The City of Copenhagen, Google, and DTU are collaborating on finding out whether data collection from mobile phones can be used specifically to improve mobility for the city’s cyclists.
The collaboration began when Google offered the City of Copenhagen access to the company’s comprehensive data on the traffic situation on the road network and road travel patterns—data generated by road users’ mobile phone location tracking.
The City of Copenhagen then asked transport researchers at DTU for assistance with studying how the information can be used to improve citizen mobility, initially to create the best possible ‘green waves’ on the city's super cycle paths.
The local strategy for super cycle paths aims to create as few stops as possible for cyclists on selected approach roads. The idea is that the fewer barriers between your home and your final destination, the higher the likelihood that you will choose the bicycle as a means of transport. As a bicycle does not emit CO2, the City of Copenhagen wants to have as many people as possible to make the bicycle their preferred means of transport. The researchers are now investigating how traffic lights on a road section can be coordinated to accommodate cyclists.
Anonymized data
Google collects data from mobile phones and other mobile devices with Android operating systems. The Google Better Mobility project only uses anonymous collected ‘snapshots’ in the form of traffic statistics such as average speed, traffic volume, and patterns of movement. Mobile users have actively chosen to share these data, and the function can be disabled on the mobile units.