Maria Grazia Verardi, Director of Business Development n a typical Monday morning, the sight that awaits the average office-goer is nothing short of an endless river of vehicles as one sees past the windshield and into a trail of bright taillights, accompanied by the sound of honking horns and angry yelling. However, there is another side to this which we rarely think of. In the traffic operations’ control room; there are teams of engineers focused on their computer screens, trying to come up developing new and more efficient ways to make our lives a little less hectic. Being spun off from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Civil Engineering, a company called Live Traffic Data is making this task easier for control centers as well as the commuters. A solution provider aimed primarily at helping out these experts with easy-to-access real-time data, Live Traffic Data renders powerful traffic monitoring and management software. “We work with traffic agencies to provide analytics-powered performance measurement software that helps them through their daily operations,” states Maria Grazia Verardi, director of business development at Live Traffic Data.
In collaboration with traffic management departments, Live Traffic Data collects real-time data, on which they perform an assortment of analytics. Once the data is processed, they provide the final data back to the agencies at no cost, as part of their premium services. Their advanced traffic analytics software provides agencies with travel times, queue lengths, volumes and all the measurements needed to understand how well their road intersections perform. The data compiled by Live Traffic Data, guide traffic engineers to determine and make the optimal changes in their signal system.
Their analytics dashboard shows the real-time traffic at selected intersections with solid visual metrics.
Each color-coded circle on the dashboard represents the average delay per vehicle at the intersection:
We work with traffic agencies to provide analytics-powered performance measurement software that helps them through their daily operations
Green: A delay fewer than 20 seconds per vehicle.
Yellow: A delay between 20 and 55 seconds per vehicle
Orange: A delay between 55 and 80 seconds per vehicle
Red: A delay over 80 seconds per vehicle
Live Traffic Data refreshes the dashboard data every 60 seconds, and updates with the name and status of the intersection, the ID, date and average rate of congestion, and estimated expectation of the arrival of other vehicles. The traffic engineers can analyze the data over selected intervals of time, ranging from minutes to days to weeks. Their fully integrated cloud-based solution is an agnostic platform, capable of working on data collected from inductive loop detectors, video detection systems, or any other detection technology on the market. With this data, Live Traffic Data can use the sensor inputs for its predictive algorithms.
Compatible with the IT departments at Traffic Control Rooms across a wide spectrum of agencies, Live Traffic Data understands that public works departments often have their own IT needs, and require an adaptable solution that can work with all teams internally.
The other part of Live Traffic Data involves providing insightful traffic data to third-party companies. For example, the data provided to automotive manufacturers help improve the driver experience through better traffic awareness. In this instance, Live Traffic Data offers real-time and predictive traffic information to the driver, enabling them to pass through signalized intersections in the most efficient and convenient way possible.
“Everything in terms of what we have done—be it software or hardware implementations—is our effort to help traffic operations controllers, OEMs, automakers, and mapping companies,” adds Maria. Live Traffic Data Managements’ engineering team is constantly improving its traffic signal predictive algorithms in the manufacturing of automated and connected cars and the development of other automotive solutions. Currently serving the U.S. and Canadian markets, the company has plans in the pipeline to expand to Europe and China by extending partnerships with units in Asia and Europe.
