Research & Innovation: Mobility Data, AI & Transport Intelligence
Real-world mobility data. Research that makes a difference.
Understanding how people move is essential to addressing some of the most important challenges facing transport today. From reducing road risk and congestion to supporting cleaner cities and preparing for increasingly automated vehicles, effective decisions depend on reliable evidence about how mobility systems work in the real world.
At The Floow, we use large-scale real-world mobility data, behavioural science, data science and advanced analytical techniques to investigate complex transport challenges and develop actionable insights. Our research spans driver behaviour, road safety, geospatial analysis, traffic modelling, emissions, connected vehicles and emerging mobility technologies.
We work with organisations across academia, industry and the public sector, bringing data capabilities and technical expertise to collaborative research programmes, funded projects and real-world applications. Our aim is to help turn mobility data into evidence that supports better understanding, informed decision-making and practical progress towards safer, cleaner and smarter transport.
Research grounded in real-world mobility
Real-world driving data provides an opportunity to understand how vehicles and road users behave beyond controlled trials or isolated observations.
The Floow works with large-scale mobility datasets to investigate patterns in driving behaviour, road use and transport networks. By analysing aggregated behavioural and geographical information, we can help researchers and decision-makers explore how mobility varies across locations, time periods and road environments.
Our research capabilities bring together:
Real-world driving data: Mobility evidence collected across extensive geographical areas and journeys.
Behavioural analysis: Investigating driving patterns, vehicle speeds, mobile phone use and other indicators relevant to road-user behaviour.
Geospatial analysis: Examining mobility patterns at road-segment, neighbourhood, town and city scales.
Predictive analytics and AI: Developing analytical insights to investigate patterns, risk and potential future outcomes.
Transport and road safety modelling: Supporting the investigation of traffic behaviour, road risk and safety-related measures.
Data governance and responsible use: Addressing privacy, data management, regulatory requirements and responsible approaches to data sharing.
By combining these capabilities, we help turn complex mobility datasets into evidence that can support research questions, inform transport planning and contribute to the evaluation of interventions.
Funded Projects
“We leverage our unique supply of data to create powerful insights across many of the most urgent challenges facing society. These challenges include the push towards vision zero, tackling congestion, preparing for the transition to autonomous vehicles, improving the quality of the air we all breathe, and achieving the green energy transition. ”
Funding Bodies we have worked with
From research evidence to real-world impact
Research is most valuable when its findings can inform decisions, shape new approaches or support practical applications.
The Floow brings experience in collaborative research and innovation projects across the UK, Europe and the USA. We work with partners from industry, academia, government and the wider research community, contributing mobility data capabilities, analytical expertise and technical experience.
Our involvement can span different stages of a project, from developing research questions and identifying suitable data approaches to analysis, pilot development and the evaluation of outcomes.
We can contribute to:
Research into driving behaviour, road risk and transport systems.
The development and application of behavioural models and safety metrics.
Traffic monitoring, modelling and network-wide mobility analysis.
Geospatial analysis and predictive location-based insights.
The evaluation of connected and automated mobility technologies.
Research into emissions, decarbonisation and sustainable transport.
Data management, privacy, governance and responsible AI considerations.
Collaborative pilots designed to investigate and evaluate real-world applications.
The precise contribution depends on each project's objectives, available data, partners and requirements. Our approach is to bring the appropriate capabilities together around a clearly defined research challenge.
Our Impact Channels
-
For Funded Research
We contribute mobility data, analytical expertise and technical capabilities to collaborative research programmes.
Impact includes:
Experience contributing to Horizon, UKRI and public–private research partnerships.
Connecting research findings with real-world pilots, tools and potential applications.
Supporting multidisciplinary teams investigating road safety, driver behaviour and emerging mobility challenges.
-
For Industry
We help industry partners explore how real-world mobility data can inform research, innovation and decision-making.
Impact includes:
Research grounded in large-scale real-world mobility data.
Analytical perspectives on road risk, driver behaviour, safety and compliance.
Opportunities to connect data science and research with technology development and practical applications.
-
For Cities, Authorities & Regulators
We support transport organisations and public authorities in investigating how roads and transport networks are used, providing evidence to inform planning and policy.
Impact includes:
Mobility insights to help transport planners and policymakers understand traffic patterns and road use.
Evidence to support research into Vision Zero, road safety and infrastructure planning.
Applications spanning decarbonisation, emissions modelling and sustainable transport.
Our research priorities
-
Driver Behaviour & Road Safety
Understanding driver behaviour is fundamental to investigating road risk and identifying opportunities to improve safety.
Our research uses real-world mobility data to examine driving patterns and behavioural indicators, including vehicle speeds, traffic flows and mobile phone use. These insights can contribute to behavioural models, safety metrics and naturalistic driving research.
We also explore how mobility data can support network-wide approaches to road safety, helping researchers and public authorities investigate patterns across locations rather than relying solely on individual sites or isolated observations.
Potential applications include road risk analysis, traffic monitoring, the assessment of safety-related interventions and research supporting wider ambitions such as Vision Zero.
-
Geospatial Analysis & Predictive Mobility Intelligence
Where mobility takes place is an important part of understanding how transport systems function.
Our geospatial analysis capabilities enable aggregated mobility behaviour to be examined across road networks, neighbourhoods, towns and cities. By understanding how driving patterns vary geographically, researchers and transport organisations can investigate differences in traffic behaviour, identify areas for further analysis and build a more detailed picture of network performance.
Applications include traffic modelling, road risk analysis, emissions modelling and AI-enabled predictive location-based insights.
This work can support questions about how road networks are used, where mobility patterns change and how evidence can inform transport planning and infrastructure decisions.
-
New Mobility, Connected Vehicles & Automated Systems
Emerging vehicle technologies are changing how transport systems operate and how road users interact with vehicles and infrastructure.
