WEBVTT - How does Google get traffic information for Google Maps? 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:09.000 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.880 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.919 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.200 and I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:26.440 Sitting across from me, as usual, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland, 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:31.360 and Leon is getting larger. You've been threatening to do 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.040 that for a while, I haven't you, Yes, I have. 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.120 So today's episode comes to us courtesy of a little 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:44.720 listener mail. Let's listen to. Mail comes from John, and 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.800 John says, how are you guys? I hope this email 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.000 goes through. I didn't see a contact email on your 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:51.760 web page, but I always hear you announced it at 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.320 the end of your podcasts. It got through. John. First 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.680 of all, I love listening to your podcast. You guys 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.320 are great and the subjects you discussed are also. Keep 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.680 up the good work. My question is in regards to 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.840 Google maps traffic overlay. I usually check it before I 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:07.640 leave from work in case I have to take an 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.280 alternate route due to a traffic problem. I'm wondering how 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:12.600 Google can display how the relative speed is of a 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.920 particular stretch of highway or road. Do they use cameras? 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.400 Do they measure cell towers handing off phones? Do they 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.760 rely on people calling in? Google seems to have a 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.880 lot of public information gathered in one place, but I 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.280 don't know how they got their real time traffic data. 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.680 If you've already done an article or podcast on this 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:29.880 that I've missed, just please direct me in the right direction. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:31.959 It'd be great to hear an answer on the podcast. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.560 Of course, I am really interested in the answer, So 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.760 any way you can help would be appreciated. Keep up 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:41.399 the great work, John. Thanks John, you want to You 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.200 want to know the fascinating thing about that, John, is 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.640 they're getting it from you. Yes. Um, Actually, if you're 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.440 using a any kind of if you're using any kind 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.880 of cell phone that happens to have a GPS receiver 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.840 in it and also is using Google Maps with the 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.720 my location option turned on, you are contributing to the 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.960 information that Google is using to generate those traffic overlays. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.240 And that's pretty cool. Well, it depends on how you 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:11.239 look at it. You might be afraid, uh for example, 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.200 that hey, wait a minute, so I have Google uh 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.720 Maps for mobile turned on on my phone. I thought 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:19.880 I was just checking out the traffic. You mean they're 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:24.720 taking information from me? Uh. Google actually would would say 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.359 not to worry too much about that, because they are 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.920 they're not really taking any identifiable information from you. However 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.919 they are, um, they are also taking pains to mix 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.320 it in with other information, uh, taken from other customers. 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.960 So don't worry so much. You're you're not being peaked upon, 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.400 and they weren't aren't following you on your way to work? Right, UM, 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.680 probably let's give an overview of exactly what's going on 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.280 here so that we can kind of discuss where the 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.600 concerns come in and uh and how Google has decided 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.600 to try and meet those concerns. Because you you raise 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.000 a really good point, Pillette, I mean that there is 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.640 a privacy issue here. What if you're not driving to work, 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.639 What if you're driving to say, I don't know, maybe 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.440 you're driving to the hospital and you don't necessarily want 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:09.359 people to know that you have to go to the hospital. 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.400 You know, it's none of their business, it's your business. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.440 And the thought of well, does this mean that there's 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.640 some technology tracking my every move and that if someone 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.960 were clever enough they could figure this out. Um, well, 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.200 we'll get to that. So generally, what's going on is 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:29.040 when you're using these these devices, the GPS receiver is 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.440 what is is identifying your location. Um. Now, they can 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:38.120 use cell towers to try and approximate your location, but 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:42.400 that's usually within about all. It's not really that accurate, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:48.040 you know, it's it's several dozen meters at the at 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.280 the at best when you're talking about just cell towers, 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.840 you know, whereas GPS you're talking about a few hundred 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.800 feet max um. So cell towers not that great when 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.800 you're looking at trying to to figure out the traffic 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.400 patterns of a particular area, because if if it's narrow enough, 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.840 theoretically you wouldn't be able to narrow it down to 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.760 a specific street, right Like especially the cities laid on 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.360 a grid. You might be like, well North South travel 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.240 seems to be going pretty well, but we aren't really 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.880 sure which North South street this guy's on. GPS hower 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.080 gives you a much more specific location. So what happens 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.200 is you've got the GPS system identifying where you are, 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.559 and then uh, your phone is contacting the self cell 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.680 towers up on a pretty regular basis. As a matter 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.159 of fact, this wouldn't work if you didn't have a phone, 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.640 if you had just a GPS receiver, you'd kind of 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.400 be out of luck because a typical GPS receiver, just 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.440 a plain old receiver, is a receiver. It's not a transceiver. 