How Google Maps Knows When There’s Traffic

Since the invention of GPS devices being used in automobiles, it really has changed the way we navigate through traffic. Most people commute to work, so having a device that can help avoid really bad traffic is a very beneficial and convenient thing. Now in a time where almost everyone has a smartphone, GPS apps have become increasingly popular, like Google Maps. You may use this app to get to work every morning but have you wondered how exactly it works? How does it know how much traffic is on the road?

Well when you’re using your Google Maps app, the app is actually sending data back to Google to calculate how many cars are on the road at a given time and how fast (or slow) they are moving. This is essentially the formula that Google uses to calculate how bad traffic is in a certain area. If you’ve noticed, bad traffic is seen as a red line on the roads seen on the map, which is indicative of bad traffic. Google also stores information about roads that tend to have heavier traffic on a regular basis, which also helps calculate information. It’s really interesting and technology really has helped us all a lot!