Rating that represents the status along a specified driving route

1 . A computer-implemented method of determining a rating that represents a status along a specified driving route comprising:

calculating a free flow travel time for the specified route;

calculating an estimated travel time for the specified route, said estimated travel time considers traffic conditions along the specified route;

determining a delay assessment by comparing the estimated total travel time to the free flow travel time; and

providing a rating based on the delay assessment.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the free flow travel time for the specified route is calculated by dividing a length of the route by a speed limit for the route.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the estimated travel time for the specified route is calculated by dividing a length of the route by an average speed of travel on the route.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the average speed of travel is obtained from traffic sensors.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the traffic conditions include traffic congestion.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the traffic conditions include traffic incidents.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the estimated travel time for the specified route is calculated by: (i) identifying areas of congestion along the route and areas without congestion along the route, (ii) determining a length of each area of congestion and a length of each area without congestion, (iii) determining an average speed for each area of congestion and an average speed for each area without congestion, (iv) calculating a travel time for each area of congestion by dividing the length of the area by the average speed for that area and a travel time for each area without congestion by dividing the length of the area by the average speed for that area, (v) summing the travel time for each area of congestion and each area without congestion along the route to determine the estimated travel time for the specified route.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the estimated travel time for the specified route is calculated by: (i) identifying incidents along the route, (ii) determining the criticality of each incident along the route, (iii) determining an incident delay associated with each incident along the route which is based upon the criticality of the incident, (iv) summing the incident delays for each incident along the route, and (v) adding the sum to the free flow travel time to determine the estimated travel time for the specified route.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein if the estimated travel time divided by the free flow travel time is greater than a predetermined value, the rating indicates poor travel conditions.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein if the estimated travel time and the free flow travel time are approximately equal, the rating indicates good travel conditions.

11 . A computer-implemented method of determining a rating that represents a status along a specified driving route comprising:

specifying a driving route that includes at least one road;

calculating a free flow travel time for the specified route;

calculating a delay along the specified route; and

providing a rating based on a comparison of the delay to said free flow travel time.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the free flow travel time for the specified route is calculated by dividing a length of the route by a speed limit for the route.

13 . The method of claim 11 wherein the delay is an amount of time that an estimated travel time for the specified route exceeds said free flow travel time, wherein said estimated travel time considers traffic conditions along the specified route.

14 . The method of claim 11 wherein the delay includes a congestion delay, wherein said congestion delay is calculated by: (i) identifying a congested portion of the route having an average speed less than said speed limit, (ii) determining a length of the congested portion, and (iii) calculating a congestion travel time by dividing the length of the congested portion by the average speed for the congested portion.

15 . The method of claim 11 wherein the delay includes an incident delay, wherein said incident delay is calculated by: (i) identifying an incident along the route, and (ii) determining an incident delay time amount associated with the incident.

16 . The method of claim 11 wherein if the delay as compared to the free flow travel time is greater than a predetermined value, the rating indicates poor travel conditions.

17 . A computer-implemented method of determining a traffic rating that represents a status along a road comprising:

calculating a free flow travel time for the road;

calculating an estimated travel time for the road considering traffic conditions on the road; and

determining said traffic rating based on a comparison of the estimated travel time to said free flow travel time.

18 . The method of claim 17 wherein the free flow travel time for the specified route is calculated by dividing a length of the road by a speed limit for the road.

19 . The method of claim 17 wherein the estimated travel time for the road is calculated by: (i) obtaining speed data for each portion of the road, (ii) determining a length of each portion of the road, (iii) calculating a travel time for each portion of the road by dividing the length of the portion by the speed for that portion, (v) summing the travel time for each portion.

20 . A computer-implemented method of determining a traffic rating that represents the status along a road comprising:

calculating a delay along the road, the delay representing an amount of time needed to travel the road due to traffic conditions that exceeds an amount of time to travel the road during free flow conditions; and

providing said traffic rating based upon the delay.