The UK Highways Agency is carrying out pilot studies to evaluate a new traffic monitoring system that uses data from drivers’ mobile phones.

The system monitors vehicles’ routes and speed by tracking the movement of the phones from one to another, and measures and forecasts traffic flow based on anonymously sampling the position of mobile phones.

Called Cellular Floating Vehicle Data, the system is being supplied by ITIS Holdings.

According to the company, the system is superior to conventional monitoring systems and shows how many people are in each car.

The agency currently uses CCTV cameras and vehicle detection loops under road surfaces to calculate vehicle numbers and speeds as well as to detect congestion.