Pocket PCs and GPS Help Alleviate Highway Congestion

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/04/25/smarter.highways.ap/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/04/25/smarter.highways.ap/index.html</a><br /><br /><i>"Picking up doughnuts on the way to work recently, George List slid back into the driver's seat and heard a voice from the cup holder suggest an alternate route. The car wasn't talking, exactly. The voice came from a handheld computer nestled in the holder that links his car to 200 other vehicles in the area. Data from all the vehicles -- where they are, how quickly they move -- is being used to create snapshots of area traffic patterns."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/20050428-smarterhighways.jpg" /><br /><br />This is an interesting test on how to dynamically reflow traffic based on current road conditions.

[sundown]

Well that's better than what we have now. I don't think I have ever heard an accurate traffic report in the Phoenix area, for example. One of two things happen:

1) "we've got an accident off to the side that's backing up traffic for miles"...when I'm driving past that very spot and there is nothing - no accident, no cars stopped - nothing.

2) there is a 10 car pile up with rollovers and for some reason I'll never hear about it the whole time I'm driving and usually not even in the newspaper the next day.

So unless the Phoenix area traffic reporting just sucks more than everywhere else. The best system needs real-time data.

Now selfishly I'd also add that the best system is one that works great but very few people have so while everyone else is waiting in the congested area, I could take the less-travelled bypass. 8)

[Paragon]

Hmmm...I think he needs traffic reports, so he doesn't suddenly find the need to stop fast. Othewise it's bye bye h2215, hello Speedy Auto Glass. ;)

[emuelle1]

Our traffic system is accurate enough to tell me if something stands behind me and getting to work on time. Of course, once I'm in the car that's another story. South Jersey seems largely neglected. I've been stopped on I295 admiring the concrete while all the Philly stations talk about their expressways, and the Jersey stations talk about either north Jersey, the Turnpike, or the Parkway. Not a word about 295.

I should have my Dell x30 today. Now I can start bugging my wife about GPS.

[isilver]

Using a device like that means that you are not only more likely to avoid accidents but you are also more likely to be the cause of an accident.