While Ubers and Lyfts seem to be everywhere in both urban and suburban areas around the world, no one has known just how many are out there - until now.

Two researches at the College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts created hundreds of fake Uber and Lyft accounts along with a unique computer program to uncover data on the number of drivers.

Alan Mislove and Christo Wilson, both professors, first tasked themselves with determining how many rideshare cars are in San Francisco, but now transportation officials across the country are expressing interest in applying their work to other cities.

Scroll down for video

Alan Mislove and Christo Wilson, both professors, first tasked themselves with determining how many rideshare cars are in San Francisco, but now transportation officials across the country are expressing interest in applying their work to other cities.

SAN FRANCISCO CARS The research revealed that on a typical weekday in San Francisco, Uber and Lyft are operating more than 5,700 vehicles. Collectively, these cars are making 170,000 trips. From Mondays to Fridays, these vehicles travel roughly 570,000 miles within the city. They account for a whopping 20 percent of local daily traffic. Advertisement

The program uses the data already available on the Uber and Lyft apps to create a broader map of the city.

Each time a user hails a ride, both apps show the eight nearest cars, so the duo created hundreds of fake accounts for both companies and strategically placed them around San Francisco.

'We run our fake accounts, and they all start asking Uber and Lyft what the eight closest cars to me are,' Wilson said.

'Since we have so many, we get a complete picture of all the cars in that location.'

They discovered that, between the two companies, more than 5,700 rideshare vehicles operate in the city on a typical weekday.

The program uses data already available on the Uber and Lyft apps to create a broader map of the city. Each time a user hails a ride, both apps show the eight nearest cars, so the duo created hundreds of fake accounts and strategically placed them around San Francisco

They also discovered that collectively, these cars are making 170,000 trips and account for a whopping 20 percent of local daily San Francisco traffic.

The majority of cars, they found, were concentrated in the 'densest and most congested parts' of the city.

Additionally, these vehicles are traveling roughly 570,000 miles just within the city from Mondays to Fridays.

'I've fielded dozens of questions and inquiries from officials who are dying to get their hands on the same information for their cities,' he said. 'Our perception that this is a really critical issue in San Francisco is one that's shared by people across the country.'

This information is vital for municipal planners, who are having to adjust to the changing landscape of transportation brought about by the booming rideshare market.

'If you're an urban planner or a civil engineer, this is huge,' Wilson said.

'It will definitely impact your investment strategy going forward. Maybe you don't invest in more buses or trains, but instead in the roads—doing that with ride-sharing in mind.'

This project was commissioned by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority whose deputy director for technology, data, and analysis, Joe Castiglione, said 'officials who are dying to get their hands' on this information.'

'I've fielded dozens of questions and inquiries from officials who are dying to get their hands on the same information for their cities,' he said.

'Our perception that this is a really critical issue in San Francisco is one that's shared by people across the country.'

The study would be simple to apply to other areas.