Study Groups

Real-time traffic monitoring using mobile phone data

Wilson, Eddie (2005) Real-time traffic monitoring using mobile phone data. European Study Group with Industry > 49th ESGI [Oxford 29/3/2004 - 4/4/2004].

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EPrint Type:Study Group Report
Study Group:European Study Group with Industry > 49th ESGI [Oxford 29/3/2004 - 4/4/2004]
Company Name:Vodafone Pilotentwicklung GmbH
Industrial Sector:Transport and Automotive
Information and communication technology
Additional Contributors:Gould, Tim and Whittaker, Robert and Radulovic, Nenad
ID Code:30
Deposited By:Gordon White
Deposited On:26 May 2005

Problem Statement

Vodafone proposes to offer road traffic information services to its mobile phone customers. Such systems usually require some sort of static infrastructure to measure traffic flow (e.g. magnetic inductance loops buried in the surface of the road, or cameras combined with number plate recognition technology). In contrast, Vodafone intends to generate traffic flow and velocity data by using the signalling information that is already generated by the standard operation of its mobile phone network. This report investigates the feasibility of this idea by analysing a data set provided by a pilot project on the autobahn network in Southern Germany. The initial aim is to design filters that operate on the mobile phone signalling data and whose output is a low-dimensional description of road traffic conditions. The eventual aim is to develop filters which give short-term forecasts of future traffic conditions.

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