Taking Your Cell Phone for a Ride

The Napa County, California Transportation and Planning Agency (NCTPA) is working with Napa County commissioners to use, among other things, GPS signals given off by cell phones to map out and track travel within Napa County. The GPS signals given off by cell phones can be used by NCTPA to figure out when cell phone users (commuters) travel and by what means they travel. From that data, officials are hoping to discover the general traffic patterns of drivers and other commuters in and around Napa County.

What the County Hopes to Discover

Napa County hopes to find out how to better use its resources for roads as traffic patterns are continuously in flux due to the school year and harvest times. They hope that by using this information from GPS technology, they can better create driving conditions that will be beneficial to all. The study will cost about $180,000 to complete, but a similar study was conducted recently in Monterey, California, that provided good information for planners.

Using Cell Phones Through GPS Signals

According to officials, GPS signals given off by cell phones will be determined by the NCTPA with assistance from Air Sage, a company that tracks the movement of cell phones through GPS. Travel will be determined by monitoring where the phone “sleeps” or where it is during normal sleeping hours (“home”). Then information will be gathered about when that phone is on the move to detect where it is going, how it got there, and what mode of transportation it used. Carpoolers would have multiple signals meeting up and travelling together; public buses would have multiple stops along a route, and so on. Wherever that phone is during normal working hours will be considered “work.” Air Sage maintains an ongoing collection of data points given off by GPS signals from cell phones and can easily determine the movements and patterns of cell phone users.

As Air Sage and NCTPA work together on this project, it is important to note that the GPS signals that are mined and discovered will not allow for pinpoint accuracy beyond a 200 X 200 meter perimeter. No personal information is going to be gleaned from this activity, so personal information is safe. This is not an action by the government or the NSA to keep tabs on you!

What to Know about the Data Collection

• Cell phone data collected over three non-consecutive one-week periods


• Researchers have no access to information on cell phones, just location and its movement


• License plate recording took place on 10/4/2013

 

Cause for Alarm or No Big Deal?

Local residents became a little concerned over this when the information first came out, but county commissioners and other officials insist that there will be no collection of personal information or other identifiers other than movements made by cell phone users. The ACLU has an interest in this case, but their only concern would be over using personal information, which this study did not do. The GPS data collected by Air Sage will not include any kind of private information that citizens need to worry about.

Others are a little turned off by communications companies allowing the use of this kind of information without giving remuneration to the owners of the devices. Some people have even suggested that companies should reimburse cell phone owners some of the profits from this use of their personal information.

As a side note, it is worth reminding smartphone users that they can disable their device’s GPS function at any time if they are concerned about location privacy. Many experts advise taking this action as a matter of course, especially if children frequently use the phone.

Other Aspects of the Study

Another method used by NCTPA will be to collect pictures of license plates during three separate one-week studies, and then cross reference those images with Department of Motor Vehicle plate records to find out addresses for commuters. The commuters would then be mailed voluntary surveys to ask for self-reported records of their travel. Wineries in Napa County will also have counters set up in driveways, as well as asking visitors to take surveys at individual wineries. Schools would also be part of the poll to find out the most current information.

While using GPS technology to track the whereabouts of people without their knowledge is not new, Napa County and NCTPA are definitely offering a creative solution to an problem that is as old as the automobile. Congested traffic can occur any time and any place, but knowing where to expect it more can help county officials make the necessary plans and changes to get the most out of their travel dollar. That kind of savings makes a lot of sense.

Taking Your Cell Phone for a Ride