Yahoo Maps Adds Traffic Info

Site will alert users to roadwork and accidents in their local area.

Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service

Yahoo is adding local traffic information to its maps service, including roadwork and accident reports as well as the approximate speed at which traffic is proceeding along specific roads.

The service, to be launched officially Thursday as part of Yahoo Maps, will offer accident reports and road construction information for about 70 U.S. metropolitan areas. The service will also provide driving speed information for about 22 of those areas.

The traffic information is layered on top of a map at the user's request. Icons are used to indicate accidents or construction, while color codes are used for the speed information, Yahoo executives say.

Teaming Up

A Yahoo partner (whose name executives declined to disclose) aggregates traffic information from a variety of sources, including road sensors, traffic cameras, and local police and transportation departments. Yahoo packages and presents the information to its users.

To enhance and extend the service in the future, Yahoo plans to provide it via wireless devices and to add the capability of launching alerts and updates, and of offering users alternate driving routes, Yahoo executives say. Offering the service abroad is also a future possibility.

The traffic service is integrated with Yahoo's general Web search engine, so that if a user enters the query "Philadelphia traffic," a link to the traffic information on Yahoo Maps is provided at the top of the search results. A similar integration exists with Yahoo Local, the Yahoo search service that lets users find local businesses. Yahoo plans to further integrate the traffic information service with other parts of its online network.

Adding this traffic information to its arsenal of services is a way for Yahoo to give users another reason to visit Yahoo Maps and its other online properties, executives say.