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Improving GPS Systems with Traffic Flow Data 82

Posted by CowboyNeal from the turn-left-at-the-gridlock dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to a story in Technology Review, some GPS companies are factoring in traffic flow and time of day. From the article: 'Tele Atlas, a Boston-based company that provides digital maps and navigational content, has integrated new trafficking software into its map database so that drivers can find the most optimal route based on speed rather than distance — for any stretch of road at any hour of any day of the week.'"
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Improving GPS Systems with Traffic Flow Data More

Improving GPS Systems with Traffic Flow Data

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  • I can't speak for pure gps devices, but google maps on my treo 750 factors in traffic for known areas. The only downside is that its for major metropolitan areas. (i.e. not where i live or work)

    If i got a gps antenna, i could have a gps "device" that factors in traffic. It'll be worth it once the traffic reports expand beyond a few key cities.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by froggero1 ( 848930 )
      this would be really handy technology....

      if it would update live.

      (calgary example: "x929 reports a crash in the left hand lane on deerfoot and 64th, stay in the right hand lane, or take a detour from $x to $y")

      if it had that... I just _might_ buy one of these for my car... I typically know where I'm going on any given day, but if the road changes, I'd like to know that before getting stuck in a jam.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Rodness ( 168429 ) *
        My 2007 BMW 3series with iDrive navigation package does exactly that.

        The navigation system receives real-time traffic info, and will actively alert me if my planned route has traffic and (depending on whether I have it set for a dynamic route) either automagically alter the route around the jam, or offer me the option of doing so.

        If I'm not following a planned route, it will still place traffic alerts on the map to indicate accidents, congestion, severity of congestion, lane closures, etc... and it also of
        • As will Tom Tom GPS units, with a TMC antenna.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by leenks ( 906881 )
            Or without the TMC antenna, and using an internet connected over bluetooth (eg GPRS, GSM dialup, etc). In the UK, the TMC antenna is a non-functioning piece of junk (the antenna is the wrong length for the frequency range it tries to pick up, and the channel transmitting the required RDS information, Classic FM, often isn't on powerful enough transmitters for it to work properly). On a typical 4 hour motorway run from Cheltenham to Newcastle, I got about 40 minutes of TMC coverage.

            The maps have also had som

            • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

              by Sobrique ( 543255 )
              I'm fairly sure though, that my TomTom, whilst it downloads traffic updates, doesn't do it based on 'reporting' of peers.

              Now, if you could set it up so the 'peers' communicated with aggregated flow information, then that would really be a -very- useful trick. 'cars slowing in 2 miles, average velocity 10mph'. 'numerous vehicles stationary between J5 and J6 on road XYZ, congestion or accident or something'.

              Or even just as simple as 'road's getting busy, and slowing down, might want to go a different way

              • Check out www.dash.net. It's in beta, and I don't have the unit in hand yet (don't even know if I made beta), but this is exactly what they're promising. It tracks how fast you're going and where, along with a timestamp, deidentifies it, then when you get home, uploads from your car to the internet via your home wifi network, and downloads aggregated data on speeds/locations/times.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by leenks ( 906881 )
                It does a similar thing using the traffic flow cameras on the roads. It then reroutes you if that traffic flow starts to slow down.

                I believe they use the same technology as in the TrafficMaster cameras, which do number plate recognition and then hash the plate and pass it around the system. It can then determine the metrics you describe from that data without requiring any peers as such.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by R3d M3rcury ( 871886 )
          Yes, but will it tell you about Bullfights [zdnet.com]?
      • Tracking your speed as you travel from point to point and using that to estimate speeds in the future would probably work just as well as this after a month of use.
    • In some metropolitan areas the big building block the gps single
      also major roads in metropolitan areas have in road traffic sensors.
    • If i got a gps antenna, i could have a gps "device" that factors in traffic.

      Already exists [garmin.com]. I got a chance to play with one. It was quite cool: on my daily drive from work, it would route me differently on different days, depending on the traffic situation on the highway. It's still a bit expensive for me, but I'll probably buy one sooner or later (the c580 is cheaper, but I like the large screen of the 680).

