Smart cards reveal London commuting patterns

Researchers at the Institut des Systemes Complexes in Paris (France) have examined trip data for 11.2 million transit trips in London (UK) during a week in 2008. The data, captured by the RFID chip in customer smart cards, includes trip origins and destinations. “The data gives one of the most detailed insights into commuting patterns ever assembled,” according to the Physics arXiv Blog (published in the MIT Technology Review). “The reason it is important, of course, is that it gives city planners a starting point from which they can model the effects on the transport infrastructure of new urban projects.” Link to full story in Technology Review.

Tagged as: data, privacy, RFID, smart card