Ok, I have FINALLY coded something useful. :o)
I am tired of looking at freeway traffic maps and try to predict what the traffic WILL be for the freeway I want to travel on tomorrow. So I started logging all the traffic maps over the last week, as well as Doppler Radar images to see how rain affects traffic patterns.
http://www.idreamincode.com/traffic/
A good example of a harsh rain slowing traffic
I thought it was sad that no one has said anything about the little traffic website, so here it is. I like it, it is helpful when you need to anally plan out your life and the affect traffic has on said life. Plus i like the little flashing dots, a lot. Not sure what it reminds me of...maybe a blinking Lite-Brite. Oooh, now that would be cool. Make that!!
Posted by: Adrienne at April 26, 2006 09:47 AMWhat you really gotta do is store weather data in a database, and split the freeways into various segments and keep track of which portions get congested at different time along with the weather at that time. Then at any particular time, given weather information (forecast) you can predict traffic. Obviously your prediction would only be as good as the weather prediction (so basically its useless) but maybe you'll find something.
Have you considered throwing in time/date information? That might give you a better way to find patterns. Also keep track of special events which might lead to expected congestion in particular areas. If you gather this information ahead of time, and know the start/end times of the events, you can figure what traffic will be like in the near future.
You could also keep track of gas prices and see how it affects traffic. Then, if gas prices dropped 1 cent, you can expect 10% traffic increase...
Make sure you quit before you go crazy.
Posted by: miguel at April 28, 2006 12:23 AM