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Jonavin ( 71006 )
        I got a Nuvi 370 with the Traffic feature. Unfortunately the traffic info isn't broadcasted in Toronto until July (delayed 6 months from the original January date), so I'll have to wait to really enjoy the feature.

        In the meantime, it does tell me where speed traps are and keep beeping as long as exceed the speed limit in the trap zone. This is handy because you don't need your GPS beeping at you when you're stuck in traffic. Of course I had to go in and "fix the data" because normal traffc speeds are almost

  • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • It's going to be great when everyone is using this (Score:5, Funny)

    by Richard McBeef ( 1092673 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @08:41PM (#19263161)
    Then everyone is going to be on the fastest route. Those old slow, traffic infested roads will be like ghost towns.

  • I know i posted already... But! (Score:3, Informative)

    by TinBromide ( 921574 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @08:43PM (#19263173)
    For those of you who want to check traffic before you leave, usually a state's highway patrol will list accidents and obstructions. I have this site bookmarked and check it before i drive anywhere long distance. http://www.fhp.state.fl.us/traffic/ [state.fl.us] Look for ones in your state.

    • Re:I know i posted already... But! (Score:4, Informative)

      by Fry-kun ( 619632 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @08:50PM (#19263251)
      California (rather, Bay Area) has a very nice service: 511
      You can dial "511" from any cellphone and you'll get a voice-guided helper - you tell it which major road you're taking (or choose origin/destination) and it tells you how long it would probably take and if there are any slowdowns along the way.

      I use it every time I get into bad traffic - that way I know when I need to just wait a few minutes to clear it or take local roads to get around it, instead.

  • Real time? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gorrepati ( 866378 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @08:48PM (#19263229) Homepage
    Bah! This doesn't give you real time data. Only slightly better than present day GPS'.

  • Prisoner's Dilemma (Score:3, Insightful)

    by marko123 ( 131635 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @08:52PM (#19263261) Homepage
    This kind of information feedback loop when introduced on a large scale will provide interesting opportunities for behavioural study.

    Do you follow the GPS advice like everyone else and get congested along the "best route?"
    Or do you pick the busiest route knowing that everyone will avoid it?

    I think the most effective general strategy is meant to be to alternate between obeying it and disobeying it.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma [wikipedia.org]

    • The traditionally busy routes will no longer be busy due to the GPS reporting them as busy.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by DaleGlass ( 1068434 )
      What would be needed is to have a central system to control this.

      If you just tell everybody that route A is empty, and route B is clogged then sure, everybody will head for route A and the situation will reverse in a few minutes.

      It's not hard to do it more intelligently: If route A is at 30% capacity and route B is at 70%, make it recommend route A for example 65% of the time. Some people will be sent to the suboptimal route, but this will result in a more gradual change, and will allow slowly creating a ba

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by marko123 ( 131635 )
        Interesting point. The central system approach is akin to creating better traffic flow by controlling the individual drivers. This would seem even better than using traffic lights, until you realise that each driver is trying to maximise his own personal speed and not the overall speed of everyone. You want people to cooperate in order for this to work. The prisoner's dilemma has now just included the centralised system as another player in the mix with possibly no improved outcome.
    • Get in the shower. Too hot? Set it cooler quickly. Now it's too cold so you set it hotter. Now it's too hot again....

      Any feedback system is prone to instability, depending on gain, feedback speed etc. This is a problem as old as automatic control systems.

      A traffic advice/control system can use two simple mechanisms to prevent oscillation:
      (1)Firstly, really fast feedback. If people get routing updates in seconds rather than tens of minutes, then they will tend to get good routing. Remember that only a limite

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sapphon ( 214287 )
      Unfortunately the lack of information about the participants in the 'experiment' (i.e. the drivers), specifically, not knowing what information each subje^H^H^H^Hdriver has, means there won't be much anyone can do with the data.

      Unless everyone has one of these systems, you can't assume Common Knowledge (which you do in the Prisoner's Dilemma), nor will there ever be a strictly dominant strategy (again, unlike the Prisoner's Dilemma).

      If few people have a traffic monitoring system, then the dominant strategy
    • This is where the value would seem to lie in the asymmetrical distribution of knowledge. Once everyone knows, you no longer have {that much of} an advantage.