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.840 It's not sending information back to the satellites. So Google 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.719 gets the information. Uh, the GPS information is going to 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:51.640 your phone, and your phone is contacting the cell towers, 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:53.920 and that's how Google's figuring out where you are, right. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.680 And so what happens is it sees think of your car, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:58.440 is just that little dot if you turn on the 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.800 my location you know you know I'm talking about. But 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.920 if you if you don't have it, here's what looks like. 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.919 You open up Google Maps, you turn on your my 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.200 location and then you get a little blue dot that 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:13.359 indicates your specific location on the map. As you move around, 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.159 the little dot moves around. Well, what happens is Google 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:20.520 will track how fast you're moving along a particular route 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:25.000 and extrapolate from that how traffic must be moving. So 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.320 this is not really useful unless Google is able to 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:31.680 do it with lots and lots of users, right, because, 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.919 for example, you could be walking down the street and 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:38.800 everybody else is moving quickly, so Google is saying, oh, well, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.800 apparently traffic is flowing normally and this other person is 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.320 doing something else, So you would you would be an 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.560 anomaly in that case because all the other traffic moving 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.480 down the street is moving much more quickly than you are. 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:52.799 Or maybe your your car's broken down and you're pushing 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.640 it down the street, right. Yeah, so Google could could 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.920 ignore you in that case. But if you were the 0:05:58.000 --> 0:05:59.880 only person in the area who happened to be you 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.719 seeing this, then Google's conclusion would be, Wow, traffic on 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.720 this street has crawled to a to almost a standstill. 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.599 Look at how slowly they're moving. So obviously, these sort 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.800 of systems are really only useful if lots of people 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.800 are already participating. Um, you can't just kind of go 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.599 right out of the gate with accurate travel information. You 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:25.240 really do need lots of different participants. So Google will 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.880 look at the big picture and the traffic overlay just 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.159 gives you an indication of how fast traffic is moving 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.679 along any individual streets. Google is not the only company 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.839 to take this approach. In fact, there was another company 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.920 that uh that some people in the tech industry were 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.279 really really excited about that. Were they were producing GPS 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:47.760 units that, uh, that seemed really innovative and use this 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.040 kind of feature where customers who use that that GPS 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:57.000 unit were contributing to the overall information about the city's traffic. Yes. Yes, 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:58.920 I was actually one of those people because I saw 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.240 the company technology at c e S two thousand eight, 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.200 and uh, I was really I was thinking how cool 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.120 it was that they had a way to, uh to 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.080 identify the businesses around where you were and give you 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.760 an idea of what was going on because uh, the 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.920 information from the GPS receiver was blended with Internet and 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.920 you could see you got sort of a um um 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:24.200 augmented reality effect. Really right, So, and I assume we're 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.920 talking about the same company. Let's make sure dash excellent. Well, 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.040 why oh my gosh, oh my gosh, listeners, you just 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:35.760 got to hear a renaissance festival slip up, I said, excellent. Well, 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.040 oh man, I've already been working there for a few weeks, 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.160 just in case you guys were wondering, and it is 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.440 starting to seep into my normal speech, So feel free 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.440 to write in and and chastise me for doing a 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.600 festivalism because I can't believe I did that. All right, anyway, 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:58.520 blooper real um the so so. Yeah, these two systems 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:03.280 work very similarly. You've got a centralized uh computing system 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.120 that is colating all this data and then sending it 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.120 back to the to the individual units. For the individual 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.880 units themselves are what is contributing to the data. It's 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.680 this kind of interesting circular system. And um, again, let's 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.760 talk about why you need a lot of people. It's 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.480 not just for the accuracy. It's also for privacy. Yes, 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:26.840 because imagine that Google institutes this and there's only one 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.000 person out there who happens to have the phone that 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.360 does this. All right, I mean, this is obviously just 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.520 a ridiculous example, But let's say that Let's say that 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.720 Palette is the only person in the world, or at 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.319 least the only person in Atlanta, let's say, who has 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:43.320 one of these phones and Google has already turned on 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:45.760 the system. That would mean that the system would become 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.520 not a traffic system, but a hey, where the heck 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.680 is Palette now system? I'm the one, in case you 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.440 were wondering, I'm the one wearing the red and white 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:58.080 striped shirt and the toboggan. Right, he's also carrying a cane. Um. 