Vodafone data supports analysis into Italian travel habits

In any country, decisions on how and where to invest in transport infrastructure must be considered carefully. Funds should be directed so that the customer groups and geographic regions which have the greatest need benefit the most.

Mobile data can greatly assist local authorities in making these decisions, by shining a light on people’s travel habits. A new Vodafone Business project in Italy is a great example.

Exploring Italian travel with Ferrovie dello Stato Group

We’re working with Ferrovie dello Stato Group (FS) to use mobile phone data to analyse Italians’ travel habits and footfall to major rail hubs. The aim is to monitor developments and changing needs in the sector, to assist FS and the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in planning future investment in transport infrastructure and services.

The project has used only non-identifiable, anonymised data, in full compliance with privacy legislation. To date, it’s analysed approximately 23 million SIMs, 200 thousand cell phones located around Italy and 30 billion geo and time-referenced positions each day.

Unparalleled mobility insights

Analysis of the aggregate results, conducted by the FS Research Centre, shows that over 35 million Italians travel each day during the working week (around 77% of the relevant population) and that almost 34 million travel when there is a public holiday (74% of the relevant population). Each traveller makes an average of two and a half trips a day (roughly, one main return journey and a further trip in certain cases). This means that people travel approximately 47km a day on a working day and over 50km on a public holiday.

The project has also analysed the volume and habits of people using three major train stations: Roma Termini, Milano Centrale and Napoli Centrale. Mobile data is again used to examine people’s origin and destination, the type of train used and the time spent inside the station.

The resulting analysis, which has been published in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport’s "Insights into passenger and freight transport trends (Q1 2023)”, will be an invaluable tool in helping to determine where future transport investment should be directed.

Using analytics for business intelligence

Using location and mobility insights to better understand business potential and performance is becoming essential – not just in transport, but across all sectors. Millions of mobile customers can provide a business with insights that can deliver value and efficiency gains on a huge scale.