Traffic.com Launches Real Time Traffic on Windows Live Local

location based services

Traffic.com is working hard to make sure you know what traffic is like on the roads you travel. Their site has real-time traffic feeds, and now their feeds are featured on Windows Live Local. Windows Live Local users can view interactive maps, obtain driving directions, and create customized lists of local points of interest. Enhancing this relatively static location-based content, Traffic.com’s dynamic traffic information provides up-to-the-minute flow and incident updates displayed on interactive maps for 35 major metropolitan areas across the U.S. Geographic expansion will continue with future version releases. The speed data is limited to a few cities, so while you may be able to see that there are accidents in Cincinnati, OH, you will actually be able to see color coded speed indicators on highways in Boston.
“Windows Live Local provides an immersive real-world view of the places people want to go and couples that information with the driving directions they need to get there,” said Stephen Lawler, general manager of the Virtual Earth business unit at Microsoft Corp. “Bringing reliable, highly accurate traffic information into Windows Live Local helps increase the site’s utility for users, and furthers our goal of helping people experience ‘what it’s like there.’”
Another interesting feature that Traffic.com is working is the Jam Factor feature available at their site and numerous websites across the country (TV and radio stations most commonly). This Jam Factor gives you an easy read on a 1-10 scale of how bad the traffic is. Within the display they also give you an estimation of when an accident is going to clear. So, a nice view into the immediate future. Ultimately, it will be up to the GPS manufacturers to come up with an easy to use interface that routes you areound accidents based on this data. The hard thing though will be to know that the accident is stopping traffic on the interstate, but what happens to the traffic on the alternate route when that happens? At rush hour it's not going to be totally clear and you might be headed into a mess there.
With its network of wireless, sensor-based data collection and advanced processing technology, Traffic.com provides real-time traffic information to XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. navigation systems in the Acura RL and the Cadillac CTS. Motorola incorporates Traffic.com data into its VIAMOTO solution, a suite of location software for cell phones utilized by Avis Assist. Aftermarket navigation systems, such as the Pioneer AVIC-N2, are also taking advantage of Traffic.com’s continuous, highly accurate data and broad coverage.
See the working Microsoft Live site: local.live.comSee what Traffic.com has to offer: http://www.traffic.com/
Read More in: GPS News
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