Users as smart sensors: A mobile platform for sensing public transport incidents

Abstract

Sensor networks may become a key element in a smart city in order to collect and provide information to its citizens. In this paper, we propose a new mobile phone sensing application, Incidències 2.0, that helps users notify and stay informed about the incidents of the public rail network in the Barcelona metropolitan area. The application takes advantage of the widespread use of smartphones combined with their sensing capabilities to gather sensory data from the environment and then send the sensed information back to a central data collection facility using cellular network technology. Data retrieved from the application provided by real users allows us to make a first analysis on the potentials of this new sensor network paradigm. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.