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.920 So anyway, the yeah, that that's why you need lots 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:02.560 and lots of people, because if you don't have a 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.720 lot of people, it actually is possible to figure out, oh, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.120 this has to be you know so and so because 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.200 he lives in that part of town and look where's 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.000 he going? Oh my gosh. Well, another thing Google does 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.719 to try and minimize any chance that people would be 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.640 able to identify a specific individual based upon traffic patterns 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:26.360 is they will erase the origin and destination of any trip, right, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.960 so that what they're looking at is they're just trying 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:32.960 to figure out the the speed of traffic along any 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:35.920 particular route. They're not interested in the starting point or 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:40.200 the finishing point, which is kind of interesting. So that's 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.680 that's Google's approach. They're saying, all right, well, we understand 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.800 your your privacy concerns, which is weird for Google. They 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.680 don't always seem to be really that concerned. Um, you 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.360 can ask people who had to you know, protest street 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:57.200 View for example, or buzz That's another really good example 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.679 about how Google sometimes seems to overlook the i'vous issue, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:04.600 But yeah, they really did think about it this time, 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.439 and as Poulette was talking about earlier, they also try 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.200 to mix your data and with the data of other 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.319 users so that there is no you know, in visualization 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.920 in there um. So that's that's I mean, really that's 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.679 the basics. It's it's really just data collection and then 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.360 incorporation into the maps application. You know, there may be 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:30.439 another reason why Google erases the destination and the trip, 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:35.560 because really it's all about the journey anyway you want it, 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.760 the way you need it, anyway you want it so well, 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.280 and also another reason why you would want it to 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.440 be private, not just because of where you're coming from 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.599 and where you're going to, which is you know, obviously, 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.720 like let's say that you don't happen to know that 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.600 Jonathan likes on a Friday night to go to the 0:10:54.640 --> 0:11:00.240 local gentleman's establishment and watch uh dancers. Jonathan doesn't. This 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.600 is just an example. But if but let's say that 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.199 you let's say that he did want to do that, well, 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.680 that would mean that Jonathan would probably not want you 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.839 to know that by looking at Google Maps. Well, that's 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.079 not the only thing. The only other reason you might 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.640 not want this information to be uh identifiable to you. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.080 You might not want people to be able to tell 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.840 that you're, um, I don't know, speeding down a main 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.640 drag at a breakneck pace. Yeah, you might not want 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.480 folks to say, hey, I noticed on Google Maps last 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.840 night that you were drag racing down main street. Um. 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:34.440 That would also be a reason why you'd want it 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:39.160 to be privatized, so that both the the destination and 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.240 the speed would be kind of hidden from other people. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.040 Right right, Jonathan, we noticed that you had the company 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:50.880 car out last night and you were speeding. Yeah, that 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.160 would have been really awkward, seeing as how I don't drive. 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.360 Just probably Actually, I'm sure I would end up in 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:02.079 a pond somewhere, possibly a pool somebody of water. The 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.360 pond would be good for you, I think, so. Um wow, 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.599 how many how many movie references are we going to 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:12.520 make in this podcast? At least one more? Yeah? Probably so. Uh. 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.400 One of the cool things to um that I hadn't 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.920 realized until I had started doing some research on on 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.719 the the traffic feature on Google site is that um, 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.400 Google is also keeping and this is also a bit 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.320 of a privacy concern, But I don't I don't know 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.839 that this is more so than anything else. Um, the 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.920 Google is keeping track of historical traffic information. So if 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.120 you are planning a trip, um, you know, say next Thursday, 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.120 to go to the airport, and you want to know 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.720 how traffic is on a Thursday morning going to the 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.960 airport between say eight thirty and ten o'clock in the morning, 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.360 you can look on Google and try to get a 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:53.920 prediction of how traffic will be in the future. It's 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.640 gonna clearly be over the roads because we'll all be 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.760 driving flying cars. Yes, I'm not gonna say it. I 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.839 came really close to making the other movie reference myself, 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.880 but I'm just gonna leave it up. Okay, where we're going, 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.400 we