The 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 for sophisticated applications on traffic management and monitoring. Indeed, due to the big market penetration of mobile phones, it allows the use of very detailed spatial data at lower costs than traditional collection techniques. Albeit recent, the literature in the field is already dense, though 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 derived from mobile phone networks to obtain traffic estimations, as a starting point for further research on the topic. The advantages and limitations of the process of retrieving information about location and transportation parameters from cellular phones are highlighted. The topic is presented by first providing a description of the current background and data types retrievable from the GSM network. Furthermore, various notable studies and projects carried out so far in the field are analyzed, which leads to the identification of important research issues connected with the use of mobile phone data in transportation applications. Relevant issues concern, on the one hand, factors that influence accuracy, reliability, data quality and techniques used for validation, and on the other hand the specific role of private mobile companies and transportation agencies.JRC.DDG.H.6-Spatial data infrastructure