Christchurch Traffic Map

Our AA Traffic team has been flat out updating road closures and incidents in our system for the AA Maps and AA Roadwatch websites as well as car navigation (specified models of Navman, TomTom and Garmin Asus) and subscription alerts nationwide, but have also done a lot of work to provide quality information for the Canterbury area. This includes the Earthquake Cordon Zone. Its well worth bookmarking if you are travelling around the area as where possible, we do also include real time traffic flow.

Whilst we have been told by many people that they have been very impressed with our data quality, we would like to point out:

1.       All Road condition reports for Christchurch is provided to the AA by a number of 3^rd parties .

2.       As all of these Agencies in the Christchurch area are inundated with Earthquake recovery, the information we are receiving may not be current.

3.       We are unable to guarantee accurate driving directions for the Christchurch Area as conditions are changing rapidly.

4.       Our advice to all motorists is not to drive in the earthquake affected areas unless absolutely necessary.

5.       Expect significant delays and ensure all precautions are taken to avoid accidents.

GeoSmart is at Trafinz

commGeoSmart is at the Trafinz conference this week in Wellington this week. Over the last year it has been developing real time traffic solutions including AA Traffic. AA Traffic was developed for the NZ Automobile Association to assist motorists in identifying traffic incidents ranging from road works through to accidents and road closures resultant from a wide range of causes including in recent days earthquakes and flood damage.

As part of the data collection and applications developed in this area, GeoSmart has been collecting real time vehicle traffic flow data throughout New Zealand on all roads from State Highways to connector roads. In addition to viewing this to assist us in our real time traffic services, we are also storing this data so that it can be used historically.

We already have around 4 months of historic traffic flow data that can be used by traffic engineers, consultants, councils and other authorities for analysis, planning and forecasting. It can be delivered in a variety of ways. For example if someone is working on a project for a specific road segment or network, we can make available data for that location by time of day, day of week to enhance the quality and quantity of the information being analysed. that information could be provided as a CSV file or for overlay in a web mapping or GIS environment.

Feedback so far from attendees at the conference has been very favorable and we are now looking at ways of working with organisations who will find this information of value.

We are also working with Fleet Management companies who are interested in the potential to allow their clients to not only see their vehicles on a map, but to also be able to see real time incidents and traffic flow on the same map. This would enable dispatchers and fleet controllers to make decisions based on real time and historical data on routes to use. This can have value to all sorts of road users from emergency services through to transport and distribution companies, meter readers, field service companies, to name a few.

An example of the use of this data is in the September issue of Metro Magazine’s feature on ‘The Best Places to Live in Auckland’ for which we calculated commuter morning drive times into the city from around 50 suburbs.

GeoSmart already has API’s, Web Services and applications available in the field 0f route optimisation. Companies using this technology have enjoyed significant ROI by being able to reduce travel distance and time, which also has the byproduct of reducing CO2 emissions. This means being able to provide a better service to their customers, while also increasing productivity and profitability. In the future we anticipate being able to add real time traffic into the equation for real time route optimisation.

GeoSmart is now planning meetings with traffic engineers, local and regional Government and other organisations to discuss how the real time and historic traffic flow data may be used and welcomes the opportunity to meet with any interested parties to discuss mutual opportunities.

Safe Driving with AA Roadwatch

GeoSmart Maps has rebuilt the NZ Automobile Association’s Roadwatch web site and re-launched it to inform motorists about events taking place on New Zealand roads; this includes road works, accidents, road closures, delays and incidents such as slips and washouts, which are very topical given current weather conditions.

The original web site had generic maps which showed the general area where incidents had occurred, whereas the new site has dynamic maps allowing people to view the incident location on a map at region, suburb or zoom right down to street level.

A pop up window on the map provides in depth information about the incident including its anticipated resolution date and time. The site dynamically updates information every 5 minutes and indicates whether the incident has been verified. The service also includes Future Notifications such as events and other known issues.

“The service will be fully managed by the AA and a call centre which is operational 24/7 will feed public information into the system. The system will also soon have the ability for local authorities to enter information about planned road works,” says GeoSmart’s General Manager Phil Allen.

“AA Roadwatch is about informing motorists so they can make better decisions on the roads, whether it’s’ taking an alternate route or leaving half an hour later.”

AA Roadwatch may be found at http://www.aaroadwatch.co.nz