Real time traffic?

[Need]

I don't think the traffic is from Google Maps.

I'm sure I read that although the mapping is Google the traffic is from another source. I will try and find where I read it.

Chris.

In the US, the map is from Google Map but traffic is from somewhere else. I don't know if this is the same as UK. I usually bring up both Tesla direction and Waze direction (on phone). Tesla always over estimated the arrival time and Waze always under estimated the arrival time. I just take the middle and it is usually very accurate!

 

[MOBB]

What i loved about Peugeot Tom Tom live traffic was “slow traffic in 3.......2..........1........”

And it was always right

 

[Tony Hoyle]

It's always been accurate for me. Same as google.. even shows when the local lights are getting a bit congested. Compared to TMC that I've used previously it's many times more useful.

 

[jimbo_hippo]

The Tesla maps are odd but I think I’ve worked out why. The orange lines aren’t traffic. They’re lines showing areas where you’ll reduce your speed for a junction or the like. It’s like the map is displaying info which all satnavs have to calculate routing times but it’s showing the slow down areas on the screen. It doesn’t mean there’s traffic. On any other satnav I’ve had, it’s always hidden but the system knows it’s there to help calculate times etc. Scroll around your map a d you’ll probably notice that there are limes at any junctions where you have to stop or slow down en route.

I haven’t proved this definitively as I’m nearly always driving when I notice it then forget to look when stationary. But I’m pretty sure this is why there are reddish lines and no traffic.

 

[AndyS3]

Google uses the mobile phone data for m their android smartphones. As the vehicle slows at junctions, Google gathers this data and overlays the traffic. I dont know when colours change to deeper indicating slower traffic but its very accurate in near real time. Its just a case of understanding the colours.

 

[pgkevet]

It mus be me just me - but whenever i change routes due to traffic it always taked longer then if I'd sat through it. Traffic warnings are like met office weather forecasts - more reliable just to look out of the window..

 

[Neilio]

I might be unique here but my Tesla has much more accurate traffic data than my Merc used to. Kind of. Its quicker. The merc seemed to be about 30 minutes behind the actual traffic. So it would often route you round traffic that and cleared or alert you to a jam when you were already stick in it.

That being said, at least in the Merc I could switch to android auto and use waze

 

[Cnixon]

Since day 1 I’ve said this is one of the most disappointing aspects of the car, I’ve driven round after midnight and there are red lines everywhere, I just ignore it now as it’s laughable

BMW coloured lines were great. And Peugeots Tom Tom info.

I thought it was just me ( I posted about this a while back). Google maps traffic is exactly the same. I have red unused cul-de-sacs near me. Google are not interested and impossible to contact. Even the developer email on the play store does not exist when I send a message. This is where we need to focus our concerns. I think if there has EVER been congestion it's permenantly red!! I also drive during the small hours and it's a joke.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I might be unique here but my Tesla has much more accurate traffic data than my Merc used to. Kind of. Its quicker. The merc seemed to be about 30 minutes behind the actual traffic. So it would often route you round traffic that and cleared or alert you to a jam when you were already stick in it.

That being said, at least in the Merc I could switch to android auto and use waze

Judging by what happened last week (we had local flooding) google was a few minutes behind the announcement of the road closure and showed the subsequent traffic build up well enough to watch from my office in real time.

Fully accurate traffic would have to be predictive (I think google tries to be, although I can't prove it) since by the time you have got there time has passed and the situation has changed.. setting off past birmingham in the morning it's of no use saying 'no traffic' when anyone with a brain knows it'll be jam packed by lunchtime.

 

[MrBadger]

Fully accurate traffic would have to be predictive (I think google tries to be, although I can't prove it) since by the time you have got there time has passed and the situation has changed.

I'm not convinced that Google traffic is not largely simulated data, except for incidents. This backs up what is said above. This is solely based upon a hunch but with hands on experience developing a system that predicted traffic flows (amongst other things) across a UK city. I see the same nuances from real traffic in google map data as I saw in our system, except in our system, I knew why and I am suspecting similar whys apply to the google data.

 

[Yachtsman]

The Tesla maps are odd but I think I’ve worked out why. The orange lines aren’t traffic. They’re lines showing areas where you’ll reduce your speed for a junction or the like. It’s like the map is displaying info which all satnavs have to calculate routing times but it’s showing the slow down areas on the screen. It doesn’t mean there’s traffic. On any other satnav I’ve had, it’s always hidden but the system knows it’s there to help calculate times etc. Scroll around your map a d you’ll probably notice that there are limes at any junctions where you have to stop or slow down en route.

I haven’t proved this definitively as I’m nearly always driving when I notice it then forget to look when stationary. But I’m pretty sure this is why there are reddish lines and no traffic.

Jimbo i think you've got it. I live in a lane that has a major T junction (A34) at one end. This morning it was showing orange about 50 yds up to the junction, but i could see there was no traffic. The man road also has a major junction with trafic lights about 200 yds away. Again an orange line about 80ish yds up to the lights, but no traffic.
So, like you I've concluded that the orange indicates an area of reduced speed (for satnav calcs) rather than slow traffic as per my bmw.
I'd assumed it was the same as my beamer!

 

[Cnixon]

Jimbo i think you've got it. I live in a lane that has a major T junction (A34) at one end. This morning it was showing orange about 50 yds up to the junction, but i could see there was no traffic. The man road also has a major junction with trafic lights about 200 yds away. Again an orange line about 80ish yds up to the lights, but no traffic.
So, like you I've concluded that the orange indicates an area of reduced speed (for satnav calcs) rather than slow traffic as per my bmw.
I'd assumed it was the same as my beamer!

I think it is traffic but averaged or peak over days. Some guy got a wheel barrow full of phones and created his own jam. How to Fake a Traffic Jam on Google Maps if you look on the Tesla screen when zoomed in there is quite often a bus stop close by. Bus = barrow, passengers = phones...just a theory.