      Still, even no live GPSes would benefit greatly from some knowledge of traffic bottlenecks and times of the day. If you are going north west, and the most efficient route would have you go west then north was only true at 21:00, @ 18:00 the most efficient route would be north then west. It'd certainly be great to have some sort of smarts in the GPS unit
    • Well, ultimately, I recon it'd work best with a "learning" algorithm. Let's assume that when the time comes that everyone still drives personal vehicles (or is driven in personal vehicles) and has such GPS technology... after a few re-routes the software can begin to guage how much traffic the alternate routes can handle, and it only re-directs a portion of the traffic such that all available routes run around the same threshold of congestion.

      Wait, I didn't just say that....

      I just forgot, I have an appoin

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Phleg ( 523632 )
      No. Alternating between the options isn't game-theoretically correct, since it's effectively no different than picking a route and staying with it (if everyone else were to play by that strategy). A much better tactic would be to randomly choose a road out of all the possible selections, weighted by the proportion of cars it can handle in a given time frame.

  • That isn't "improving GPS" (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    When did GPS become synonymous with automobile navigation systems?

  • Empowering Joe Sixpack is Bad for the Smart People (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This is a classic example of why empowering the masses isn't necessarily a good idea. Now my favorite commute is going to be jam packed with traffic. Thanks a lot.
  • Editors need a new rallying cry:

    What do we do for a living, ladies?
    Kill! Kill! Kill!
    Oh, BTW, the /. lameness filter killed the full effect of this post. I went for all caps in the blockquote bit. You know, to fully capture Hartman. And his effect.

  • The GO910 isn't exactly a new model, yet it supports traffic rerouting. It's a subscription service, but it's there, it (apparently, I'm too cheap to try it) works, it's old hat.

    Also, if you don't have a GPS nav in your car yet, get one. Srsly. <3.

  • Ultimate Navigator (Score:4, Funny)

    by qray ( 805206 ) on Thursday May 24, 2007 @09:54PM (#19263907)
    What is needed is to turn the car navigator into small wireless device. Then traffic flow rates can be passed from car to car. Accidents can be reported in real time and traffic adjusted accordingly. - Q
    • It is what I imagine: each car retransmit to nearby cars his information of time, location and speed in real time. Then each receiver retransmit it to other in a peer to peer way. The value of the information is decreased with the distance and not retransmitted if it is too far away to be directly usable or too old. The distance could be in time to travel or as pure distance as the information 10km away is more valuable on a freeway than in a clogged town where information 10min away is more valuable.

      Some q
    • Wow. Great minds think alike: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=236065&thresho ld=1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=19266935#192678 43 [slashdot.org] (I didn't see your comment when I made mine because it was initially below my threshold.)

      Want to help me develop this? More importantly, know of any generous venture capitalists?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by qray ( 805206 )
        Someone else posted this link http://www.dash.net/ [dash.net]. This looks like it uses a wide area network to connect to a centeralized server that the in car systems then can query about traffic pattern. I haven't looked at their site enough to figure out how real time it is and all the details.
        -
        Q
    • Oh, they are working on this http://www.dash.net/ [dash.net]

  • Walk or bike for a change.

    Where possible, of course.

  • Nothing new (Score:2, Interesting)

    by cly ( 457948 )
    Here in Japan, my car's navigation system takes into account any congestion and would direct me to the "quickest" route rather than the shortest.
    • Which one do you have? Cos I have a top of the line HD based Strada that's just over a year old and that sure as hell doesn't. The damned thing keeps trying to send me down 246 which at some times seems to be the *only* crowded road in Tokyo, or to Chiba by highway via Ichikawa when the Wangan is only slighly longer but much much faster.
  • Being one of the poor souls who commute to and from Boston, I can say a GPS device that uses traffic speed estimates for best routes won't do much good. I know the city in and out, northbound, southbound, westbound, your only hope is to *1 from your cell phone to check current traffic your side of the commute. If it's jammed more than usual, either wait it out and look good at the office, or pretend your backroad shortcut saved you time (hint, it's always 6 of one, halfdozen of another)

    I'd be happy if my
  • "most optimal"?

