U.S. - Cell phone tracking to provide traffic info

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Thursday, 11. September 2008

Traffic information provider Westwood One, which describes itself as "the largest provider of audio content in America", has teamed with cellular phone technology company Airsage to offer next-generation traffic information to drivers.

The specialty AirSage brings to the deal is its TrafficWiSe � technology, which enables Airsage to track the movements of cellular phones (anonymously, AirSage emphasizes) and to extract data which it aggregates and turns into traffic flow information.

This is a major advance in traffic information technology, since the large numbers of cell phones on the move in cars will provide information about roadways that were not previously served by such conventional means as road sensors, traffic cameras and visual traffic reporting.

The tens of millions of mobile phones currently in use throughout North America will ensure that traffic flow information will be eventually be available on up to "a million smiles of roadway," according to AirSage.

Phones don�t have to be in use to provide the data, just turned on. Information about phone location is always transmitted to nearby microwave stations so that phone calls can be directed to customers' phones as they move around. What's new about the Westwood One/Airsage system is the technology for gathering and aggregating the information about movement while maintaining the anonymity of the tracking information.

The system is similar to one recently introduced in Europe by Navigation provider TomTom and mobile phone carrier Vodaphone.

Westwood One is a major provider of local content to the radio and TV industries and via the web. It operates in over 70 cities with more than 150 aircraft and some 1,800 traffic reporters. Its subsidiary, SmartRoute Systems, manages traffic information centers for state and local departments of transportation.

AirSage will use its patented WiSE� (Wireless Signaling Extraction) technology to aggregate the anonymous signaling data from cell phones. "We then provide our partners and customers with the highest quality speed, travel time and traffic flow information," says Cy Smith. President and CEO of AirSage.

"Our data covers highways, freeways, primary roadways and arterial roads, and we�re currently the only company in the U.S. with a wireless carrier partner that is committed to a nationwide deployment. At the same time, we�ve also partnered with several European and Asian-based companies to deliver real-time traffic information to rapidly-growing parts of the world."

AirSage will aggregate wireless signaling data from multiple carriers to provide the best quality traffic information on the most roads, says Smith. "Sprint is currently our primary provider, although we expect to have others onboard soon."

"We partner with the best companies in several market segments to deliver our data to consumers via in-vehicle navigation systems, portable navigation systems, radio and TV stations, transportation agencies, cell phones, Web sites and commercial fleet operators," Smith says.

"Market research suggests that 80 percent of consumers have a high level of interest in receiving quality traffic information. Of those 200 million drivers, 60 million have expressed a willingness to pay between $5 and $10 per month. As consumers become savvy, and demand for in-vehicle technology grows, the subscriber base will fuel a competitive, billion-dollar industry."