I am looking into different maps providing traffic data, comparing the data and traffic information they provide (I'm located in Denmark (Odense) so not everyone has data for that region).
The two most obvious are Google Maps and Bing Maps, both who provide traffic information on their default map.The thing is, I need not only the map but numbers and the data behind the traffic. From my research, it seems that Google doesn't provide any service or API exposing this data, but Bing does.
Does anyone here know how accurate both maps are when displaying traffic information? How do they compare? How do they get there information? Has there been any research done that tries to determine which one provides better traffic information?
I know this is a broad question, but any answer pointing me to a research paper, article or anything will be appreciated.
And is there maybe an alternative that's even better then the two mentioned above, that provide traffic in Denmark?
Both platforms have reasonable traffic data in Denmark. Bing Maps does provide some API's traffic, primarily a tile layer with color coded roads based on the flow of traffic, and a REST service which provides incidents such as constructions, road closures or accidents.
If you want the raw flow numbers or car count type information, neither platform provides this.
Related
I'm trying to geocode multiple addresses. My problem is that sometimes the address actually exists but Google Maps didn't label that street, so I can't find the geocode.
I want to know if there is some way to add street names with any Google API or any software with an API that will allow me to do this.
For example, if Street 11 doesn't exist, add two coordinates from end to start naming the street. This way the next time I look up, I can find it.
I have found multiple services such as SmartyStreets, but they are not even close to Google's geocode accuracy. If I found this software, I could also do batches of addresses in a small period of time.
The tool that was used to edit map data at Google has a name Map Maker.
https://mapmaker.google.com/mapmaker
The bad news is that this tool was deprecated and will be shut down in March 2017. I am not aware about a possible replacement, haven't seen any announce yet.
You can try to follow this help article while Map Maker is still available:
https://support.google.com/mapmaker/?hl=en#topic=1094356
Alternatively you can use the "Report a problem" link on the bottom right corner of the maps.google.com.
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3094088
Hope it helps!
First, a side note for your information:
Geocoding partial addresses or addresses that aren't real (according to the postal service) can result in really weird geocoding information. I can imagine that a lot of partial or unreal addresses don't return results because it is just too hard to guess.
As it is, most geocoding services have to extrapolate latitude and longitude by using information such as street and zip code endpoints, directions, and number of valid addresses on the street. In a lot of ways, there is guesswork involved for everyone. Google often has great geocode information because they have extensive hours driving cars with cameras and sensors marking exact locations of buildings on streets (that information is not obvious from an address). If street names are incorrect, new, old, or some other problem, it makes this "extrapolation" process even harder. Generally, you will see similar enough quality across geocoding APIs and services, and there will still be enough uncommon errors, that choosing your API based on geocoding accuracy should only be done in special cases. It's not common to need exact geocoding precision and most APIs can meet normal geocoding needs (but, in your case, maybe it is necessary, I don't know). Choose APIs based on program design needs. For instance, Google has great business and place search but doesn't validate or verify addresses, while SmartyStreets does.
Here are some possible ways to fix the problem:
If you want to get an address added to Google Maps, the best way I've heard of is to report an error on the map to Google.
Google has this website for making your maps (https://www.google.com/maps/d), but it might not fit your problem very well.
You can also open Google Maps, find the location (searching for a latitude and longitude pair, if you have it, will work well on Google Maps), then right click to add a missing place or report an error. (These will be saved in your contributions, which you can view from the menu opened by the three-bar icon menu in the search bar.)
Full disclosure: I worked for SmartyStreets.
I just wanted to ask if the future traffic information given in the Google API (Google Distance Matrix API to be exact) is the same as the traffic data used in the typical traffic overlay in the Google maps app. Aren't they both based on historical data, and thus, should be similar if not the same?
Thank you and I will appreciate your help!
Yes, so long as you don't specific traffic_model other than best_guess.
They both use historical traffic data to predict "likely" traffic conditions in the near future, based on time of day and day of week. However, your API requests may not always carry the exact same meaning as your input on Google Maps, so there may be cases where each return slightly different results. Should you find big differences, please file a bug.
I am planning to build an app that would find the shortest distance from one location to another and other things too.
It requires the latitudes and longitudes of a place and distance of all the coordinates from say X meters from it, distance in the sense of actual road distance. I do not want any graphics or showing the map but just the plain data.
This means that i can query for some address with the distance X, and it would give me the details. I looked into Google Map Api, but that looks like to cater for some kind of client job scheduling. I even looked into Bing Map Api. It seemed to provide things. But i thought to ask here before proceeding.
Any tips on available options ?
Fortunately you should be able to find many many code samples out there for models. But first:
I'm not sure what you mean by Google Maps API looks like it caters to client job scheduling; it actually is pretty much the opposite! There are limitations to how many requests per day can come from one IP. Also, the licensing for Google Maps is made for client facing applications like web based Store Locators (the application that I used it for) and often requires you to display a Google Map with the information.
You do have a limited license to do business related geocoding and searches.
I think you may be more interested in a product like Microsoft MapPoint http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/en-us/home.aspx
While there are many competing products and services, the price point here is great. You may also be able to get it for free along with other apps if you register for their BizSpark program http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/default.aspx
HTH
Geezer
I want to know how to read the traffic information from google map as here in the following image. Google only displays the traffic layer by red, green, and yellow lines. But how can an application identify the color and find out how much traffic there is between source and destination.
Visually users can see with their eyes and identify the colors but what about the application?
Google Maps API does not expose traffic data. Your best bet is probably to find a different solution for your traffic data. Microsoft MapPoint might meet your needs.
UPDATES to answer questions in comments:
Whether there is a free service may depend on what geographic area you are concerned with. I imagine (but don't know for certain) that there may be places where government entities make the data available. Or maybe not. Regardless, generally, no, you can't get this data for free. It is expensive and challenging to collect, and no doubt Google pays someone a substantial fee for the data (and is probably forbidden from distributing raw data).
Meanwhile, the data Yahoo! offers is completely different from Google's traffic data. Yahoo! provides information about accidents, road work, etc. Google's information has to do with the actual speed of vehicles on the roadway. As far as I know, Google does not provide that information with the Maps API.
In any event, Google's raw traffic data is unavailable to your application.
As always, what various services offer can and will change and this answer may not age well. But it is, to the best of my knowledge, accurate at the current time.
Which JavaScript map API do you folks think is the most powerful?
Google? Bing?
Think about which map is more suitable for you, have all the places you need. In US and Europe Google, Bing, Yahoo have pretty similar maps. However if you need other countries (in Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa), the only answer is OpenStreetMap.
About API. The most powerful and flexible is OpenLayers, it allows you to connect to different map services. However it is a bit slow and complicated.
In opposite Google API is fast and small, however it is bound to Google Maps.
If you are looking for some API contacting OpenStreetMap data, try Cloudmade.
Still choose the map first, and then select the most natural API for it.
I talk about my reasons for using the Google Maps API in this answer.
Top mapping tool must be ViaMichelin.
A independant poll carried out by the IMA said
ViaMichelin
Mappy
Microsoft
Yahoo
Map 24
Google
Poll was based on brand, quality, customisation, coverage, support, SLA, price, usability, speed, and 17 other criterias.
I thought that this was an interesting article on why Redfin decided to switch from Virtual Earth (Bing) to Google Maps.
I think the most powerful map API is Mapstraction - an abstraction layer that supports all the major mapping APIs, allowing you to switch providers without having to refactor your code.