In the UK, highway sensors give motorists real-time traffic data

Once upon a time, commuters had to rely on sporadic radio traffic reports to get a sense of how long their journey would take. No longer. Now several companies are competing to give travelers up-to-the-minute information on traffic jams and police actions that attract rubberneckers and slow cars down to a trickle. One of these companies offering reports is Google, whose traffic layer on their maps application shows where speeds are normal and where they are not. Another interesting entry is Frixo, a UK-based company that offers motorway reports based on data collected from sensors placed at various points around the road. Updated every few minutes, Frixo's data provides drivers with the average speed that cars are moving at any particular junction, along with speed limits, traffic incidents, road works, and weather conditions. Does this mean the end to traffic reports on the radio? Yes, we are probably heading in that direction as drivers move towards relying on their wireless on-board devices to provide them with more information about the world around them.