If you’re one of many Americans that have long commutes to and from work every day then you must also seek for a faster way home when ever you can take it. The iPhone in your pocket, may be just the tool you’re looking for to help you decrease your time wasted in traffic jams.
Maps
Since the original iPhone was released one of its built in apps has been Maps. Maps combines the latest Google Maps technology and offers it to users right on their iPhone.
Maps include satellite photos, can pin point you based on your GPS location , track your movement, route you to your destination, and even show you the traffic conditions on the roads you commute on everyday.
To view the current traffic conditions you’ll need to enable the feature.
- Open Maps and click on the small button to the right. This opens up your Map display options.
- Once your Display Options have opened, touch the Show Traffic button.
- Your map should now include green, yellow, and red lines over the major roads in your area
With the feature enabled, you can see the overall flow of traffic along your path to and from work. I’ve found that its often faster to change my rout and avoid any red traffic if I can end up closer to home with just green traffic along the way. I’ve often saved 10 to 15 minutes on an average 1 hour daily commute by doing this.
The Google Maps color legend is detailed as followed:
Green: average speeds greater than 50 mph
Yellow: 25 – 50 mph speeds
Red: less than 25 mph speeds.
Keep Checking that Map
If you’ve tried to use this feature before and found that the traffic details for your commute just weren’t included in Google Maps, keep checking back. Google recently added more roads to their traffic data and continues to improve the service.
Try it out, and let us know how your iPhone and Google Maps are helping you save time on your daily commute.
