Use of Data from Mobile Phone Networks for Transportation Applications

The use of wireless location technology and mobile phone data appears to offer a broad range of new opportunities to create sophisticated and applications for traffic management less expensive than the traditional ones, due to the big market penetration of mobile phones, which allows the use of very detailed data. Albeit recent, the literature in the field is already dense, even if not adequately structured. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of the main studies and projects addressing the use of data from mobile phone network to obtain traffic estimations, starting point for future works of the authors. The advantages and limitations of the process of retrieving location information and transportation parameters from cellular phones is highlighted. The topic is presented first providing a description of the current background and of the data types retrievable from the GSM network. Furthermore the works carried out so far in the field are analyzed, leading to the main research issues connected with the use of mobile phone data in transportation applications. Relevant remarks regard on one hand, factors that influence accuracy, reliability and data quality and techniques used for validation, and on the other hand, the peculiar role of private mobile companies and of transportation agencies.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Borzacchiello, Maria Teresa
  • Steenbruggen, John
  • Nijkamp, Peter
  • Scholten, Henk J
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 89th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2010-1-10 to 2010-1-14
• Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20p
• Monograph Title: TRB 89th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cellular telephones; Data collection; Field tests; Intelligent transportation systems; State of the practice; Urban transportation; Wireless communication systems
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01152582
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 10-0455
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 16 2010 6:13AM