don't need roads. I told you we were having 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.880 that was that was the obvious one there. But no, 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.480 I think that's a very useful feature because, uh it 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.560 just seems like, um, you know, you could easily plan 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.959 a trip that way. Something time sensitive like that, especially, 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:24.080 it's going to uh benefit from having that information. So, um, 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.640 if you can, if you're not concerned about the privacy 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.520 feature thing, um, you know, there are lots of people 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:31.600 who are going to be concerned about regardless of what 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:35.600 the company tells you. UM. You know, then then it 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.440 can be useful to have that information and contribute to 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.400 everyone else's overall UH knowledge of traffic patterns over you know, 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.120 the recent past few minutes, you know, as far as 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.520 traffic is concerned, but also in the as in the 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.880 in terms of a historical sense. But you know, Google 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.280 is not the only one who does this. No, No, 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.080 Like we said, Dash does it as well, and UM 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.280 and some system incorporate other elements as well, not just 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:07.320 not just the user traffic or user experience, but they'll 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.560 incorporate things like if UH they might have a report 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.800 about a big event that's going on downtown and will 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:18.920 automatically factor that in when routing your trips so that 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.160 way you don't end up going through a street that's 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.840 been closed off for that day, or even some might 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.640 even incorporate weather reports. The more advanced you get, the 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.000 more information they'll they'll bring into UH to factor these 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.080 things in before you go on a trip, which is 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.320 really kind of cool. UM. A lot of them use 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.440 a system completely different from Dash and Google, which is 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.880 one of the things. A lot of them the GPS 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.600 receivers that are not phones they're just the just the 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:51.960 GPS receiver. They'll also have a second receiver in there 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:58.320 besides the GPS signal to to accept traffic message channel signals. Now, 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.880 the traffic message channel is UH. That's a way of 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.800 of sending traffic, real time traffic information out, usually over 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:07.640 an FM signal, but you can also do it over 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:12.200 satellite UM and you send that out to subscribers to 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:17.600 your service. So various companies have their own specific frequencies 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.080 like tom Tom has its own frequency in various cities, 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.800 that kind of thing. And the UH what will happen 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.440 is it'll the company will send the real time traffic 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:30.680 information out and so your GPS will update automatically. UH. 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.440 And this way, if let's say there's a big wreck 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.600 on one of the highways, it'll come back with that 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.760 information and give you the chance to reroute, you know, 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.480 in the middle of a trip. UM. There are some 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:46.760 problems with this technology and that a lot of the 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.960 companies that use it, UH, they kind of have their 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:54.520 system laid out on a grid, and so because that's 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.280 just the way the maps are, so when they have 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.360 to mark down where an incident occurs, but because it's 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.960 a grid, it's not. It's not terribly precise. It's not 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.280 like you can put a thumbtack exactly where the incidant happened. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.320 You you get an approximation. Sometimes that approximation is wrong 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.760 because let's say that there's an incident that's at an intersection, 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.000 and it may mean that one road leading into the 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.520 intersection is affected, but the other three aren't. Well, if 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:24.400 the the grid isn't exactly placed at the intersection in 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.560 the proper way, it may show up as affecting the 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.680 wrong road. So your route may say, oh, well, you 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.800 can completely go this way, there's no problem here, it's unaffected, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:38.520 when in reality, that's exactly where the problem is. Right, 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:42.080 So it's not as precise as it needs to be. Uh, 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.880 it's not foolproof in other words. Right, Meanwhile, you're cursing 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.040 because you got stuck in traffic somewhere right. You wanted 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.240 to turn left and the roads completely closed, and you 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.240 thought the roads the right was going to be closed. 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:58.040 But it's fine. Yeah, that's very irritating. Um. Going back 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.160 to something that you had said earlier talking about incorporating 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.560 weather and different events. Of course, a system like that, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:11.080 it involves human interaction. UM, it's not completely completely computerized. UM. 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.840 Traffic Cast is one of those companies that does that. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:17.400 And they UM they actually are the company that provides 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.520 Yahoo with its UM service. That's that you can see 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:23.840 on the Yahoo Maps website. UM. And one of the 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.880 things that UH that has improved about traffic information in general, 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.760 I think is that both systems, both Google and the 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.840 traffic cast system used on Yahoo and other sites UH, 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.240 is that they're starting to show information for arterial streets 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:41.160 as well, not just the major highways. UM. And it's 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:45.720 done traffic casts and traffic casts system is done in 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:50.200 a is handled partially you know, through human interaction, UM, 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:53.600 partially through other kinds of sensors, like for example, they 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:57.240 have the they use the remote Traffic microwave sensor, which 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.520 tells whether or not you're making burritos in your car. 