MANILA, Philippines – Ride-sharing giant Uber launched a website that shows the traffic data the company has collected through the years. Called "Movement," the website primarily targets urban planners and researchers looking to improve the flow of traffic in their respective jurisdictions.
The idea here is that the information collected from the trips made by their drivers can be used to identify traffic trends and patterns. By identifying these patterns, urban planners will then be able to make more informed decisions in their attempts to implement improvements to an area. Uber currently operates in 450 cities worldwide.
Said Uber in a statement: "Since Uber is available 24/7, we can compare travel conditions across different times of day, days of the week, or months of the year – and how travel times are impacted by big events, road closures or other things happening in a city." Users of the Movement site can specify the data range, zones within a region, time of day, and day of week. The site also presents some data in charts for more convenient viewing. The data is also anonymized according to Uber, which means that passengers won't have to worry about the website impinging on their privacy.
At the moment, the data on Movement is on limited-access availability. Individuals and organizations can apply to gain access to the data, although Uber said that it will be fully available to the public down the line. "While it’s early days for this product, we’re committed to serving cities from Manila to Melbourne to Washington, DC," Uber said.
"We’re excited to partner with city officials, urban planners and research organizations to continue building features that today’s transportation planners need."
Those interested in working with Uber on a partnership or research opportunity using Movement data can contact research@uber.com. – Rappler.com