Navteq Updates Its Traffic Database

The data provider that powers Yahoo Maps, MapQuest and countless GPS devices has further sharpened its traffic database to provide better drive-time estimates.

If you’ve ever had a GPS unit or online mapping service tell you that an appointment was 20 minutes away by car, only to show up late for it after a 40-minute drive, Navteq’s latest update to its traffic data may help you plan ahead with a little more accuracy. The company, which provides map data to everyone from Google and Yahoo to Garmin, released Traffic Patterns North America v3.0 on Monday, which significantly refines the data these companies use to estimate drive times.

Traffic Data v3.0 includes updates to nearly one million miles of roads in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Navteq gathered the data using GPS probes and sensors, building a database of which roads get blocked up, how badly, and when. As a result, the company claims that estimates made using its data are now 33 percent more accurate than those using posted speed limits alone.

The database even accommodates for rush hour and holiday travel. “For example, NavteqTraffic Patterns details specific road segment speed information that can indicate daily congestion on I-94 in Chicago between 9 and 10 a.m. instead of relying on the posted speed limits,” said Navteq ‘s vice president of traffic, Howard Hayes.” By matching the traffic data to location markers in our map and driving thousands of miles of roads to test for accuracy, Navteq Traffic Patterns offers a comprehensive, high quality solution for application developers to offer more routing features for today’s navigation products."

Although not a consumer package available for purchase or download, mapping services that adopt the new package will reflect the improved results in their route planning.