GeoffCJ

Real time traffic data is pretty neat. I call my wife sometimes and have her check Google Traffic before deciding which way to drive. That system relies on a very expensive system of embedded sensors, and as such, only has data for a limited amount of area. I also use a GPS frequently, an inexpensive Garmin I bought for my wife 2 years ago but now rely heavily upon. As I navigate the San Francisco bay area, I’ve often wondered about having real time data available on the GPS, and it looks like that is becoming a reality. Very cool.

TomTom is releasing next month a new unit that will record average speed from other TomTom units, and use that to calculate average speeds on roads at various times of the day or week. That is, it will learn that the 405 on a monday at 8 am is a parking lot, but at 4 am on Sunday, it’s smooth sailing. And it will use real data, from real drivers and real cars, to learn this. With that knowledge, it can better calculate your best options.

The Dash Express appears to take this one step further. It not only uses the information collected to better determine averages, it operates in near real time. So if the Dash connected drivers ahead of you are are stuck in traffic, and the data gets sent to the server, that server will send the data to your Dash, and it will reroute you accordingly. If it works, you can imagine this having huge impacts. If everyone had this, it could make our entire highway system more efficient. That could have positive environmental benefits.

As a side note, I could imagine this becoming a business school example of the success or failure of a product dependent on the “Network Effect”. Imagine being the first person to buy a fax machine. It doesn’t become useful until several or many others have it. I wonder how many Dash users are needed before it becomes truly effective?