My Nightmare Commute vs. The Most Popular Traffic Apps

Who would have thought 10 years ago, we would be able to surf the web, text our significant others and get real time traffic data all at 80 mph while at an unsafe following distance?

With the rise of FM traffic data and crowdsourcing, a slew of apps are available to commuters looking to get a real-time handle on what lies ahead for their commute. I tested a few of these apps to see which ones work the best, but also offer an interface that doesn't distract and can be used without taking my hands off the wheel or eyes off the road. I used this test to supplement my default traffic Device, Victoria, who is a Garmin Nuvi with live traffic data (which is right maybe half the time). She has a really bad habit of telling me to pick a route, and then turning into a solid red line as I am already in a dead stop. Hence my need to use a traffic app. 

This is My GPS's very accurate prediction of traffic
incidents. Red Lines indicate traffic incidents.
 This photo was captured during a
five hour standstill on the Cross Bronx the other night. 

This test is being done on a brand spankin’ new Samsung Galaxy S4, with a Verizon 4G network. (it was being done on an older S4, but I… um…shattered that) I’m using each app for a full week of commuting, so all are used in the same locations. This minimizes the inconsistency between load and processing times.

I tested four of the most recommended traffic apps to see which one could best handle my commute through Long Island, 3 Metro NY boroughs and New Jersey. Bonus points were also awarded for the couple of family road trips in between.

First: Waze

Welcome-  you just became a “Wazer” is the cheerful way this program greets you upon its initial launch. It pushes hands-free operation and social networking, and a sense of community within the app. It starts me out as a “Baby Wazer”. Not sure how my ego feels about that. The avatar assigned to me of a small ghost-looking thing with a pacifier in its mouth.

Waze is by far the most popular traffic app used today. You see a lot of Wazers on the road as you drive, and I found myself frequently wondering which of my fellow commuters were the Wazers. On the way back from a recent client meeting in another state, members of my team were also Wazers, and we used the app to dodge cops and pick the best route from Pennsylvania.

Almost anywhere you go, you can see your
 fellow Wazers with the App, making this
 a more social experience.

Overall, this is the one traffic app I continuously find myself consulting, even after I have since deleted the others off of my phone. The data is crowd sourced, so you get a truly accurate picture of how traffic is moving ahead of you. FM traffic data can sometimes be spotty, but by using actual real time data from other motorists, you can easily tell exactly how long a delay is going to last, and how fast you will get through it.

But the best feature of Waze isn't actually the traffic data, it’s the Cop spotting feature. Whether responding to an incident or setting a speed trap, a police presence is clearly indicated on the map, and the driver is altered when approaching said officer. Sure, its only right about 60% the time, but it is extremely useful for long-distance car rides, and adds a sense of security a radar detector can't match.

The interface on WAZE makes it easy to quickly
 report  road hazards. If i were a cop setting a
speed trap, I would also be using this app to tell
when my position was compromised. 

Another interesting thing about Waze is the way it looks to socialize and gamify traffic data. Users are rewarded for driving miles and reporting incidents with points. These points level you up.  Besides a personal sense of accomplishment, there really isn't a benefit to leveling up, but I’m sure your fellow Wazers on the road think you look cool when your icon gets a sword in the further levels.

But there is no such thing as a perfect app. My one biggest complaint with this app was the amount of driver involvement that was required to effectively operate it. its worth noting that simply waving a hand in front of the screen activates a hands free mode on Waze, which is certainly helpful, but I still have to take my eyes off the road for a bit longer than other apps to get the info that I need.

By waving your hand over the screen, Waze lets
you enter a hands free mode where you can command the app

Otherwise, the Graphical user interface (GUI) could use a little work. Its bright and contrasty, but I often times had a hard time distinguishing upcoming traffic. For example, I could see there was an ominous dark red line ahead of me, but I could not tell if it in my general direction or not. Also, it’s a huge battery suck. I start out my day with 100% battery, and I’m at 65% by the time I make it to work, which just isn't realistic.

Overall, this app is highly recommended, but I also recommend that you need to have your phone both mounted in a visible, easily accessible position and plugged in continuously if you plan to use it.

Summary

The GUI holds a lot of information, which can be
 difficult to discern what direction of travel the hazards are affecting.

·      

     Pros

o   Crowdsourced, most reliable data

o   Calls out cops

·         Cons

o   Interface / GUI need some work

o   Requires a lot of driver involvement, and it’s a ranking system, which I think makes people take their eyes off the road

o   The interface isn't the easiest to tell you which route to take. For example, when I approach the Cross Island or the Clearview from the Grand Central or Throgs Neck, I use traffic data to tell me which way to go and save a few minutes.

o   Huge battery suck. I can’t start my workday with a 65% battery.

o   The best way to use this app is mounted on a windshield, and plugged in

Download: Google Play Store

Second: Google Maps

Google maps is the by far the quickest and easiest to use. It’s got very straightforward controls, and has a turn by turn navigation feature built in which is also very helpful.  What Google lacks in features, it makes up for in its simplicity. The GUI is clean and straightforward, and tells you of incidents.

