A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Real Time Traffic Information Providers

Worldwide, traffic congestion is increasingly recognized as a serious public health and environmental concern. Besides, traffic jams cause large economic damages for companies and cities. Many efforts have been made to mitigate these issues. Attempts to reduce the amount of traffic congestion strongly depend on the availability of traffic information in real time. Multiple providers of such data exist. However, there is no generally accepted source that provides accurate and publicly available live traffic information. The goal of this study is to evaluate real time traffic data offered by web map service providers. Therefore, we first identify the most prominent providers and evaluate their range of services. Further, we collect actual data traces and perform a thorough comparison of their scope and granularity. Finally, in a real world case study, we analyze the predicted travel duration for the selected providers. The results indicate not only that the range of services varies widely among traffic information providers but also the travel time predictions diverge.