Pilot Program Tracks Drivers’ Speed, Location Via Cell Phones
The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) launched the Multi-Modal Travelers Information Systems (MMTIS) as a pilot program with Delcan National Engineering Technology eight months ago.
MMTIS is the first large-scale cell phone mining program in the nation, in which communications between cell phones and towers is used to provide real-time traffic data.
Presently in use in the Baltimore area, MMTIS lets the SHA know the location of traffic problems and how fast the cars are moving. Moreover, MMTIS makes it easy to pinpoint and clear accidents and determine where to concentrate road-improvement funds.
Though MMTIS does not provide information about individual cell phone users, critics of cell phone mining worry that the practices could eventually be used by law enforcement agencies. The two-year, $5.7 million pilot project is being funded by Delcan, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, and federal grants.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Baltimore Daily Record (10/21/05); Mook, Ben .