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.520 Oh no, I'm sorry, that was my wrong notes No 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.280 it Uh I was really disappointed. Uh No, not so much. 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.560 Uh No. It's a traffic sensor that uses microwave signals 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.840 to figure out what's going on. It can actually go 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:17.320 across several lanes of traffic UH to identify, UM the 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.800 number of vehicles and their speed. Um, either you know 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.360 from the side or from the front, and uh it can. 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.000 As a matter of fact, you can monitor up to 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.720 eight lanes according to the information UM from traffic casts website. 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.359 But um, you know it can it can get an 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.879 idea of how fast you're moving. Now that's those are stationary. 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.200 It doesn't work the same way as having the the 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:43.520 the GPS system, uh through the maps functioning your phone. Um, 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:45.840 it doesn't get an idea over the same thing. So 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:47.440 they have to have it. They use a number of 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:52.360 collection methods, including including using GPS, but it's a it's 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.159 kind of neat too that they are able to do that. 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.480 And they're also in contact with the local governments who 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.760 have cameras and other systems set up so that they 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.640 can at monitor traffic. So in general, I would say 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.480 it's a lot easier to get an idea of what 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.320 your commute is going to be like before you leave 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:09.440 than it was just a few years ago. I mean, 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:11.439 because it seems to have come a long way in 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.479 a very short period of time. Right, They've they've got 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.760 a much more comprehensive list of data collection sensors and 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.480 and and methods. It's beyond just the users, which that's 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.760 a good good thing. I mean, I remember when when 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.760 I first started getting into the working world and I 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.080 was looking at at traffic reports things like that. Really 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.680 the only the only information you had where it came 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:38.679 from cameras that were placed along certain highways and you 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.160 can get a live look at what the traffic was like, 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:43.440 and you would get an approximation of the traffic. It 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.119 would you know, show up green, yellow or red. It 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:48.560 was all like the main highways. It was none of 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.959 the service streets and uh. And this is this is 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.359 much more useful for most people, I would think, because 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.119 it gives you a better glimpse of what traffics light 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.720 throughout the entire neighborhood. Yeah, or you know, then then 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.119 you got the other option, which is the traditional, uh 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:09.920 traffic copter five over the main thoroughfare. Yeah. Was that 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:14.960 an episode of w k RP. Anyway, he started pounding 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.000 his own chest because the cop chopper was was on 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:23.239 the Fritzi. I'm sorry, I had a traffic copter was 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:27.600 I had had the Flight of val Cree playing and 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:34.240 the Charlie don't surf there's another one for you. Um, 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.680 but yeah, well, the I think that I mean that 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:38.720 pretty much wraps up all the information I have because 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:41.800 this this topic is fairly cut and dry, especially for 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.240 a stuff topic it is. But um, but it was 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.280 kind of fascinating to me once I started looking at 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:48.480 the other ways that they measured traffic and explained some 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:50.960 of those weird beige boxes that they have on the 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.240 polls along the side of the road, right, you know, 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.000 I'd always wondered what some of those are. And I 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:57.879 know that there are other things too that they use, uh, 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:00.600 you know, like air pollution detect ors and things like 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:02.760 that that that that you'll see you on there. But um, 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.840 some of the boxes, uh, the next time you go 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:06.520 for a drive, some of the boxes that you see 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:09.200 with a little solar collector next to him maybe using 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:13.400 microwaves to uh check your car's speed and position out 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:17.560 to help the traffic people identify whether the roads are 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:21.040 clear or not. Yeah. Yeah, it's an it's neat stuff. 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:24.000 And I really do like the idea of crowdsourcing your 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.639 traffic information because I mean, when you think about it, 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.320 that's gonna, assuming the enough people are using it, that's 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:33.720 gonna give you probably the most accurate, big, big picture 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.120 view of what traffics like going you know how it's 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.440 going in the city, and um, I mean again, it 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:44.960 will depend entirely on whether people feel comfortable participating or not. Well, 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:47.680 I totally get that. I guess that that pretty much 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:50.600 wraps that up. Will go on to our second round 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:58.480