OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE USE OF ANONYMOUS CELL PHONE TRACKING FOR GENERATING TRAFFIC INFORMATION

Abstract

This paper is an investigation of the use of anonymous tracking of cellular phones to generate traffic information on a road network. The E911 initiative mandated by the FCC presents the possibility that a traffic surveillance system based on the movements of cell phones could generate travel information for all roads in an urban street network. The effectiveness of a cell phone based traffic monitoring system depends on the interaction of several parameters including: the accuracy of the locations, the frequency with which location measurements are taken, and the number of locations available to support traffic monitoring in a given area. This research examined the effects of these parameters on the operation of a possible traffic monitoring system. Ranges of likely values were determined for the operating parameters based on the technologies being installed by the cellular telecommunications companies and combined into sets representing likely operating modes. For each operating mode, the effectiveness of a cell phone based traffic monitoring system was examined