Mobile tech mooted to gather mobility data

The city may soon boast of a mechanism to track and streamline autorickshaws — all at the click of a cellphone button.

The transport and infrastructure policy planning body has come up with a plan to map their movement and get an idea of mobility patterns in suburbs with the help of a software. The Mumbai transformation support unit (MTSU), an initiative of the World Bank, the Cities Alliance, the All India Institute of Local Self-Government and the state, to upgrade the city’s transport and infrastructure, has sent a proposal on this to the government.

“The proposal is to use mobile technology for getting information of mobile people and estimate travel demands at different times. Such studies are the easiest way to understand the patterns of mobility of people,” said Sulakshana Mahajan, urban planning consultant with the MTSU.

And the process is as simple as ABC. “All auto drivers have mobile phones. The software company will upload a software on the phones of all auto drivers who will participate in the project. A pulse will be sent to each participant’s mobile phone every 5-10 minutes and received back, which will zero in on the location of the auto in the city. A line graph and data will be generated of all mobile autos, mapping their movement,” Mahajan said.

The readings will help figure out the number of autos at any particular station at a time. The data on the movement of each auto will be mapped, and the time and the travel distance will be generated by computers.

 “Researchers and planners can then estimate, design, decide fares, routes and numbers, depending on the day and the time of a week/month, holidays and working days. This is one of the least expensive methods for transportation planners to collect data. Privacy of each vehicle and its driver will be maintained,” said the planning consultant.