Smartphone-Based Measurement Systems for Road Vehicle Traffic Monitoring and Usage-Based Insurance

A framework is presented to deploy a smartphone-based measurement system for road vehicle traffic monitoring and usage-based insurance (UBI). Through the aid of a hierarchical model to modularize the description, the functionality is described as spanning from sensor-level functionality and technical specification to the topmost business model. The designer of a complex measurement system has to consider the full picture from low-level sensing, actuating, and wireless data transfer to the topmost level, including enticements for the individual smartphone owners, i.e., the end users who are the actual measurement probes. The measurement system provides two data streams: a primary stream to support road vehicle traffic monitoring and a secondary stream to support the UBI program. The former activity has a clear value for a society and its inhabitants, as it may reduce congestion and environmental impacts. The latter data stream drives the business model and parts of the revenue streams, which ensure the funding of the total measurement system and create value for the end users, the service provider, and the insurance company. In addition to the presented framework, outcome from a measurement campaign is presented, including road vehicle traffic monitoring (primary data stream) and a commercial pilot of UBI based on the driver profiles (secondary data stream). The measurement system is believed to be sustainable due to the incitements offered to the individual end users, in terms of favorable pricing for the insurance premium. The measurement campaign itself is believed to have an interest in its own right, as it includes smartphone probing of road traffic with a number of probes in the vicinity of the current state of the art, given by the Berkeley Mobile Millennium Project. During the ten-month run of the project, some 4500 driving h/250 000 km of road vehicle traffic data were collected.