Deutsche Telekom subsidiary Motionlogic has teamed up with German software specialist PTV Group to integrate swarm data from its parent’s mobile network into urban traffic forecasts.
The pair has run pilot tests of a new traffic model, drawing on Deutsche Telekom’s mobile data traffic, in the city of Karlsruhe, in Germany.
By taking location data from Deutsche Telekom at hourly intervals, they can map people’s journeys in and between towns and cities in closer detail.
Deutsche Telekom said such traffic modelling scenarios have until now been based predominantly on data collected from surveys of commuters. The new methodology automates the process, enhances accuracy, and saves time and money, it said.
“This makes it possible to visualise not only individual traffic precincts, but also the percentage of people travelling, for example, from precinct A to precinct B. The innovation lies in the use of precise origin-destination matrices based on swarm data,” said Deutsche Telekom in a statement.
The technique will be used by cities and municipalities to map traffic flows, identify traffic demand and gear services towards it.
Frédéric Reutenauer, Vice President at PTV, said: “By integrating swarm data from Deutsche Telekom’s mobile network into our specialised software, we can optimise urban traffic flows.”
In November, Deutsche Telekom, along with Telefónica and Vodafone in Germany, joined with Ericsson and BMW to establish a cross-industry consortium to build a 30-kilometre long test track to research and develop 5G infrastructure and applications for cars and trains.