Timely Traffic Information - Dissertation Example

Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Methods for Providing Near Real Time Traffic Information Purpose of Research: With increasing pressure of traffic in the present times, need for accurate and timely traffic information is highly essential for the general public as well as for working people and groups. Different companies like Google, Tom Tom and others are continuously making use of different methods to provide information on real time traffic. The present research discusses on the various methods that companies use for near real time traffic information and the advantages and disadvantages that are associated with these methods. TOMTOM Company: Traffic Navigation System: Navigation system holds most significance in the present day lives of people allowing them to obtain information on traffic congestion and road safety, targeted towards reducing the negative effects of traffic problems. Navigation systems are owned particularly to obtain high quality information on traffic routes and in destinations that are unfamiliar for the drivers. Navigation systems provide the owners and drivers with suggestions on which route would be safer and suitable for them to reach to a particular destination (SWOV Fact Sheet – Safety effects of navigation systems 2010). TomTom Company provides its customers with a TomTom navigation device that allows them to obtain traffic updates on the screen of the device. Mobile phones of individuals can be connected with these devices. The company can keep a track of where these people are exactly moving and thus provide them with the accurate traffic updates on the location where they are present at a particular time. Other quality traffic information sources are used along with the availability of this device thus making the real time traffic information being available more effectively. TomTom traffic products also include live services like Mobile Speed Cameras, Expedia, Trip Advisor, Google Search, LIVE Quick GPS and Weather (Tom Tom HD Device 2013). Advantages and Disadvantages: While on one hand, the navigation tool may reduce the traffic on certain routes, it may lead to increasing traffic on the alternative routes. Moreover, there are possibilities of the driver’s attention being affected with the use of such a tool. One of the advantages of the navigation tool is that it provides road safety by allowing owners and drivers with suggestions to choose the most suitable route. This reduces the exposure of the users to dangers. With suitable route being suggested, the travel time also gets reduced. Users have to search less for the suitable routes on their own (SWOV Fact Sheet – Safety effects of navigation systems 2010). HD Traffic real-time traffic information is the basis for the navigation tool offered by TomTom. GPS and GSM systems are the fundamental concepts of the system that allows reliable information on traffic to the users of the navigation tool (White Paper – How TomTom’s HD TrafficTM and IQ RoutesTM data provides the very best routing n.d.). However a disadvantage of the tool is that adjustment of the tool needs to be done by the owners and doing this while driving is a risky task. However the overall mental stress and effort of the users reduce with the use of a navigation tool. Moreover, traffic problems are reported to users at early stage so that they can avoid congestions and problems related to road traffic on their routes. However during certain times, information provided by these tools might be incorrect, particularly if the road maps on the tools are not updated regularly. Wrong information leads to wrong decision making in terms of choosing any particular route. Another major disadvantage of the tool is its dependency on categorization of roads which makes it difficult to determine which questions on the desirability of road categorization considering the safety on the roads (SWOV Fact Sheet – Safety effects of navigation systems 2010). GOOGLE Company: Google Maps, Traffic Sensors, and Crowdsourcing: Google maps, traffic sensors and the process of crowdsourcing are used by the Google Company trying to provide its customers with real time traffic information. However these tools have both advantages and disadvantages of their own. Advantages and Disadvantages: Radar sensors, active infrared sensors, and laser radar sensors are the most common traffic sensors that Google has focused in providing real time traffic information to its customers, as it partnered with several transportation agencies and software companies like Inrix. The traffic sensors allow detection of the running vehicles and their speeds. With collection of the information, the congestion of the traffic in any particular location can be calculated and the information can be passed on to the customers. This is advantageous for the travelers. However the disadvantage of using traffic sensors is that radar sensors are not capable of detecting vehicles that stand still on roads. Thus the radar sensors cannot help its users to have knowledge about those vehicles or the traffic where vehicles are not moving. Disadvantages with infrared and laser radar have been found in their reports of malfunctions at times of severe climatic changes, for example, when there is heavy snow fall, or dense fog in a region (Machay 2013). Google has been long known to use Google Maps for providing its customers with traffic updates. However it has been observed that the information provided to customers with this method are often incorrect, stating incorrect timings of estimated arrivals (Burgess 2012). The advantages of using Google maps include the different views of the map that it offers – the normal view, satellite view, and terrain view. Google maps are simple to use, and provide the users with route suggestions for multiple destinations in cases where the traveler has to travel through several stops in the route. The type of travel can also be chosen as per the choice of the users, this being another advantage of the tool. However the zoom feature of the tool has proved to be a disadvantage as the center of the map gets zoomed and thus the user has to constantly move in the zoomed portion to search for his location (Disadvantages & Advantages of Using Google Maps Website 2013). Other disadvantages of Google maps include the images presented by the tool that in many cases contain contents that are inappropriate or unacceptable by the general public. Also, incorrect or missing information affect the benefits of the tool (Storm 2013). Crowdsourcing involves making use of the mobile phone to send data to the cloud without making any direct communications, thus enabling users to benefit directly. However the disadvantages of this technique arise with the concerns of privacy and usage of data that get shared in the process. Thus all the passive data that get shared need to be protected in order to make effective use of this system (Odum 2008).Google makes use of crowdsourcing by providing all traffic information obtained from cell phones that are active determining the flow of traffic in specific locations. The disadvantage of this process is that it gets affected if active cell phones are not available in large numbers for