Gizmodo UK dug into what Transport for London found while tracking anonymous Tube riders by WiFi last year, and the results are a rich set of data that run from routing to platform crowding. For example:
TfL hopes that this data could be used to analyse crowding. For example, the Northern Line was included in the trial as the two branches enables them to compare how the City and Charing Cross branches impact each other. The documents also seem to suggest that if TfL switched on tracking full time it could offer real time crowding information to passengers – so we could see a CityMapper of the not-too-distant future telling us which stations to avoid.
The bevy of tracking information gives Transport for London a much closer look at how its riders move throughout the system. Rather than just analyze origin and destination points, as it and other transit agencies do, it had the opportunity to see exactly what routes riders took, including transfers and other choices.