Audi, BMW and Mercedes cars will share live traffic jam data

Here

It's not too hard to find real-time traffic data, but it's usually specific to one car make. Wouldn't it be great if cars of all brands could regularly coordinate? They're not quite there yet, but they're getting closer. Here has unveiled a Real-Time Traffic service that has cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz (all co-owners of Here) sharing their live sensor data to provide more accurate traffic alerts than you'd get from external probes alone. It's particularly helpful on 'arterial' roads, Here says. And more than 30 of the 60-plus countries covered by the service can also take advantage of safety warnings based on sensor data you expect from incidents, such as hard braking to avoid a crash.

Partners will have to adopt the service for it to be useful, but it's open to new customers from any industry, not just the automotive world. It's easy to imagine cities drawing on Here's info to adjust traffic light patterns and adjust roadways, while ridesharing companies and navigation app developers could use it to provide better arrival time estimates. Even if you don't drive, you might notice the improvements in the years ahead.