It’s interface is so straightforward though that it lacks some of the critical data. For example, since it does not have movement data, you can’t tell if the dark red line is stand-still traffic or just traffic moving under 20 MPH, which is par for the course for the Cross Bronx.

This app does although win when it comes to distractions. It loads very fast, and is super responsive. It can easily be operated with one hand so I don’t have to take the other hand off the wheel, and I typically don’t have to take my eyes off the road to wait for it to load data.

Google Maps traffic feature is very
 straightforward, and likely already on your phone.

The traffic data although is the same sourced FM traffic data and Travel time network info that the other apps use, so it lacks the real time updates of WAZE. Its usually pretty reliable though, but I cant wait until they start mining a crowdsourcing option for this app.

·        
      Pros:

o   Clean GUI is easy to use

o   Fastest response

o   Least battery drain

o   Navigation option

·         Cons

o   Doesn’t tell you about cops or road hazards

o   Same data as everyone else

o   Vague colors to indicate speed

o   Second highest data consumption

Download: Google Play Store

Third: Sigalert

Sig alert has a great desktop feature (sigalert.com) for sourcing traffic data, which I often check before I leave for work. I just wish the app were as good as the desktop website, as it tells me average MPH with a full view of all traffic cameras.

The same traffic cameras are at the heart of the Sigalert app, which pop up as icons on the map interface for the program. It's traffic camera database is the programs most useful feature.

the gradual color scheme in Sigalert makes it the easiest to
 pick a route at a glance, without ever confusing travel direction

But overall, the interface to this program is just way to slow to realistically use while driving. On a 4G network it crawls to keep up, and the traffic cam data refreshes slowly and has such a slow frame rate, it isn’t as useful as it could be. Zooming in and out is also very erratic, and typically doesn’t land on the view you want. But as a positive note,  unlike the other programs, this app uses gradual colors from green to red to indicate traffic, so there is never any confusion about which direction has congestion or is free-flowing.

The traffic camera database is huge, and clicking
 any one of those camera icons will bring up the feed.

You also have the option to create a free account with Sigalert, and input route data to customize the app.

·         

       Pros

o   Traffic cam database

o   Color scheme means you never get confused about the flow of traffic

·         Cons:

o   Clunky interface requires a bit too much attention to be functional

o   Slow response

Download: Google Play Store

·         Fourth: Inrix

Inrix's home screen makes it a bit difficult to tell
local conditions, while red dots indicate alerts

·         Finally there is Inrix. This app has high aspirations, and tried hard to be the best of all of the programs available. Unfortunately, the execution doesn’t really work all that well. Two main screens make up the interface. The default screen is all of the data around you, including a zoomed too-far-out local map, alerts and traffic cams. The secondary interface which you can access is an interactive map. By default it’s a 3D view which can be hard to read, so I opted for a less extreme angle which gives a nice view of traffic. But the map itself looks like a re-skinned version of Google maps, be it although less user friendly. With its latest version, the map interface is almost as fast as Google’s, and it has a nice “Follow me” feature to help ensure a perfect view.

When zoomed into the map feature,
 Inrix warns you of alerts with
an easy-to-navigate view

Apparently, the data in Inrix is also crowd sourced, as it usually tells me there are about 20,000 Inrix users around me at any given time. The only thing is, I don’t see the data from these people anywhere. The app gives the option to report issues, cops and other alerts, but I have never actually seen this data presented anywhere on the map. So while I don’t doubt it’s there somewhere, it’s buried too deep to be able to locate it while operating a motor vehicle.

But the cons to this program made its test a bit tedious. First, it destroyed my phones battery, taking me down to about 50 percent each day for my morning commute. It’s also a massive data hog, eating up nearly ten times the data of the others apps at about 65 MB worth. The only explanation for this I can think of is that the traffic cam data loading is very heavy.

the maps feature looks a lot like
 Google's, and is similarly responsive.

By swiping down, users can see more relevant
 information about hazards around them

Overall, despite its great all-around features, it falters in the fact that it just offers too much to be able to use effectively

·         Pros:

o   Best options for viewing – once you get out of the standard view into the map view is when it becomes really useful for route planning.The birds eye view is at an extreme enough angle so you can see what’s ahead and still navigate.

o   Has all the bells of whistles of the other apps, if you can manage to find them

·         Cons:

o   Traffic cams are easily accessible. This would work well, but the refresh is so slow, it doesn't apply to metro NY traffic, where cars can be bumper to bumper, but still moving at a good clip.

o   So I thought Google maps was a battery suck -  this took out half of my battery before I even got to work
o   No alerts for cops or accidents

o   Holy hell what a data hog -  for one round trip, Inrix used 62 MB of data.

Download: Google Play

Conclusion:

The bottom line is that traffic apps are helpful, and a must-have for any hardcore commuter. There are many options out there, but these four represent the most popular. I would suggest trying them all and using the customizable interface to see what works best for you particularly. But please remember to drive safe, and don’t be one of those people who causes an accident because they are browsing on their smartphone to try and find the accidents. I would also recommend investing in some sort of dash mount for a phone and a car charger if you plan to make one a part of your everyday commute.

After a fulls weeks usage, Inrix turned into
a huge data hog, with Google maps a distant second.