Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Simulation: The Case Traffic Sensing
I've spent a day at the Where 2.0 conference on geospatial technology and media, which Technology Horizons researcher Mike Liebhold spoke at yesterday. One of the more interesting products demonstrated is the Inrix Dust Network , a fascinating new traffic information service.
Inrix is a classic case of lightweight infrastructure triumphing over heavyweight. In just 18 months they have instrumented over 500,000 probe vehicles (mostly commercial and government vehicles) with GPS and wireless data transmitters. This allows them to create a dense grid of vehicle-based sensors that are constantly sensing the speed of traffic they are moving through and uploading it in real-time. Compare this to the decades it has taken for governments and even private firms to instrument roadways themselves with sensors (like those that drive the Bay Area's 511.org traffic maps. It's also very comprehensive - because vehicles don't just stay on Interstates, it will also cover secondary arterials and roads.
This is also a great example of simulation at work, which was a major theme of our recent Tech Horizons Exchange. Inrix will also be coupling its sensor data with predictive Bayesian models of traffic in the future, so you can slide the clock to tonight, tomorrow, or next week and get (what they claim will be) a reliable estimate of the traffic delays you can expect.To do this they are pulling in weather data, sporting event schedules, and even school schedule data!
This is one of those great moments when we see two trends merge into something that will transform all of our lives.