The green , yellow and scarlet routes that Google Maps uses to signal clear , slow - move , or heavily engorged traffic are a bully assist when you ’re trying to influence the fastest way to your destination , but how does Google bed the traffic condition between where you are and where you ’re trying to go ?
Google Maps bases its traffic view and debauched - route recommendations on two different kinds of info : historic data about the ordinary time it takes to travel a particular section of route at specific metre on specific days and real - time information sent by sensor andsmartphonesthat describe how fast cable car are moving aright then [ reference : Barth ] .
Early version of Google Maps relied only on data from traffic detector , most of which were instal by government fare agencies or private companies that specialize in amass traffic information . Using radar , active infrared or laserradar technology , the sensor are able to detect the size of it and focal ratio of evanesce vehicles and then wirelessly transmit that entropy to a waiter [ sources : Machay , Palmer ] .
data point from these sensor can be used to provide real - prison term dealings updates , and , once call for , the information becomes part of the consortium of historical data used to predict traffic volume on future dates . However , sensing element datum was for the most part confine to main road and elementary roads because the detector were typically set up only on the most to a great extent locomote or traffic - prone routes [ seed : Machay , Matthews , Palmer ] .
begin in 2009 , Google turn to crowdsourcing to improve the accuracy of its traffic prevision . When Android speech sound exploiter turn on their Google Maps app with GPS location enabled , the phone sends back bit of information , anonymously , to Google that rent the troupe make love how tight their railroad car are moving . Google Maps unceasingly combines the information make out in from all the cars on the road and sends it back by way of those colored crease on the traffic layers [ source : Barth ] .
As more and more driver expend the app , the traffic predictions become more dependable because Google Maps can look at the average speed of cars locomote along the same itinerary without misapprehend someone ’s dawn coffee bean stop as a dealings crush . If Google Maps does n’t have enough data to estimate the dealings flow for a particular section of road , that department will appear in white-haired on the traffic layer [ source : Google Help ] .
With its acquirement of Waze in 2013 , Google added a human element to its dealings figuring . driver employ the Waze app to describe traffic incident include accidents , handicapped vehicle , slowdowns and even speed traps [ root : Palmer , Waze ] . These literal - sentence report seem as private period on Google Maps , with small ikon represent affair like construction sign , crash car or speed cameras .
