The Georgia Department of Transportation is adding its name to the list of states using citizens’ cell phones to track traffic patterns.

With help from an area company, AirSage, the DOT will install software in existing Sprint cell phone towers that will track the relative distance of a cell phone from the tower, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Alone, a single car provides very little information, but when combined with data from surrounding cars, researchers are able to determine traffic slowdowns and crashes remotely.

The system – which costs about $750,000 for installation – will be tested on Interstate 75 from Atlanta to Macon , with expansion expected if it proves successful, according to The Journal-Constitution.

Georgia isn’t the first state to try the high-tech system. Other states, including Missouri and Maryland , are also jumping on the bandwagon.

The Maryland State Highway Administration – with financial support from Delcan National Engineering Corp. and a number of federal grants – has been testing a traffic-monitoring system on more than 1,000 miles of roadway.

The $5.7 million pilot program has been underway for about six months, and will continue for about another year and a half.

According to the Maryland Daily Record, the system uses a patented technology called Estimotion, which measures signals sent from a cell phone to nearby towers to monitor the vehicle’s position and, therefore, speed.

When a traffic problem is discovered, the system relays the information to roadside signs and traffic officials, who can alert motorists and reroute traffic to prevent congestion problems.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is also getting set to implement a similar $3 million plan to use drivers’ cell phone signals to track and ease traffic.

According to The Associated Press, MoDOT is already in the negotiating process with private contractors to develop the technology, which will cover 5,500 miles of roadways across the state, making the largest project of its kind to date.

MoDOT officials told The AP that user information will remain anonymous, and that the data will only be used to predict traffic patterns.

“There is absolutely no privacy threat whatsoever,” said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn.

However, since the system would use cell phone users’ signals – each of which can be traced back to the phone’s owner – privacy advocates worry about the potential use of the program for the tracking of private citizens.

“Even though it’s anonymous, it’s still ominous,” Daniel Solove, a privacy law professor at George Washington University , told The Kansas City Star. “It troubles me, because it does show this movement toward using a technology to track people.”