[jimbethesda]

Here in Austin it's Garbage In Garbage Out. It's only somewhat useful when it alerts you if the entire road is shutdown due to an accident. It's not BMW's fault, it's the collection of info. I've heard of a lot of cool technology out there, but so far, I think they are only testing it.

For example, our cars should communicate back out to the traffic system our current location and speed. Right now, most traffic is determined by a few helicopters flying overhead and by police reports.

Or better yet, all cell phones! If the cell phone GPS determines you are in the middle of a street, it is safe to assume you're in a car. So...then it should send back out to the cell phone network the exact location and speed.

These ideas are some of the things they are testing. Will it ever happen? Probably not. I can hear the Big Brother comments now! What if you could opt out? If you want the smart traffic data, a requirement is that you have to share your data.