Why Your Cell Phone is the Most Promising Transportation Planning Tool

Emily Badger reports on the growing importance of the cellular phone, and particularly their location tracking capabilities, as the next most essential transportation planning tool.

1 minute read

February 6, 2012, 7:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


While the concept of having your every movement tracked and analyzed by transportation experts may seem like a profound privacy intrusion to many, cellular providers are functionally able to acquire such data right now without explicit permission, and without requiring you to have GPS enabled. As Badger reports, network signaling data can be used to triangulate locations to within 50 meters in dense urban areas. And the only thing keeping cell carriers from exploiting this information is that they hadn't yet figured out they could monetize it for use by transportation planners.

But that is changing. In North Carolina, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is working with AirSage, a company that contracts with cell phone carriers to produce analytical data of use to transportation planners, to conduct an origin-destination study of travel patterns and to measure traffic speeds in their region.

According to Kyle Ward, a transportation engineer with the MPO, "'I personally am still struggling with ‘how do I get this all implemented in transportation?'...So I've only done some thinking in the shower about 'wow, I wonder what else we could do with this.' But I think the more people who realize what's happening, you'll get tons of people thinking about it, and lots of ideas will come out.'"

Friday, February 3, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 14, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

Aerial view of Chicago with river in foreground.

Chicago Approves Green Affordable Housing Plan

The Mayor’s plan calls for creating a nonprofit housing corporation tasked with building affordable housing that meets Green Building standards.

May 8, 2025 - CBS News Chicago

Close-up on e-scooters parked in painted designated parking area on city street.

E-Scooter Parking: A Guide

How smart planning — and ample designated parking — can end conflicts over shared scooters.

May 14 - Streetsblog USA

Aerial view of Bozeman, Montana with mountains in background.

‘It’s Been 50 years’: Public Transit Law Passes in Montana

Legislation would fix transportation district issue, allow for greater reach on city bus routes.

May 14 - Daily Montanan

Illustration of nighttime city with white lines connecting nodes to illustrate technology and connectivity

Top 10 Tech-Ready Cities

An index ranks U.S. cities based on their preparedness for the ‘smart city future.’

May 14 - Smart Cities Dive