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Real Time
Traffic and Utility Maps on Mobile Phones
10 August 2000
By Daniel Cheung
Brisbane City Enterprises Ltd.,
together with Intergraph Corporation, is showing the way ahead for real time
mapping services via mobile phones. The
idea is that mobile phones are used as a “portable mobile kiosk” for the
public.
What
Services Are Currently in Place?
Brisbane City Enterprises Ltd.,
wholly owned by Brisbane City Council, already have a system in place that
provides two solution areas for their own organization – providing real time
traffic density maps and maps of assets of the Council.
Brisbane City Council has a wide range of traffic management technology
deployed throughout the city. The traffic sensors deliver traffic counts and
delay reports across the entire arterial road network. These are much more
reliable than “eye in the sky” spotter planes used by radio stations for
adhoc reporting. However, until now the challenge has been how to get the right
information to drivers in their vehicles in time for them to make a decision to
take an alternative route, or travel later.
The idea to use the mobile
phones as a “portable information kiosk” offers a new solution to traffic
management. Intergraph, a world leader in Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) technology, has released a software which can publish maps and related
information to Web Browsers and to mobile phones using the Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP).
Future
Plans
Brisbane City Enterprises Ltd.
has plans to offer commuters the ability to identify their regular route to work
via a web page on the Internet. Daily
commuters would then receive an SMS message on their mobile phones describing
exact traffic conditions on this route, the expected journey time, and even
recommended alternative routes if needed. This
move is one that aims to widen the potential customer base – because most
mobile phone users cannot access WAP presently.
Looking forward, Council
envisages the availability of mobile phones that have built in Global
Positioning Systems. Using these devices it would be possible for any person
with a WAP mobile phone to have detailed information of traffic and road
situations.
The possible services for
future mobile phone users is boundless…
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