Monitoring and visualizing traffic surprises
Systems, methods, and apparatuses are described for monitoring and visualizing traffic surprises. Traffic data is received for a region of interest comprising one or more routes. A surprise factor may be calculated for one or more routes in the region of interest based on a ratio of historical traffic data and real-time traffic data. A comparison may be performed of the surprise factor to at least one threshold. A surprise traffic message may be generated based on the comparison.
1. A method comprising:
receiving traffic data for a plurality of vehicles for a region of interest comprising one or more routes, wherein the traffic data for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles includes position data derived from a global positioning system and traffic speed data;
calculating real-time traffic flow data from the traffic data for one or more routes in the region;
identifying historical traffic flow data;
calculating, by a processor, a surprise factor for the one or more routes in the region of interest based on a ratio of the historical traffic flow data and the real-time traffic flow data;
performing, by the processor, a comparison of the surprise factor to at least one threshold;
generating, by the processor, a surprise traffic message based on the comparison; and
transmitting, by the processor, the surprise traffic message to one or more navigation devices.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one threshold for the surprise factor indicates that the real-time traffic flow data is faster than predicted from the historical traffic flow data.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one threshold for the surprise factor indicates that the real-time traffic flow data is slower than predicted from the historical traffic flow data.
4. The method of claim 1 where the one or more routes comprise an origin and a destination.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
presenting one or more surprise traffic messages in an origin destination matrix using the origin and destination of the one or more routes.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein calculating further comprises:
calculating the surprise factor for one or more origin destination pairs in the origin destination matrix.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a traffic level (TLS) is based on the surprise factor (SF) and calculated according to the following formula:
TLS ij ( t )=|1−SF ij ( t )|;
where
SF
ij
(
t
)
=
L
ij
(
t
)
L
ij
h
(
t
)
;
where L ij (t) is an average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t; and
where L ij h (t) is a historic average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surprise factor (TLS) is calculated according to the following formula:
TLS ij ( t )=| L ij ( t )− L ij h ( t )|;
where L ij (t) is an average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t; and
where L ij h (t) is a historic average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t.
9. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:
receive traffic information for a plurality of vehicles for one or more route segments wherein the traffic information includes position data derived from a global positioning system and traffic speed data;
calculate current traffic flow conditions from the traffic information for the plurality of vehicles;
calculate a surprise factor for one or more route segments as a function of a ratio of historical and current traffic flow conditions;
calculate an origin and destination matrix for the one or more route segments, and a corresponding surprise factor for each of a plurality of origin destination pairs in the origin and destination matrix; and
transmit, by the processor, the origin destination matrix including traffic flow conditions for the plurality of origin destination pairs that have a surprise factor that exceeds a predetermined threshold.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
display the origin destination matrix.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
send the origin destination matrix to a device.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the current traffic flow conditions are calculated using traffic volume and traffic speed derived from the received traffic information.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
receive a request for a route from an origin to a destination;
generating the route including a plurality of route segments of the one or more route segments; and
transmit the route including only the surprise factor for any of the plurality of route segments that exceeds a threshold.
14. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that when executed are operable to:
calculate a plurality of routes including a plurality of route segments from a plurality of origins to a plurality of destinations;
receive traffic data including an average traffic level and a historical average traffic level for the plurality of route segments in a designated region;
calculate a traffic level (TLS) for each of the plurality of routes based on a surprise factor (SF) and calculated according to the following formula:
TLS ij ( t )=|1−SF ij ( t )|;
where
S
F
i
j
(
t
)
=
L
i
j
(
t
)
L
i
j
h
(
t
)
;
where L ij (t) is the average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t;
where L ij (t) is the historic average traffic level on a particular route from i to j at time t;
generate an origin destination matrix for the plurality of routes from the plurality of origins to the plurality of destinations using the traffic level (TLS) for the plurality of routes; and
transmit the origin destination matrix to a navigation device.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are configured to:
calculate the surprise factor based on real time traffic flow data and historical traffic flow data.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the surprise factor is compared to at least one threshold including a first level for faster than expected traffic and a second level for slower than expected traffic.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are configured to:
receive a request for a route of the plurality of routes segments; and
transmit route traffic data including only the surprise factor for any of the plurality of route segments that exceeds a threshold.