Speed Data Pr0n

By Jake • January 25th, 2010 • View Comments

Photo by JaseMan from Flickr used under Creative Commons

If you read here, you know I love data and data visualizations.

So, you won’t be surprised to hear this post from Hot Hardware immediately intrigued me: “TomTom’s IQ Routes Prove Americans Aren’t Speed Demons”.

Aside from the blatant advertising, the conclusions, initially published by Tele Atlas, TomTom’s map business unit, were great data points for me, since I’ve lived in and driven in many of the larger cities here in the U.S. of A.

Tele Atlas published a similar report on traffic congestion in major U.S. cities in December. Not a lot of surprises here, except maybe that Seattle has the worst traffic, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

Interesting stuff, at least if you live here in the States. I’m sure Tele Atlas has similar data for international cities as well, e.g. they mention that speeds on unregulated stretches of Germany’s famous Autobahn average over 100 mph.

So, how did Tele Atlas get these data?

The results were calculated using data from Speed Profiles™, the historical speed database from TomTom’s map business unit Tele Atlas that helps personal and professional fleet drivers find the best routes. Speed Profiles is integrated as IQ Routes™ on TomTom devices. It aggregates, anonymously, the actual speeds that millions of GPS-enabled drivers have traveled over the last two years to provide the most accurate view of historic speeds available.

The data are collected anonymously, but it would be interesting to track behavior across geographies. For example, do drivers who live in congested cities drive faster, regardless of traffic or location, simply because they can?

The theory goes that if you’re used to going slow, you go fast when you can. If you’re used to going fast, you temper your speeding. I think states neighboring California might exhibit see behavior when Californians cross over their borders.

Anyway, I’m easily dazzled by data, and this is no exception. It would be nice if Tele Atlas/TomTom had licensing to use these data for mashups. Having real-time traffic data in consumable form would lead to some great apps; as would having historic traffic data.

Find the comments with your thoughts on speed and/or data.


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  • Oddly enough, while I live on the periphery of Los Angeles, when I think of congested roads I think of experiences that I had in suburban Washington, DC (not to be confused with Washington DC proper) and Hartford, Connecticut. But perhaps the explanation for my perception is because I know all of the shortcuts in El-Lay, while I didn't know the shortcuts in Hartford.
  • It is worth making the distinction that the suburban DC metro is the most congested. I remember driving in the city proper as a mess too, but mainly b/c a) I didn't know where I was going and b) the streets are all one-way.

    Another maddening problem with the suburbs of DC is that streets wind and change name and numbering scheme between municipalities, making it very hard without a GPS or exact directions.

    I'm surprised Hartford is on your list, never been there. If it's anything like Boston, i.e. old city, not built for car traffic, then I can understand why.
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