast status info..

I think within a year or two.. these things are going to be so common
that folks are going to think that those without one are .. like folks
without phones or computers...

[Jack May]

Post by Larry G

Post by Jack May

Post by Rich Piehl

Post by Jack May
UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing the ability of GPS in cell phones to
collect traffic data cheaply over wide areas. The test is being done in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_8215860

They're recycling this story . Versions of it have been around for
several years.

I doubt that. There have been small tests but I think most traffic
monitoring is still done with cameras, road sensors, and toll cards.
UC Berkeley has a major transportation research group. It is unlikely they
would be unfamiliar with past work.
It looks like Nokia is looking at getting into this technology in a big way.

It's the convergence of two fast maturing technologies - cell phones
and GPS.
(also WiFi and silent FM "broadcasting" of data to cell phones/GPS
units.
Here's one of the first GPS units.. that is supposed to be on the
market sometime in 2008.... It bills itself as "internet connected"
but the important thing to notice is the fact that it can send and
receive GPS status information.. in it's case via WiFi ..OR cell
phone.
http://dash.net/product.php
this particular product may or may not turn out to be a winner but the
technology it is using is a "bow wave" of other products on the verge
of coming onto the market.
Cell phones and their towers and GPS units are so ubiquitous that
getting reasonable numbers of status reports in most congested areas
(which is where the status info would be most helpful anyhow) but even
rural areas and minor arterial surface streets will generate enough
useful data also to help folks identify bottlenecks and incidents...
in real-time - and in time to avoid or wait it out.
One of the things that often surprises new owners of GPS units is that
the unit reports by default the shortest time route which is sometimes
different than what they had though because the unit...goes by time
and speeds rather than apparent map distance.
similarly, using real-time traffic info.. folks may be able to figure
out more about the when and where daily congestion is.. and possible
other routes ... or not.. as some congestion may well be network-wide
in urban areas.
but these units could be a boon to folks visiting or passing
through...
and for someone looking for the nearest cheapest gas.. or motel..
it'll be a snap..
and the more folks who buy these units.. the more actual traffic data
is fed back into the servers generates the broadcast status info..
I think within a year or two.. these things are going to be so common
that folks are going to think that those without one are .. like folks
without phones or computers...

The MTC is going to spend $600M on detecting accidents, etc. and putting
metering lights on all freeway entrances in the SF bay area. This work that
UC, Caltrans, and Nokia is doing may be preparing for this work. This will
solve a lot of traffic problems in the Bay Area.

Since they announced this strategy a few weeks after I got up in a MTC rail
meeting and said there is no evidence by anybody that rail reduces
congestion, my ego makes me hope I helped push them this way :-) Of
course it is also highly likely they ignored me.

There are four cities in the world (none in the US) that are using
cellphones to monitor road traffic, but they seem to be using the
information on when signals are switched from one tower to another tower.
GPS in the cellphones would seem to be a much better measurement tool.

Europe of course of course does not want to use US GPS and are trying to
build their own system. It is having financial and schedule problems and
will not be any better than the next generation of the US GPS system. The
US next generation system may beat the European to deployment, but I don't
know the present schedule details.