different locations (Machay 2013). Moreover, for information to pass on based on crowdsourcing, Android device is needed which might not be affordable for all customers, thus proving it to be another disadvantage of the process (Burgess 2012). INRIX Company: Tools and Methods for Traffic Updates: Inrix makes use of the advanced technologies to provide its customers with traffic updates. Use of XDTM Traffic, Speedwaves, and mobile phone applications is done by the company for the purpose. The tools and methods used by Inrix overcome the problems and disadvantages encountered by methods used by other companies. Advantages and Disadvantages: Inrix Company makes use of XDTM Traffic for providing its customers with routing information. It considers the differences in the flow of traffic on different days and at different times and suggests the customers with the best possible routes to avoid commotion on roads. The advantages for commercial drivers and commuters is that not only they are provided with near real time information on traffic but they also save on time and money, since Inrix takes into consideration the impacts of traffic conditions, holidays, accidents, construction works on roads, and other related factors before providing information to its customers (Innovate 2013). SpeedWaves technology is also used by the company that considers the controls of traffic roads, speeds of vehicles, and signals for providing traffic information to its customers. As a result, the information that is collected and provided to the customers is almost accurate thus giving near real time traffic updates. Advantages also include better options for routing and navigations for the customers. Applications on mobile phones have benefits as mobile phones are regularly used by customers. Thus with traffic information being available on the mobile phone, it becomes easy for the traveler to get the real time traffic information. Advanced technologies, data sets and user interface is used by Inrix to help the commuters with the most suitable route to the destination of the travelers (Innovate 2013). Inrix achieves its goal of providing its customers with real time traffic information by partnering with transportation agencies, and provides the opportunities to DOTs, Highway Patrol or State Police, and emergency management teams such that they can contribute it managing issues of traffic caused by sudden traffic shifts (INRIX Traffic.us 2013). Traffic scorecard is another tool used by Inrix that has proved to be highly advantageous for its users. Over the years, the company has developed the tool in order to provide real time traffic information to its customers. The card reflects averages of monthly and annual patterns of travels covering metropolitan areas trying to provide reliable information on levels of congestion on roads and speeds of vehicles that are running. However, one of the disadvantages of this calculation is in determining the area that can be considered as metropolitan (Methodology 2013). Another disadvantage is the dependency of vehicles and mobile phones on GPS system since geographic and weather conditions may affect the functioning of the GPS systems effectively. Thus complete GPS coverage may not always be achieved. If equipments based on GPS systems are faulty, that may also raise concerns with the safety of people (GPS System Limitations n.d.). GARMIN Company: HD Digital Traffic, Live Traffic, and Garmin Traffic Systems: Garmin is another company delivering its customers with traffic updates making use of information systems. HD Digital Traffic, Live Traffic, and Garmin Traffic are systems offered by the company to provide its customers with real time traffic information (Don’t Hate Traffic – Avoid It 2013). Advantages and Disadvantages: HD Digital Traffic provides updates every 30 seconds. Live Traffic proves to be beneficial as it can be linked as an application with mobile phones acting as a navigator and providing data on traffic. Garmin Traffic offers updates such that its customers can avoid congestions on roads (Don’t Hate Traffic – Avoid It 2013). These processes have proved to be successful in the present times satisfying the need for traffic information of the customers. The only disadvantage is with the use of the smart applications particularly if the customers reach at a location that lacks 3G services. In such cases, the real time traffic information may not be obtained (Strachan 2013). IBM Company: Intelligent Transport Systems: IBM Company or IBM Intelligent Transportation makes use of intelligent transportation systems to enable prediction and management of traffic and effective transportation operations. Near real time traffic information is provided by the company for its customers (IBM Intelligent Transportation n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages: The greatest advantages of the intelligent transport systems (ITS) used by IBM are for the organizations that can have accurate information on current traffic situation based on single integrated system of transportation. Thus they get the opportunity to do predictive analysis on the traffic conditions and find alternative accordingly. Organizations can work towards improving the traffic conditions based on information obtained from intelligent systems. The Intelligent Transit Analytics component is useful to improve the experiences of the travelers and transit operations for the public. The system also allows the use of collaborative tools to obtain efficient management of traffic on roads as well as for the prediction of traffic conditions. Several deployment models are also made available that allow organizations to take advantage of options that are flexible for use (IBM Intelligent Transportation n.d.). One of the disadvantages with the use of ITS is that it proves to be more effective in theory than in the real world practices. Moreover, the technology is expensive to employ. Also, the technology is faced with several institutional barriers (What Have We Learned About Intelligent Transportation Systems? 2000). Conclusion: From the above study, it can be realized that the need for people to obtain information and updates on traffic and congestions on roads is highly essential and different methods and companies have been trying to provide the necessary information to reduce the effects of congestion. Real time information is particularly essential because people are busy with their daily work and life activities where they need to travel from one place to another on a continuous basis and congestions lead to severe problems in reaching timely at places. Different companies as mentioned in the study are making use of different techniques to pass accurate real time traffic information to their customers intending to help them to avoid congestions on roads. Considering the recent systems and smart applications, obtaining real time traffic information has proved to be successful for people with certain disadvantages and problems that if corrected would make the systems highly effective for the purpose, as has been achieved by Inrix. References Burgess, R. (2012) Google Maps gets real-time traffic, crowdsources Android GPS data. Techspot. [Online]. 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