Look Who it Was Random video

Joint Nokia research project to capture traffic data

4,279 views · Published 11 February 2008 · 1:00:40 · Indexed 28 October 2026

Channel: CITRIS and the Banatao Institute · 2008 · Science & Technology

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Berkeley press release: 
Union City, Calif. -- Researchers from the University of California, 
Berkeley, and Nokia today (Friday, Feb. 8) tested technology that could soon 
transform the way drivers navigate through congested highways and obtain 
information about road conditions. In the unprecedented field experiment, 
transportation researchers tested the feasibility of using GPS-enabled 
mobile phones to monitor real-time traffic flow while preserving the privacy 
of the phones' users. 


One hundred vehicles were deployed onto a 10-mile stretch of I-880 between 
Hayward and Fremont for seven hours in the experiment, dubbed "Mobile 
Century" and primarily funded by the California Department of Transportation 
(Caltrans). Each car was equipped with a Nokia N95 mobile phone that ran 
special software to periodically send anonymous speed readings from the 
integrated GPS to servers that then computed traffic conditions. Information 
was displayed on the Internet, allowing viewers to visualize traffic in real 
time. An independent tracking feature allowed the command center set up in 
Union City to track the position of the cars to coordinate the experiment 
and ensure the safety of the participants. 


Using the GPS data to estimate prevailing speeds and travel times, 
researchers were able to obtain a picture of real-time traffic conditions. 
Current traffic monitoring systems primarily rely upon pavement-embedded 
sensors, roadside radar or cameras. The high cost of installing and 
maintaining such systems has restricted their coverage to limited stretches 
of highway. 


This research project between UC Berkeley and the Nokia Research Center was 
born of collaborative efforts by UC Berkeley's Center for Information 
Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and Tekes, a Finnish 
government funding agency. Both CITRIS and Tekes foster partnerships between 
universities, research institutes and industry to speed technological 
innovation to consumers. 
http://www.citris-uc.org/news/joint_nokia_research_project_capture_traffic_data

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