African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
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African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
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Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#2Interesting as long as you don't ignore a whole demographic (e.g. very poor people without phones).
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#3Interesting as long as you don't ignore a whole demographic (e.g. very poor people without phones).
I read yesterday that more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet or running water. I assume they are very poor since they have to poop outside on the street, but they do have cell phones.
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#4I wonder if this was done in, say Poland, would it be titled "European Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data"?
Why is it no-one narrows down descriptions of Africa to below continent-level?
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#5They talk about 10% time reduction(probably average). Does anybody know more fine grained statistics ?
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#6I wonder if this was done in, say Poland, would it be titled "European Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data"? Why is it no-one narrows down descriptions of Africa to below continent-level?
Or possibly "Government monitoring citizens movements by cell phone tracking" if done elsewhere.
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#7They talk about 10% time reduction(probably average). Does anybody know more fine grained statistics ?
Hi, I'm from the IBM Research team who worked on this.
The reduction is in total system-wide journey times in passenger-minutes (travel time + expected waiting time). The model makes underlying assumptions on how people arrive at stops to do their trips, and how they choose paths through the network. The wait times are therefore related to frequency of services.
The statistic is also broken down by each route what happens when the changes (new routes or extensions) are implemented. For some routes, you see increase in ridership (on account of better connectivity), and on some you see decreased ridership (since the new routes offer more competitive paths through the network).
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#8Interesting as long as you don't ignore a whole demographic (e.g. very poor people without phones).
I read yesterday that more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet or running water. I assume they are very poor since they have to poop outside on the street, but they do have cell phones.
Even then, 40% of _households_ does not have a phone (http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/indian-toilet-s...). That is in line with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_..., which states there are about 2 mobile phones for every 3 Indians.
I think it is safe to bet that, among those using public transport, mobile phone ownership will not be higher. Also, of those with a mobile on those buses, mobile phone _usage_, likely, will be higher for the richer ones.
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#9I wonder if this was done in, say Poland, would it be titled "European Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data"? Why is it no-one narrows down descriptions of Africa to below continent-level?
Because realistically, "Africa" is most useful to most readers, even on HN.
Re: African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
#10Interesting as long as you don't ignore a whole demographic (e.g. very poor people without phones).
I read yesterday that more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet or running water. I assume they are very poor since they have to poop outside on the street, but they do have cell phones.
"Access to" and "owning it oneself" are not necessarily equivalent. If a household of seven has a single cell phone, seven people have "access to" a cell phone.