    Does that mean there's a "least optimal" too? How about "very optimal", or even "optimally optimal"?

  • Give me integrated live traffic updates or don't bother, no two Mondays are alike.
    • Give me integrated live traffic updates or don't bother, no two Mondays are alike.

      Repeating myself, but live traffic updates are available now in the USA on some high end Garmin GPS devices, like the Nuvi 680 or c580 (see a link in my post above). If you're in one of the supported regions, your device will receive traffic information using some wireless broadcast mechanism and use it to compute the optimum route (the Nuvi 680 uses Microsoft's DirectBand for traffic updates, and I believe RDS is also ava

  • Tele Atlas is not Boston based company (Score:4, Informative)

    by ivano ( 584883 ) on Friday May 25, 2007 @02:46AM (#19266371)
    It's listed on the Dutch stock exchange and its main office is in Ghent, Belgium, Europe. They have an office in Boston but most of the developers and infrastructure for the US is done in Lebanon, NH.

    I kinda wonder how much research was done on the article if they can't get even the simple stuff right. What's next, "Microsoft, a Silicon Valley company, is launching its new operating system..."

  • Stating the obvious (Score:2, Informative)

    by evilduckie ( 854758 )
    GPS is not the same as (in-car) navigation. "GPS" is purely a positioning system. You can use it to figure out where you are. A navigation system (like TomTom) uses the GPS position along with a digital map to determine where you are and calculate the quickest/shortest route to a given destination.
  • Trafficmaster's Smartnav [smartnav.com] has been routing drivers around traffic jams in the UK for over 4 years. They have roadside sensors on most of the UK road network, and any blockage or slowdown is communicated to all the units using that road on their journey in real time. Given there's a mobile phone in the unit, it can also be used as a stolen car monitoring device as well. Pity the only version needs to be installed in your car - whereas the handheld units have all the market share now.

    Ian W.

  • Excuse me? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    They're trying to improve global positioning with traffic data? In the most optimal way?
  • Bah. This is exactly what I was trying to do [calum.org]. Lots of road users, all updating a central server with road speeds, and the ability to smartly reroute people based on knowledge of delays, etc.

    I shouldn't think it'll be long, now that people have phones (IP connection) with GPS built-in. It's not much further until end users are offered a cut in the monthly costs in exchange for providing data of their movements.
    Of course, the security/privacy implications are something that need to be carefully worked out
    • I was working something like this out in my head about a week ago on my daily trip into Boston, only my idea involved a peer-to-peer WiFi network. Each unit would broadcast things such as level of speed (stopped, slow, moderate, fast) and information such as if the airbag's been deployed or if a sudden change in speed (say 60 to 0 in a second or so). If every car on the road had one of these units, up-to-the-second notification of an accident ahead would be possible for miles. The units would be able to sug
  • as somebody mentioned below, there's a system in the UK called traffic master, that monitors traffic speeds on major roads. Initially you had to have a separate device that just told you about upcoming traffic (I think triggered by beacons over roads, rather than GPS).
    For the last couple of years most high-end TomTom products have offered a service that integrates TrafficMaster into their software. I use a Tytn PocketPC connected to a Bluetooth GPS unit to plan my route. Every x minutes the phone connects
    • I use this service, and it's great. However I've noticed there's quite a few situations where it doesn't work all that well. Simply because it just doesn't really cover 'urban' or 'not exactly motorway' roads.

      I think a combination of analysing movement patterns on particular routes at particular times and days, combined with real time statistics on how fast traffic is moving would be really useful. Yes, some will get caught in congestion still, but ...

  • GPS 5000 has detected a less traffic area. Chance of survival... 38%.
  • Don't most of you bay area (bleeks) have web browsers on your phones? Just go to http://www.ktvu.com/baytrafficmap/index.html [ktvu.com]
  • The main issue around incar navigation systems is that GPS was design for battlefield (open terrain) and not for guiding cars down the freeway. When used in cities GPS has problems due to multiple signal paths which cause errors in location calculation additionally to get a good locational fix any GPS ground device needs to see 3-4 satellites which is difficult due to high rise buildings. All in all GPS is only accurate to about 200-300 meters in a city, which makes navigation very difficult

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