Today almost every person is having android phone or smartphone. Smartphone made our lives very convenient. Even you can see the future with your Smartphone. No, I am not kidding; of course you can. Here I am talking about traffic prediction. It is one of the most appreciable features of Google Maps. Google Maps live traffic prediction can help you avert traffic jam and also recommend alternative route options. It saves your precious time and avoids inconvenience caused by long traffic jams. And almost everybody is curious to know that how does it happen. How Google maps give us near precision estimate about live traffic. So I am here with answers. Let’s talk about how Google maps traffic prediction works.
Google maps traffic prediction trait is something that almost everybody know about. Most of them are dependent on Google live prediction service in order to plan their routes and to avoid heavy traffic jams. Few years back, Google was depended on traffic sensors to forecast the traffic situations on the roads. Google maps used to collect real time traffic updates from these sensors. But this data was restricted to primary roads and highways because the traffic sensors were set up on traffic prone roads only. So this method was not good enough for complete traffic prediction services.
Google traffic is a significant inbuilt feature of Google maps. It shows live traffic situations on major roads in particular geological locations. If you are using Google maps on your mobile phone or any device, you can find out the live traffic conditions on any road. Google maps send live traffic data to Google. The data received from a particular phone is distinguished with the data received from the other phones or devices in the same zone. That means more the number of Google maps users in an area the more precise the traffic predication.
The excellent mind behind the favorable outcomes of Google traffic prediction is Zip Dash. Zip Dash is a traffic investigation and determination company. It was imported by Google in 2004. Google added this technology to Google maps and proposed live traffic prediction services. A recent data reveals that Google’s location application has more than a billion active users every month. Google saves all trip information to create historical data. Google uses diversified sources (including fleet operators, road sensors and local authorities) to update you about accidents and roadblocks. Google has also hooked up with some brands such as Zomato and Uber for constant flow of trustworthy data in all cities. Google gathers location data from some telecom companies.
Google maps can:
- Observe traffic jams and the level of traffic (minor traffic, some congestion or major traffic jam).
- Pinpoint the road accidents which repeatedly cause heavy traffic jams.
- Inform about the roadway constructions and lane closures.
- Show you the shortest route.
- Suggest you alternative routes in case of traffic jam on your route.
- Even tell you if there is a marathon in your city. Because in that situation there are no cars on the roads and large number of people is moving faster than they commonly move.
So, for Google live traffic prediction, the main credit goes to all of us. Millions of people give the real-time data to Google all around the world. So basically, Google’s traffic data comes from millions of Google maps users. Google make use of that data to investigate the road and traffic conditions. When you “turn on” the Google maps and allow your device to access your location, your Smartphone send this information (location, destination and speed etc.) to Google server. And then this information is refined in real-time to give you live traffic information about your trip. The logic behind the crazy accuracy of Google maps is the abrupt scale of its user base.
Nobody can disagree that Google maps are serving wonderful all over the world. Google gathers the GPS data collected from the Smart phones and use it to determine their location and speed. Google has appointed various colors for different levels of traffic jam (e.g. Red shows heavy traffic). So if there are more smart phones at a place (on the road), you will see the color of Google maps overlay changes to red. This shows that there is heavy traffic on that place. The brilliant algorithm of Google ignores the vehicles (e.g. Postal vans) which stop more repeatedly. These types of vehicles can alter the traffic data.
Google evaluates the GPS driven locations shared by numerous Smartphone users. Then Google create a live traffic map by calculating the speed of Smartphone users along the length of road. The best thing is the capability of Google to predict the possible time of arrival relying upon variety of distinguishable factors. Google consider the historical data to predict the time of arrival. By pooling the data from millions of Google maps users around the clock, Google can tell you where and when you can foresee heavy traffic. Google maps have replaced the requirement of radio for live traffic updates. It is a simple way to view crowded freeways.
Every vehicle (on the road) carries a Smartphone with it. Most of those Smartphone’s location services are on which means their location and speed is being communicated by the Google. That means Google is investigating tons of data. So Google’s live prediction technology is not a miracle actually and it is very simple to understand. Google just analyze the data of all users and use it to predict the live traffic. You can stop Google from obtaining your location by “switching off” location on your Smartphone. But if everybody will do that Google maps would be harshly impaired because Google would not be able to predict traffic as easily as before.
Now let’s talk about the traffic accidents and lane closures. How does Google predict about these things. So other than using Smartphone data Google has a famous crowd sourced traffic application called Waze (Italian startup, bought by Google for $1 Billion plus amount). Google bought this application in 2013. Users report road constructions and accidents through this application. This data is also transmitted to Google maps and filtered into Google traffic data. In addition to waze app, Google also utilizes data from local and state offices which oversee transportation in order to increase the correctness of road constructions and lane closures.
Conclusion:
Google uses many ways to predict the live traffic services. All of these ways make the Google live traffic prediction a great service for billions of users but the clear cut accuracy of location data is unrivaled only because of Google maps users. Billions of Google maps users on the roads are playing the role of road sensors for Google maps. All Google map users contribute to make the Google maps services as precise as possible.
