How does Google predict Traffic on the roads
'You have a flight to catch, and you're running late. You panic, and open Google Maps. It tells you that the route you are on will make you miss the flight, while a diversion would help you make it. You silently thank God and Google. '
The above is a dialogue which reminds us how dependent we are today on Google for different aspects of our life, one of them definitely being transit. Many of us have taken to planning all our trips based on what Maps have to offer.
The question today is, how does Google know about traffic, and why is it so good at it? Does it employ complex satellite imaging techniques? No. Its better than that.
Google knows the traffic because you tell them.
Not just you. The many user devices which use Google Services offer their data such as location and speed. Even if your GPS is off, your location can be triangulated using cellular network. So based on the thousands of users at a place and seeing how fast they are going, Google has a very decent idea of what the situation looks like.
This is a phenomenal example of crowd sourcing. And it is only relevant because of the dominance of Google in the market. Had there been fewer users, the results would have been far from accurate, resulting in people discontinuing using Google services. Hence, this is a neat cycle Google Maps has. Other companies may use the same technology, but they can never reach the accuracy of Maps due to the sheer number of users.
This is not all. Further, the service now has such a huge history of traffic conditions that it makes future predictions too. Meaning, suppose you are to reach a point a 100 kms away. Google checks the approximate time you'll take to reach there, and then uses its data to find out what the traffic will be like at that time.
Cool, isn't it?
Also read: Microsoft's new approach to navigation
The above is a dialogue which reminds us how dependent we are today on Google for different aspects of our life, one of them definitely being transit. Many of us have taken to planning all our trips based on what Maps have to offer.
The question today is, how does Google know about traffic, and why is it so good at it? Does it employ complex satellite imaging techniques? No. Its better than that.
Google knows the traffic because you tell them.
Not just you. The many user devices which use Google Services offer their data such as location and speed. Even if your GPS is off, your location can be triangulated using cellular network. So based on the thousands of users at a place and seeing how fast they are going, Google has a very decent idea of what the situation looks like.
Google stated: "When we combine your speed with the speed of other phones on the road, across thousands of phones moving around a city at any given time, we can get a pretty good picture of live traffic conditions"
This is a phenomenal example of crowd sourcing. And it is only relevant because of the dominance of Google in the market. Had there been fewer users, the results would have been far from accurate, resulting in people discontinuing using Google services. Hence, this is a neat cycle Google Maps has. Other companies may use the same technology, but they can never reach the accuracy of Maps due to the sheer number of users.
This is not all. Further, the service now has such a huge history of traffic conditions that it makes future predictions too. Meaning, suppose you are to reach a point a 100 kms away. Google checks the approximate time you'll take to reach there, and then uses its data to find out what the traffic will be like at that time.
Cool, isn't it?
Also read: Microsoft's new approach to navigation
How does Google predict Traffic on the roads
Reviewed by Shivam Kumar
on
13:53
Rating:
Reviewed by Shivam Kumar
on
13:53
Rating:
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