Traffic reporting
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Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about
road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...
conditions such as
traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems.
Traffic reports Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports, especially ...
, especially in cities, may also report on major delays to
mass transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
that does not necessarily involve roads. In addition to periodic broadcast reports, traffic information can be transmitted to GPS units, smartphones, and personal computers.


Methods of gathering information

There are several methods in use today to gather traffic speed and incident info, ranging from professional reporters, to GPS crowdsourcing to combinations of both methods. *
INRIX INRIX, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, US. It provides location-based data and software-as-a-service analytics—such as real-time and historical traffic conditions, road safety, and parking availability� ...
uses its network of over 175 million vehicles and devices to gather speed data from
mobile phones A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
, trucks, delivery vans, and other fleet vehicles equipped with GPS locator devices including smart phones and
Ford SYNC Ford Sync (stylized Ford SYNC) is a factory-installed, integrated in-car communications and entertainment system, in-vehicle communications and entertainment system that allows users to make hands-free telephone calls, control music and perform ...
and Toyota Entune and much of Europe, South America, and Africa. * Google Traffic works by
crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
the GPS information from phone users. By calculating the speed of users along a stretch of road, Google is able to generate a live traffic map. Its subsidiary,
Waze Waze Mobile Ltd, (; ) doing business as Waze (), formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS). In ad ...
, also allows users to report directly via a smartphone app. * TomTom Traffic uses crowd-sourced data from mobile phone users, along with data from traditional sources such as induction loops and traffic cameras. * Monitoring police radio frequencies. Some radio stations have agreements with states' highway patrol that permit a direct connection with a law enforcement computer. This enables real-time information gathering of the latest accident reports to highway patrol divisions . * Many areas have
helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
to overfly accident scenes and other areas of high traffic volume. For example, by the company Global Traffic Network. * Traffic camera * Giditraffic is an online social service which employs
crowd sourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
as its primary means of providing real-time traffic updates to subscribers. The service is delivered free of charge. * RoadPal uses
crowd-sourced Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
data from mobile users as well as the social media to provide users with traffic information of places of interest to them. * Roadside
speed sensor This is a list of sensors sorted by sensor type. Acoustic, sound, vibration * Acoustic radiometer *Geophone *Hydrophone *Microphone * Pickup *Seismometer * Sound locator Automotive * Air flow meter * Air–fuel ratio meter * Blind spot moni ...
s, either infrared sensors for spot measurements or
automatic number plate recognition Automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR; see also other names below) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing closed-circuit ...
for measuring speed between two sites (
Trafficmaster Teletrac (branded as Teletrac Navman; formerly Trafficmaster) is a software as a service company headquartered in Southern California, with offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. It provides cloud-based GPS fleet tra ...
have a network of sensors on motorways and trunk roads in the UK).


Methods of transmitting information

* GPS units (see
Integration of traffic data with navigation systems Integration of traffic data with navigation systems enables navigation systems to use traffic and other related data to optimise routing and travel times by taking into account traffic conditions and other disruptions to traffic flows. The integrat ...
) * Smartphones * Radio via voice RDS, and TA * Electronic road signs *
5-1-1 5-1-1 is a transportation and traffic information telephone hotline in some regions of the United States and Canada. Travelers can dial 511, a three-digit telephone number, on landlines and most mobile phones. The number has also extended to b ...
traffic information phone line or similar. * Television and web


Providers


Total Traffic & Weather Network
is the largest provider of real time broadcast traffic information in the United States. TTWN's broadcast traffic information appears on hundreds of radio and television stations as well on a multitude of automotive and gps navigation systems throughout the United States. TTWN traffic reports reach approximately 125M commuters per month. In 2011, TTWN acquired then competitor Metro Networks for $125M, about one-tenth of the company's $1B sale price to Westwood One a decade earlier. In 2006, TTWN partnered with BMW to become the first company in the United States to bring a product to the consumer market that displayed real time traffic information on an in-vehicle navigation system. TTWN's parent company is iHeart Media Networks. * NAVTEQ provides data used in a wide range of applications, including
automotive navigation system An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to find direction in an automobile. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on ...
s for many car makers. Most clients use Navteq to provide traffic reports in major metropolitan areas throughout North America. NAVTEQ partners with third-party agencies and companies to provide its services for portable GPS devices made by
Garmin Garmin Ltd. is an American multinational technology company based in Olathe, Kansas. The company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes GPS-enabled products and other navigation, communication, sensor-based, and information ...
, Lowrance, NDrive and web-based applications such as Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps, and Nokia Maps.
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...
and
Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...
use NAVTEQ data to show traffic information on navigation systems. NAVTEQ's media services was spun out to form Radiate Media in 2011, which subsequently merged with Global Traffic Network in 2016, forming US Traffic Network (USTN). *
Tele Atlas Tele Atlas is a Netherlands-based company founded in 1984 which delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and Automotive navigation system, in-car navigation systems, and provi ...
, a subsidiary of TomTom. delivers digital
map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
s and other dynamic content for
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
and
location-based service Location-based service (LBS) is a general term denoting software service (economics), services which use geographic data and information to provide services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor ...
s, including personal and in-car navigation systems, and provides data used in a wide range of mobile and Internet map applications. * Google Maps uses a variety of governmental and private traffic reporting organizations to provide information, along with its
Waze Waze Mobile Ltd, (; ) doing business as Waze (), formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS). In ad ...
subsidiary, which uses
crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
to provide observed traffic conditions.


References

{{Authority control Road transport Journalism