 MacGyverDon't Waste Your EnergyPremium,ExMod 2003-05
join:2001-10-14
Canada
kudos:1
 ·TekSavvy DSL
| Google Maps Traffic View now in Canada Google Maps traffic view now works in Canada. The following metro areas seem to be covered as of the time of this post:
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Toronto
Ottawa
Montreal
Trois Rivieres
Quebec City
If you want to know how this works, go here: »www.iphoneincanada.ca/tips-trick···ourcing/ |
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 LaZ3RPremium
join:2003-01-17
1 edit | Woah crap my bad... I'm blind apparently 
Sweet. |
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MacGyverDon't Waste Your EnergyPremium,ExMod 2003-05
join:2001-10-14
Canada
kudos:1 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
1 edit | No, this isn't Street View. It's Traffic View. You can visually see traffic flow, where there is sufficient traffic to enable enough GPS data to be collected and calculated. Unlike the MTO's traffic maps, it works on ANY roadway where there is sufficient traffic. |
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| That's fantastic! It's far easier than going to MTO's maps or trying to visualize a traffic report. |
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StojkoPremium
join:2007-10-20
St John's NL Reviews:
 ·voip.ms
·NBTel now Aliant
·FreePhoneLine
| reply to MacGyver
said by MacGyver:No, this isn't Street View. It's Traffic View. You can visually see traffic flow, where there is sufficient traffic to enable enough GPS data to be collected and calculated. Unlike the MTO's traffic maps, it works on ANY roadway where there is sufficient traffic. What do you mean by GPS data to be collected? Do people opt-in to this or what? |
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LaZ3RPremium
join:2003-01-17 | Many people have smartphones these days, so basically how this thing works is:
Whenever you connect to google maps on a smartphone, google is receiving your position each second that data is transmitted.
Google takes all this data in from each phone and measures the speed they are traveling on major streets and freeways. Using the average speeds they can easily determine whether traffic is moving slow/fast.
Pretty simple concept and works really well only if people have smartphones and leave google maps open with GPS enabled.
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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StojkoPremium
join:2007-10-20
St John's NL Reviews:
·voip.ms
·NBTel now Aliant
·FreePhoneLine
1 edit | said by LaZ3R:Many people have smartphones these days, so basically how this thing works is: Whenever you connect to google maps on a smartphone, google is receiving your position each second that data is transmitted. Google takes all this data in from each phone and measures the speed they are traveling on major streets and freeways. Using the average speeds they can easily determine whether traffic is moving slow/fast. Pretty simple concept and works really well only if people have smartphones and leave google maps open with GPS enabled. But how many people on these highways commuting to work or wherever actually have Google Maps open all the time?
Edit: Oh, I get it. I was thinking it just measured how many people were on those highways by Google Maps/GPS, not by how fast they were going to determine the traffic flow. That makes more sense. |
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LaZ3RPremium
join:2003-01-17 |  Yea, if you imagine one car going down the 401 for example, depending on that single car's speed, google knows the traffic condition at that current location. It would take an incredibly long time to update the entire 401 and make sure it's all up to date unless several people along the entire stretch are all using google maps as well 
Thus, the more people using googlemaps, the more accurate and up to date the traffic information is.
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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 KardinalDei Gratina ReginaPremium
join:2001-02-04
N of 49th | reply to MacGyver
If I am walking down the street with Google Maps open on my BB, I wonder if this skews the data? |
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HoboJ
join:2008-03-27
Carrying Place, ON
kudos:1 | Re: Google Maps Traffic View now in Canada I'm sure he means walking down town streets there pepsi. Unless this google traffic thing only covers major highways. |
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 mlernerPremium
join:2000-11-25
Nepean, ON
kudos:5 | Re: Google Maps Traffic View now in Canada said by Kardinal::: sigh :: Perhaps we look at the world through a different lens, but I for one wouldn't refer to a 400 series highway as a "street". However, based on MacGyver  's first post, I presumed it would work on *any* street, not just a limited-access highway. Most modern GPS chips are pretty darn accurate. The GPS application on my iphone can pinpoint the exact location of my house even though it is a bit of a distance from the nearest roadway. I would assume in most cases it is smart enough to detect whether or not you are on a roadway. |
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LaZ3RPremium
join:2003-01-17 | reply to Kardinal
said by Kardinal:If I am walking down the street with Google Maps open on my BB, I wonder if this skews the data? - They only do major streets and freeways
- They average out the data most likely... so unless you have a marathon of people all having google maps on for some reason, one or two people walking down a major street most likely won't affect the traffic readings.
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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KardinalDei Gratina ReginaPremium
join:2001-02-04
N of 49th Reviews:
·Bell Sympatico
| said by LaZ3R:They only do major streets and freeways - They average out the data most likely... so unless you have a marathon of people all having google maps on for some reason, one or two people walking down a major street most likely won't affect the traffic readings. Gotcha. I was using Maps on my BB when I was walking around Toronto last week, hence my thought that I might affect the info as I was on the sidewalk of main streets like Spadina, College, Yonge and Queen's Quay and some of them had backed up traffic on them to the point that I was actually moving faster than the cars.
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The thoughts expressed in the above post are those of the poster, and can only be attributed to his state of mind at the time of posting.
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 ArthurSWatch Those Blinking LightsPremium
join:2000-10-28
Hamilton, ON | reply to MacGyver
Traffic view works great inside Trapster! |
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ArthurSWatch Those Blinking LightsPremium
join:2000-10-28
Hamilton, ON | Re: Google Maps Traffic View now in Canada said by Last Parade:It would seem that in the GTA, only the freeways get the treatment. Nope, some of the major streets have it too if you zoom in enough (eg Lakeshore Blvd, Yonge St, Bloor St, Dundas St, Kipling Ave, etc) |
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