MIT Researchers Fight Gridlock with Linux

nerdyH brings us a report about a Linux-based device being developed at MIT which aims to reduce traffic congestion as well as assist automotive research projects. "The current focus of the project is in developing algorithms that run on top of the portal application to help drivers plot the best route at a given time. For example, the team's MyRoute project includes applications that model delays observed on road segments as statistical distributions. Various algorithms then use these to compute optimal routes for different times of the day. 'Instead of asking the shortest time or shortest distance from point A to point B, you ask what route should be taken, say, for the highest probability of getting to the airport by a certain time depending on the time selected,' says Madden."

Re:No live data?

[rvw]

In the Netherlands TomTom and Vodafone are experimenting with this. They track the movement of mobile phone users along the highway. That way they can see how the traffic is moving. You get the data on your TomTom if you take a subscription.

I wrote about this idea last year it's about time

[FromTheAir]

It is about time we applied techonolgy to solve the worlds problems. What if all the business leaders coordinated to shift their employee arrival and departure times slightly so as to create a well orchestrated movement of workers? With a little funding I could build a system to coordinate the daily rush hours. The system would take into account departure points and destinations, the course and various elements on the course, and perhaps the best course, preferences and people would select a travel spot. Even better all the cars can communicate with each other, knowing their drivers intended destination an artificial intelligence could coordinate suggesting the best time to move into the middle or left lane, sending some cars down an alternate route to relieve some congestion which in the end results in everyone getting home quickly which is the incentive to participate. How many billions of gallons of gasoline could be saved if we simply knew the most energy efficient route especially when driving in unfamiliar territory? Far more money would be saved than the cost of the system and the benefits would be extraordinary.