TfL thinks tracking passenger phones will improve the Tube
The transport authority hopes to use WiFi data to help ease congestion, plan better timetables and improve station designs.
The London Underground welcomes 1.34 billion passengers each year, many of whom have their own unique routes of travel. Transport for London wants to know more about these movements to improve the safety, reliability and management of the Tube network, so it's conducting a four-week trial that will track people as they move between stations using their mobile phone.
When the trial starts on November 21st, TfL will log connection requests as passenger mobile phones attempt to connect to WiFi spots in 54 stations within Zones 1-4. The transport authority will identify devices by their MAC address, meaning it won't be able to collect any personal data.
TfL says the data will help it to improve service across the network by allowing it to ease congestion, better manage disruptions and plan more efficient timetables, station designs and station upgrades.
It'll also allow it to provide advertisers with a breakdown of the best places for brands to advertise. In TfL's words, it could "increase revenue from companies who advertise on poster sites or rent retail units to reinvest in improving services across London." Advertisers will only get insights, not actual WiFi data, but if travellers wish to opt-out, they will need to disable the WiFi connection on their device.
"This short trial will help us understand whether WiFi connection data could help us plan and operate our transport network more effectively for customers. Historically, if we wanted to know how people travelled we would have to rely on paper surveys and manual counting, which is expensive, time consuming and limited in detail and reliability," says Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at Transport for London. "We hope the results of this trial will enable us to provide customers with even better information for journey planning and avoiding congestion."
