An interesting article from Computerworld about a system in Bangalore that uses cell phones to track where traffic congestion is occurring. The idea is that if you see cell phones clustering somewhere, there’s probably a traffic jam forming.
I just hope they can tell a freeway tie-up from a rock concert.
One response to “Another Way to Measure Congestion”
But wouldn’t a rock concert/ball game imply an impending traffic jam as well (driving near the rose garden before/after events would suggest so)? Seems like the bigger risk would be confusing transit hubs with traffic jams. For example, lots of cell phones might be passing through the rose garden area on trains in rush hour and not actually represent traffic jamming on the nearby streets.