BlinkTag Inc » traffic http://blinktag.com Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:50:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Google traffic fail http://blinktag.com/google-traffic-fail/ http://blinktag.com/google-traffic-fail/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:02:50 +0000 Brendan Nee http://blnktag.com/google-traffic-fail/ The Bay Bridge just had a cable snapped and BlinkTag is on the wrong side. The Bay Bridge is closed, sounds like it could be 24 hours or more before it reopens.

I’m curious how long it will take google maps to automatcally reroute around the bridge closure and what systems they have in place for verifying and updating info on emergency closures to key transportation links. As more people start to rely on online maps for traffic info it becomes increasingly important for emergency info to make it’s way online quickly.

]]> http://blinktag.com/google-traffic-fail/feed/ 0 Google Maps adds Traffic Conditions on major streets http://blinktag.com/google-maps-adds-traffic-conditions-on-major-streets/ http://blinktag.com/google-maps-adds-traffic-conditions-on-major-streets/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:37:35 +0000 Brendan Nee http://blnktag.com/?p=485 Google-Maps-TrafficGoogle maps added traffic conditions on local streets today. A map of San Francisco shows traffic on South Van Ness near the Blinktag Office as medium, actually the street is rarely congested, it just has a lot of stop lights so you can rarely go “fast” even with no other vehicles.

Freeway traffic had been a feature of google maps for a while, but providing traffic conditions on non-freeways is especially useful for travel within SF as most car trips don’t involve travel on a freeway. San Francisco has removed several freeways in recent years, freeways are useful for getting to/from the city but not as much for travel within the city.

The traffic data is actually crowdsourced from people sharing their location from google maps for mobile, read more on the google blog. I’m not sure if this includes iphone users as we can’t run background apps.

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