Google Offers Live U.S. Traffic Maps On Mobiles

[engine]

Web search leader Google Inc. said on Tuesday that the company has begun offering mobile phone users in more than 30 major U.S. cities the capacity to view highway maps with "live" traffic data.

The Mountain View, California-based company said that Google Maps for Mobile would allow mobile phone users to chose a destination within Google Maps and select "show traffic," said Gummi Hafsteinsson, product manager of Google Maps for Mobile. Google Maps calculates the route to the location.

Highway traffic information is sent to the phone, with road conditions highlighted in three colours: -- red for congested, yellow or orange for slowdowns, and green for smooth sailing.

[google.com...]

Google offers live U.S. traffic maps on mobiles
[today.reuters.co.uk]

[herb]

If only I could get them to send it to my GPS where I can ask for an alternate route.

[whoisgregg]

Which are the 30 cities? I can't find a list. :/

[rohitj]

I can see it now--google gets hit with a lawsuit cause some fool was busy looking at their google map instead of the road.

[netmeg]

Hrmph. Won't work on Verizon (Brew phones). Hrmph.

[chicagohh]

It doesn't work on Palm devices.

[asp4bunnies]

I'm curious how they are getting the traffic data and how accurate it is. Is it based on the number of users accessing their site from mobile phones and passing GPS data to see congestion?

[engine]

Supported devices
[google.com...]

Coverage

[google.com...]

Comprehensive traffic data is available in over 30 major US metropolitan areas (including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and others), with partial coverage available in many more. To see whether Google Maps currently reports on traffic in your area, simply visit our interactive demo, move to your desired location, and select "Show Traffic" in the application menu. Depending on coverage, Google Maps will either show current traffic conditions, or display the message, "Traffic info is not available in this area."

Interactive demo [google.com...]

[wmuser]

Nice service and ist still free