City Data Solutions

Unlock new insights from combined city data and vehicle connectivity

Every day, millions of people face mobility challenges in cities all over the world. And, as the number of people living in our cities increases, so do the challenges. The question is: how can data be used to tackle these challenges? Can it help improve the quality of life for everyone living and working in our urban environments?

At Ford Mobility, we think it can. Our latest research has demonstrated the power of vehicle data to provide accurate and effective predictive tools - for example we have managed to use data to predict the locations of incidents on the road network, and identify the optimal locations for future electric charge points.

We believe data will help cities reduce congestion, improve road safety and mitigate traffic challenges.

The Solution

Ford Mobility fitted 160 commercial vehicles in and around London, with more to come in Valencia and Cologne, with smart on-board computers. We then spent 12 months recording over 1 million kilometres worth of vehicle and driver behaviour data. Our vision was to demonstrate the power of vehicle data, and to show its potential as an accurate and effective tool for mitigating the traffic challenges, and improving air quality and safety in our cities.

The Technology

Connected vehicle data, including vehicle location, acceleration, braking, and even whether the hazard lights were on, was analysed for a cross section of vans in the city. With drivers and businesses signed up to participate and share their data, our plug-in devices monitored and recorded a range of granular data points from the vehicles that helped to build actionable insights. This data was then combined with other data, such as accident and traffic information, to help us understand some of our cities’ most complex challenges.

The Outcome

Armed with 15,000 days of vehicle operation and 500 million data records, we were able to identify specific pressure points on a city’s roads, see where and when traffic was at its worst, locate traffic incident hotspots and even attempt to predict where an incident might occur. We also helped identify the locations where an electric vehicle charging point would be the most beneficial to people. The aim was simple: help improve the understanding of how our cities move and operate.

View the Report

What opportunities does City Data Solutions present?

Makes actionable insights accessible to all members of a city, independent of their data analytic skills
Provides a predictive tool to identify locations where there’s an opportunity to reduce the risk of a traffic incident, helping cities on the road to zero casualties
Unlock real insights on the impact of policy and infrastructure decision making

Helps cities model and optimise traffic planning for both citizens and businesses
These are the first insights we have identified from a dataset collected off of plugged in vehicles - in a world of connected vehicles, there will be far more powerful insights we can unlock