Md. pilot program tracks drivers' speed, location via cell phones

Every day, for the last six months, thousands of Baltimore-area drivers have been telling the Maryland State Highway Administration how fast they were going, where they were and whether or not they were stuck in gridlock - all without even knowing it.

The SHA is six months into a pilot project called the Multi- Modal Travelers Information System (MMTIS) that relies on transmissions from cellular phones to provide real-time traffic conditions in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The agency uses the information to plot real-time traffic patterns to give an accurate portrayal of state roadways. The cell phone data supplements older technology like side firing radar and metal loops fixed in the highway, which the SHA has used for years.

Delcan National Engineering Technology Corp. and the SHA implemented the two-year pilot program in April as a way to capitalize on the widespread use of cell phones to give real-time traffic information. The study area covers about 1,000 miles of roadways around the city.

Using a patented process called Estimotion, from U.K.-based IT IS Holdings, SHA and Delcan run statistical formulas on the chatter between cell phones and towers as drivers move along to determine speed and location. As long as a cell phone is turned on it continually sends out signals to passing towers giving name, number and provider information so calls can be routed. MMTIS uses the movement between towers, without collecting personal information, and uses that data to determine speed and movement in specific areas.

Using cell phones for things like determining traffic patterns is known as cell phone mining. Delcan Vice President Dick Mudge said the Baltimore project was the first large-scale use of cell phone mining for traffic data in the United States. He said other states have since come on board, including Missouri, which is set to implement a statewide program for all its major roadways.

Maryland is mulling statewide implementation of the system, if public funding is kept to a minimum. The two-year pilot project will cost $5.7 million, with Delcan covering $3.7 million of the cost. The state's portion comes from federal grants and the I-95 Corridor Coalition, an alliance of East Coast transportation agencies that monitors transportation mobility, safety and efficiency along the interstate.

It doesn't cost the state anything, David Buck, with the SHA, said.

He said the state is always interested in public-private partnerships that help traffic management at minimum cost to the public. Buck said the information helps the state manage emergency response to accidents. It also gives the state ideas on where new road projects are most needed.

Plans are for Ontario-based Delcan to continue the project after the pilot period by making it self-sufficient. The company gives access to all of the data to the state, but reserved the right to charge for specific data.

The details of what will be made available remain unclear. Mudge said Delcan and SHA officials met yesterday to hash out further what the company will be able to market. However, he said the cell phone tracking data, none of which is currently available to the public, will be made public to some extent within the next few weeks.

Despite the benefits, the prospect of cell phone tracking does have detractors. Mining information from cell phones without the users' knowledge raises fears the technology could be extended to other uses like law enforcement.

Anytime you start to use cameras, sensors or things like cell phones, there are always people who are going to say, 'you're trying to spy on me,' Buck said. That's not the case here, in reality we're just trying to see how we can best manage and predict traffic.

Everyone involved with the project rules out the use of using data for anything other than determining traffic patterns. Mudge said collecting personal data was of no interest to Declan, which merely wants to look at blocks of traffic and see where the problems are.

We don't know who the drivers are. There's no way for us to even get that information, Mudge said. The wireless companies would have to give that information to us - they wouldn't and we don't need, or want to know.

Cingular Wireless LLC, which opened its networks for the project, also said specific, individual data was not being used. Cingular spokeswoman Alexa Kaufman said the company's involvement was on a trial basis as long as customer privacy was assured.

It's not specific information, it's aggregate data gathered about volumes of traffic, Kaufman said. It is extremely non-specific information.

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