The Moscow city authorities are introducing ‘PROtraffic,’ a heat map [data visualization technique — editor] showing the magnitude of a taxi traffic in the city, based on data from the mobile apps of taxi service aggregators.

Intended to “help solve a number of transport problems in the capital,” this online service shows taxi ride distribution across the city by period of time, allowing comparisons over different periods and areas.

Data is anonymized, i.e. the heat map does not show the location or tell any trip details related to individual taxis.

“In Moscow, there are hundreds of thousands of taxi rides every day, and information about their routes is a source of unique data for identifying problem points and making the right decisions. For example, we can determine what new routes and stops for public transport the city needs, and identify the places where a parking zone should be created or expanded,” says the press service of the Moscow Traffic Control Center.