Missouri approves tracking cell phone signals for real-time traffic reports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri transportation officials approved a controversial contract Friday that will allow a private corporation to track signals from motorists' cell phones to map traffic snarls and highway congestion on major roads throughout the state.

As early as next week, that company, the National Engineering Technology Corp. (NET), will start monitoring thousands of cell phones in Kansas City and St. Louis, using their movements to test how to relay traffic conditions to the public in real time.

While officials say the program will make Missouri a national leader in "intelligent" traffic management, privacy advocates are concerned that getting more frequent travel time updates on road signs and Web sites may come at a price.

"This is a leap forward in our nation," said Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn, minutes before the Highways and Transportation Commission's unanimous vote to authorize the contract. "No other department of transportation will be able to keep the users of their system as well informed."

Charting speed

The program charts drivers' relative speed by measuring the time between the intermittent signals cell phones send to towers along a stretch of road. Then, that information -- stripped of the personal identification and serial numbers that identify the cell phone's owner -- is overlaid with highway maps to determine where the phones are and how fast they are moving.

In six months, transportation officials say, Missouri motorists will be able to calculate their commute times by viewing such maps on the government's Web sites. Distilled versions of the information will also be displayed on electronic road signs along major highways, they said.

Cell phone monitoring already is being used by transportation officials in Baltimore, though not yet to relay traffic conditions to the public. Similar projects are getting underway in Norfolk, Va., and a stretch of Interstate 75 between Atlanta and Macon, Ga.

But monitoring phone signals along Missouri's 5,500 miles of major roads, many of which run through rural areas where cell phone coverage is spotty, makes for an additional challenge. On Friday, state officials had not determined which cell phone companies would provide information for the program.

That raised eyebrows at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"Consumers should have the right to opt into this public service," said Lillie Coney, associate director of Washington, D.C.-based EPIC. "Missouri may be creating a base for a new industry on the shoulders of the taxpayers."

Don Hillis, the director of system management for the Department of Transportation, said the state explored other options to provide the traffic flow information that motorists and logistics planners now expect and decided that wireless data collection was the cheapest way to go.

"We'll be able to give our drivers traffic information throughout their trips," said Hillis, who has overseen the project since its inception. "That said, we recognize the importance of the privacy issue, and we wouldn't do business with any company that would take any steps in the future to infringe on those rights."

Hillis said regional planning commissions like the Mid-America Regional Council and the East-West Gateway Council of Governments will also have free access to the data to tackle congestion problems.

And as wireless technology evolves, Missouri officials believe there may be so much interest from users outside the government -- such as trucking companies, satellite radio, mobile phones and GPS devices -- that their investment could pay for itself.

Under the terms of the $6.2 million, two-year contract, NET will wholly own the information and is free to sell it to outside vendors that could profit from offering just-in-time travel updates. The government has no authority to monitor where the information ends up, but Hillis said that after two years, the state may enter a revenue-sharing agreement with NET.

"If you travel on a certain route every day, we'll eventually be able to give you alerts to see if an instance would keep you from getting to work on time," said Steven McDonald, a senior project manager for NET. "This has a lot of potential."