Online traffic jam service technology patented

MIT has received a patent for its technology for creating online traffic services. The patent covers a method for determining the optimal route based on up-to-date traffic information.

This technology is used in particular by the Maps@Mail.ru service.

MIT was one of the first companies in the world to use the principle of user feedback to obtain traffic information and transmit it to users online.

The technology works as follows: users report traffic congestion data on the website, the online service aggregates this information and posts it on the website, making it accessible to other users.

Initially, the service was used in the CityGID navigation system for St. Petersburg, and later became available for Moscow.

After receiving the patent, MIT specialists will likely address the issue of copyright protection with other services that use this technology (for example, Yandex.Traffic or Navitel.Traffic).