Our research interests include the safety, readiness and interaction of automated systems, as well as human–machine interaction and mixed-fleet environments in which conventional and increasingly automated vehicles share road networks.
Real-world mobility evidence can contribute to the development of connected and automated vehicle scenario libraries, safety assurance approaches, pilot evaluation frameworks and the analysis of exposure, conflicts and outcomes.
By connecting data-driven analysis with research into new mobility technologies, we help investigate how emerging systems interact with the wider transport environment.
-
Data Sharing, Governance & Responsible Innovation
Research using mobility data must balance analytical value with appropriate governance, privacy and regulatory compliance.
The Floow has experience working in regulated markets and contributing to project activities involving data management, privacy, open science and AI compliance. We recognise the importance of establishing appropriate arrangements for data access, sharing, processing and use throughout a research programme.
Our work in this area includes data governance models, regulatory evidence, standards alignment and approaches informed by FAIR data principles: making data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable where appropriate.
We work to ensure that research objectives, data practices and compliance requirements are considered together, supporting responsible collaboration and the effective use of mobility evidence.
-
Emissions, Sustainability & Cleaner Transport
The transition towards more sustainable mobility requires a better understanding of how vehicles are used and how transport patterns influence environmental outcomes.
Our geospatial and mobility analysis capabilities can support research into traffic behaviour, vehicle activity and emissions modelling. These insights can help researchers and transport organisations investigate patterns across locations and consider the potential implications of changes to infrastructure, traffic management or mobility systems.
By providing evidence about real-world movement and road use, mobility data can contribute to wider work on decarbonisation, cleaner transport and the environmental objectives of cities and public authorities.
From Evidence to Outcomes
Impact highlights:
Billions of kilometres of unique data collected globally
Analytic insights deployed at all geospatial scales
Real-world mobility behaviour and safety analysis
Global impacts changing cities, mobility, safety and lives
Evidence used to inform public policy, infrastructure, and new mobility
Analysis contributes towards safety interventions and regulation
-
Our mobility data capabilities create opportunities to investigate driving behaviour and mobility patterns across extensive geographical areas and road networks. From individual road segments to towns and cities, this evidence can help researchers explore how roads are used, how behaviour varies between locations and where further investigation may be valuable.
-
We bring together telematics, data science, behavioural analysis, geospatial methods and software engineering to address research questions from multiple perspectives. This combination enables us to investigate complex mobility challenges, from driver behaviour and road risk to traffic modelling, emissions and emerging vehicle technologies.
-
We have experience working with partners across academia, industry and the public sector, including collaborative funded research, Horizon and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) programmes, and public–private partnerships. We understand the importance of bringing different disciplines and organisations together around shared research objectives.
-
Our combination of research, analytical and technology capabilities can help connect findings with pilots, tools and practical applications. Depending on project objectives, we can contribute to research design, data analysis, the development or evaluation of approaches, and work to understand how findings may inform transport planning, road safety initiatives or new mobility technologies.
-
We recognise that mobility research requires careful consideration of privacy, data management, regulatory requirements and appropriate governance. We work with partners to consider these requirements alongside research objectives, helping establish responsible approaches to data access, sharing and analysis.
-
We believe effective collaboration starts with a clearly defined research question, an understanding of the evidence required and a shared view of what meaningful outcomes could look like. By working closely with our partners, we aim to bring the right data, expertise and technical capabilities together to support research that is both rigorous and relevant to real-world mobility challenges.
Why collaborate with The Floow?
Who we work with
-
Universities & Academic Research Institutions
We work with researchers seeking to investigate mobility behaviour, road safety, transport systems and the wider applications of real-world driving data.
Our capabilities can support research design, behavioural analysis, geospatial investigation and the development of evidence to address scientific questions about how people and vehicles move.
-
Cities, Public Authorities & Regulators
Transport planners and public authorities need reliable evidence to understand how road networks are used and how transport measures may affect mobility.
Our aggregated mobility insights can support the investigation of traffic patterns, road risk, infrastructure use and changes in behaviour across locations. This evidence can contribute to transport planning, policy development and the evaluation of interventions.
-
Automotive Manufacturers & Mobility Providers
As connected and automated vehicle technologies evolve, manufacturers and mobility providers face new questions about vehicle behaviour, system performance, safety and interaction with other road users.
Our expertise in mobility data and real-world behavioural analysis can support research, development, validation and in-use monitoring, depending on project requirements.
-
Insurers & Industry Partners
Our experience in telematics and predictive analytics provides a foundation for collaborative work on driving behaviour, risk, connected mobility and data-led innovation.
We work with industry partners seeking to investigate new applications for mobility data, develop analytical approaches or contribute specialist capabilities to broader research programmes.
Explore our mobility data & technology expertise
Our research capabilities are part of a wider body of expertise spanning mobility data, telematics, AI, predictive analytics, behavioural science and software engineering.
Discover Our Expertise to learn more about the capabilities behind our work, or explore MobilityIn, our mobility intelligence service using anonymous aggregated telematics data to provide insights into traffic behaviour and road network use.
Together, these capabilities provide a foundation for investigating mobility challenges across insurance, transport, road safety and research.
Let's collaborate on the future of mobility
Are you developing a funded research proposal, building a research consortium, investigating road safety or exploring new applications for mobility data? The Floow welcomes conversations with academic researchers, industry partners, public authorities and organisations seeking to understand mobility through real-world evidence.
Tell us about your research objectives, project requirements or collaboration opportunity. Our team can discuss the relevant data capabilities, analytical expertise and potential areas of contribution.
Let's explore how real-world mobility data can help advance your research.
We are constantly working towards both bilateral and multi-partner funding calls from national or international funding bodies.
