Posted on 12/25/2005 5:28:12 PM PST by elkfersupper
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."
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 under way 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 (EPIC).
"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."
Wonder what that would be, hmmmmmmmm?
Ping.
I don't like this... not even a little bit.
If this comes to Maryland, I'll tell my company to page me, because I'm turning my cell phone off, and removing the battery.
"Kansas City star that's what I are yodel-de-la-de you oughta see my car
Drive a big old Cadillac with wire wheels got rhinestones on the spokes
I got credit down at the grocery store and my barber tells me jokes
And I'm the No 1 attraction in ever' super market parking lot
I'm the king of Kansas City no thanks Omaha thanks a lot"
- Roger Miller
So let me get this straight. Eavesdropping on our cell phone for taxation, revenue, and commercial purposes is a great idea with a lot of potential. But its not ok if it keeps us safe from potentially nuclear armed terrorists? Got it.
If they have the use of "personal ID removed" phone tracking, then once their system notices a car having gone from point A to point B in less time than the speed limit would permit, they have probable cause to demand the ID of the cell phone owner so they can issue a ticket
"I don't like this... not even a little bit."
I'm waiting for the "if you have nothing to hide" crowd.
My guess is that it was buried.
Nobody can like this.
Hey, I'm a part-time cop with absolutely NOTHING to hide.
I still like a steaming pile of dogsqueeze better than this latest example of big-brotherism.
Exactly.
Wanna know where the pileups are? Ask any cop and/or motorist that travels the same route every day. The pileups are in the same place, and usually for the same reasons; every day.
According to the article, it's already in Baltimore.
I'm turning my cell phone off, and removing the battery.
Next thing you know, we'll get a ticket in the mail for that.
You must be referring to the tickets they want to be able to issue and send out without any human intervention whatsoever. No cop to consider extenuating circumstances. No cop to verify that the recipient of the ticket was actually the one who was driving. In other words, no due process at all. Oh, and they will want to be able to pull the fine directly from your bank account, too.
Nah! That might give people the idea that someone might need to build some infrastructure - revenue negative.
Much easier to trap people moving too swiftly between "Point A" and "Point B" - revenue positive.
....and in eight months speeding drivers will receive their traffic citations in the mail.
Since the information used to issue the citations is digitally encoded, thus statistically infallible, there will be no appeals process. (OK, I'm projecting, but not by much.)
More reason to avoid ever owning a cell phone, or a vehicle with "On-Star"!
One of the major reasons I chose to live in Nevada was that 90+% of our roads are unpaved, making it harder for Big Brother to enact most of the schemes to control our movements.
This garbage makes the type of road irrelevant, they just monitor us from space.
ping.
Sorry you can't do that - no roving wiretaps. Now please get in line over there with the terrorists.
Hmmm who else made the "great leap forward" their watchwords.. they should rename this guys post...Ministry of Information.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.