Smartphones with Wi-Fi enabled periodically transmit Wi-Fi messages, even when not associated to a network. In one 12-hour trial on a busy road (average daily traffic count 37,000 according to the state DOT), 7,000 unique devices were detected by a single road-side monitoring station, or about 1 device for every 5 vehicles.
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Musa et al. (2012) studied this question.
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