Innovative research project NeDaMo: Mobile phone data for better traffic analysis!

Innovative research project NeDaMo: Mobile phone data for better traffic analysis!

On August 4, 2025, the NeDaMo research project was launched at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg, which deals with improving data-based forecasts in federal transport route and mobility planning. This project is led by the Federal Statistical Office and is of great importance for future mobility in Germany. The project is led by scientists Prof. Dr. Timo Schmid, Johanna Einhorn and Dr. Florian Meinfelder, who are working on the implementation together with partner institutions such as the Bergische Universität Wuppertal and the University of Trier.

The Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS) is supporting the NeDaMo project with funding of around three million euros as part of its mFUND innovation initiative. This initiative aims to promote data-based digital innovation projects relevant to future mobility. The project will run for three years, from April 2025 to March 2028, and will be coordinated by the network coordinator at the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.

Cellular data as a key resource

A central element of the project is the use of mobile phone data for traffic analysis. This data represents a potential source for gaining deeper insights into the mobility behavior of the population. So far, however, mobile phone data can only be used to a limited extent for mobility estimates, which is due to different customer structures of mobile phone providers and varying market shares. There are also numerous methodological and legal challenges that need to be overcome.

The research activities within NeDaMo aim to develop new methodological approaches. This is done in close collaboration with mobile communications partners such as Deutsche Telekom and Teralytics GmbH. Another focus is on combining digital data with classic official sources. This is intended to improve the quality of the data and reduce the need for traditional surveys.

Traditional vs. modern data sources

Traditional mobility data collections often only offer limited analysis options. While traffic information in Germany is mostly based on stationary data, other countries such as the USA and Great Britain are increasingly relying on multimodal data sets, which also include fleet vehicles and taxis. Stationary detectors, such as inductive loops and infrared detectors, only record selective information about traffic parameters, while mobile phone data can provide a dynamic and up-to-date picture of the traffic situation.

Initial research as part of NeDaMo has already shown that there are differences in the customer structure and market shares of different mobile network operators. These findings are crucial to categorize mobile phone data as a high-quality data source and to assign it a significant role in federal transportation and mobility planning. There is also a clear need for research in order to optimally use mobile phone data for future mobility analyses.

The desired improvement in data quality and the development of new statistical methods are crucial in order to use mobile phone data for microsimulations and to create realistic forecasts for mobility scenarios. This is particularly relevant because in modern traffic management, not only traffic flow, but also emissions, noise and energy requirements must be taken into account in the planning.

In summary, the NeDaMo project shows that networking between politics, business, administration and research is essential for successful mobility design. The provision of open data will continue to play a central role in making fact-based decisions and making the mobility of the future sustainable. Further information can be found on the BMDS website.

For those interested, there are additional details in the profile of the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization, and that Federal Statistical Office points out that NeDaMo's research results will provide important impulses for data-supported traffic planning. While mobile phone data has already been used to create OD matrices in successful projects worldwide, such as in Boston and Rio de Janeiro, NeDaMo shows the way for future, data-driven mobility solutions.