Full story originally published by the Portland Press Herald on April 1, 2019
Several Maine state and local transportation agencies purchased a subscription to Streetlight Data services to gather detailed data on traffic flows, congestion, trip origin and destination, and movements of cyclist and pedestrian trips.
The article quotes Maine residents expressing concern about tracking protocol and privacy protection, but company CEO Laura Schewel explains that StreetLight’s information includes no personal or identifying information.
“It is an incredibly good, very detailed data set we have never had the ability to get before,” said Chris Branch, Portland Public Works Director
StreetLight’s data is collected by voluntary location-based smartphone apps, and vehicle GPS systems. The data is then processed into aggregated, anonymous patterns, which Maine officials say is appropriate to use for transportation planning.
