Want to know what the traffic snarls will be before you leave for work or head home from the office? Go to http://maps.yahoo.com/traffic. Color-coded icons on the maps for the 70 top metro areas of the U.S. will indicate the severity of any accidents or road impediments along the route. And in the top 20 metro areas, the major highways will change color from green to yellow to red to let you know at what speed the traffic is, or isn’t, moving.
Click on an icon to get details about what the problem is, when it was reported and when it’s scheduled to end. When I looked at Austin during today’s evening rush hour, I found that the information was being refreshed every 3 minutes.
The same traffic information remains on the map even when you ask Yahoo! to also pinpoint area sites for dining, recreation and entertainment, community services, shopping, and financial/ATMs. Most convenient.
The updates come from government agencies and private companies which gather the data from news helicopter pilots, local police and sensors embedded in the various roads.
You’ll be able to get this information in Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Local, and Yahoo! Maps. Check it out. It takes maps from static to active. Extremely useful.
Tom
