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[ITWorld] Cell phones to report traffic conditions

655 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  slipstream808, 
Black Magix
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November 6, 2008, 08:36 PM - IDG News Service -

Researchers from Nokia and the University of California in Berkeley will go live with a new project next week that aims to cull GPS data from thousands of mobile phones in order to tell drivers which San Francisco Bay Area roads are backed up and which are moving along.

Called Mobile Millennium, the project will be opened to the public on Monday.

Researchers hope that thousands of volunteers will download a free Java program that figures out by their movement and location when they are driving, and then transmits that information to the project's servers, which then crunch it into a Bay Area traffic map. The software uses algorithms to determine when people are moving or if they are stuck in traffic or stopped by the roadside, for example.

California has already invested heavily in sensors that help monitor traffic conditions on major roadways, but they're not everywhere. By collecting traffic information from GPS (Global Positioning System) phones on roads that don't have sensors, the team hopes to gain insight into places that are now blind spots for most commuters.

Researchers will start by looking for data on heavily trafficked commutes such as Page Mill Road and the Oregon Expressway, which cut through the heart of Palo Alto, California. If enough volunteers download the software, the researchers could eventually build a comprehensive picture of Bay Area traffic conditions.

"The whole concept here is that if everyone shares just a little bit of what they're seeing ... then everyone can benefit by seeing the conditions ahead of them," said Quinn Jacobson, a research leader with Nokia in Palo Alto.

The system doesn't require many users, but it helps if they're spread out, as researchers will need the right concentration of reports. The Mobile Millennium team expects to have 10,000 users by April. "At that rate we'll see many of these arterial roads with accurate, real-time data," Jacobson said.

While the idea of streaming data about their whereabouts may make some people uneasy, researchers say they've taken steps to keep the system anonymous. None of the data in the system can be tied to a particular mobile phone, they said.

The researchers have been testing the traffic reporting system every few weeks over the past year, including a large field-test in February.

Mobile Millennium's data will be available on the Web, but users who want the best data will have to download the Java software, Jacobson said. The software will eventually work on most GPS-enabled phones that run on GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) networks, such as those from T-Mobile and AT&T. On Monday, the software will run on Nokia and BlackBerry phones, but the team expects to add many other devices to this list.

The team is discussing an iPhone port as well, although this will not be available on Monday, Jacobson said.

Because Mobile Millennium phones do a lot of traffic reporting, only users with unlimited data plans are advised to sign up.
Link the the project
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Guswut
Just wait until the police start using this software to search for traffic conditions that are a bit TOO flowing, if you know what I mean. Heck, they don't even need to catch you with the "proof" on the servers. Mail the speeding ticket to your house so you don't even have a chance to try and tell a tall tale to the cop.
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Black Magix
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Originally Posted by Guswut
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Just wait until the police start using this software to search for traffic conditions that are a bit TOO flowing, if you know what I mean. Heck, they don't even need to catch you with the "proof" on the servers. Mail the speeding ticket to your house so you don't even have a chance to try and tell a tall tale to the cop.


thats what I was thinking in all honesty.
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blupupher
Won't happen (the speeding tickets part).
There is the burden of proof. What were you driving when this happened? Were you even driving? What if you were in the back of an ambulance? What if you left your phone in a car that was speeding? What if you got mad and threw your phone in a school zone (most can throw around 35-40+ mph, with a school zone being 20mph)? What if....
Also, to much chance for error. Heck, my GPS has shown me doing 600 mph before.

Interesting concept though. Only question is, will it use cell time to send the data in and end up costing you?
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Black Magix
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Originally Posted by blupupher
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Won't happen (the speeding tickets part).
There is the burden of proof. What were you driving when this happened? Were you even driving? What if you were in the back of an ambulance? What if you left your phone in a car that was speeding? What if you got mad and threw your phone in a school zone (most can throw around 35-40+ mph, with a school zone being 20mph)? What if....
Also, to much chance for error. Heck, my GPS has shown me doing 600 mph before.

Interesting concept though. Only question is, will it use cell time to send the data in and end up costing you?

How do they prove your behind the wheel when they photograph your car going through a red light?
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videoman5
So how does this work when I hit 88 mph?
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Guswut
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Originally Posted by videoman5 View Post
So how does this work when I hit 88 mph?
Going through a time warp!
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OmegaNemesis28
mine already does this....... Not in the same way but - it tells me on a scale from heavy to congested to free levels of traffic on a map and highlights the sections in that color.
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D
2
Quote:

Originally Posted by Guswut View Post
Just wait until the police start using this software to search for traffic conditions that are a bit TOO flowing, if you know what I mean. Heck, they don't even need to catch you with the "proof" on the servers. Mail the speeding ticket to your house so you don't even have a chance to try and tell a tall tale to the cop.

They actually can do this already with automated toll systems. If you happen to take only 30 mins to go between tolls that are 50miles apart.... However, there was legal action to block this...

GPS devices are adding this feature as well..
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blupupher
Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Magix View Post
How do they prove your behind the wheel when they photograph your car going through a red light?
It is the vehicle's registered owner that gets the ticket, not the person driving, and it is not considered a moving violation, but like a parking ticket instead (at least here that is how it is). There is proof that that vehicle did it at that place and time. Now I guess they could give the phone a ticket, but no way that would hold up in court.
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C
Those so called "live traffic" aren't very accurate. I live in the Bay Area and I use to use 511.org to check on how congested the highways are, they're usually off by a whole lot. I'm pretty sure it's not "live" but more like 30 minutes or an hour behind.

BTW Go Bears!
Cal > USC =P
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S
Wonder how much this feature will cost people to use? Not the uploading your info part, but I mean the check on traffic part.

Gotta figure it'll cost them something to implement so they'll past that cost on.
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