Photo: autoevolution
One of the best things about navigation apps is they can provide an estimated time of your arrival, therefore making it easier to know exactly when you’re supposed to reach your destination.
The keyword here, however, is “estimate,” as the ETA that you see on the screen isn’t always 100 percent accurate. And it’s all for a series of very good reasons.
TomTom, one of the leading companies in the navigation software market and the developer of several alternatives to Google Maps, has recently discussed the challenges of getting a fully accurate ETA, explaining that more often than not, being 100 percent spot-on is extremely difficult.
One of the reasons is the traffic itself, which is hard to predict despite the AI-based systems that have been launched lately. Accidents, traffic jams, and construction zones could all slow down drivers, therefore impacting the ETA and eventually making the navigation app look silly.
Then, it’s the perception of the ETA, as TomTom explains that a navigation app can’t provide an estimate based on how every person drives. Some are fast and aggressive, others just go for a more conservative driving style, so at the end of the day, the ETA could once again be different for the same route and destination, all depending on how we drive.
These challenges can still be addressed, TomTom says, though it all comes down to a mix of new-gen systems that includes detailed road information (such as curvature, gradient, speed limits, traffic lights, rules, and lane information), historical, live, and predictive traffic systems to anticipate what’s happening on the road, as well as more advanced routing algorithms.
But at the end of the day, every little thing happening on the road can affect the ETA. And this is why it’s always important to keep in mind what ETA stands for. It’s the estimated time of arrival, and an estimation is pretty much a rough calculation that’s more of a guess rather than a spot-on figure.
TomTom, one of the leading companies in the navigation software market and the developer of several alternatives to Google Maps, has recently discussed the challenges of getting a fully accurate ETA, explaining that more often than not, being 100 percent spot-on is extremely difficult.
One of the reasons is the traffic itself, which is hard to predict despite the AI-based systems that have been launched lately. Accidents, traffic jams, and construction zones could all slow down drivers, therefore impacting the ETA and eventually making the navigation app look silly.
Then, it’s the perception of the ETA, as TomTom explains that a navigation app can’t provide an estimate based on how every person drives. Some are fast and aggressive, others just go for a more conservative driving style, so at the end of the day, the ETA could once again be different for the same route and destination, all depending on how we drive.
These challenges can still be addressed, TomTom says, though it all comes down to a mix of new-gen systems that includes detailed road information (such as curvature, gradient, speed limits, traffic lights, rules, and lane information), historical, live, and predictive traffic systems to anticipate what’s happening on the road, as well as more advanced routing algorithms.
But at the end of the day, every little thing happening on the road can affect the ETA. And this is why it’s always important to keep in mind what ETA stands for. It’s the estimated time of arrival, and an estimation is pretty much a rough calculation that’s more of a guess rather than a spot-on figure.
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