eli5 – How do applications like Google Maps and Apple Maps know when there is a traffic jam? Where does the information come from?

Question

eli5 – How do applications like Google Maps and Apple Maps know when there is a traffic jam? Where does the information come from?

In: Technology

Answer 1

People in cars use their devices for navigation. Their devices transfer data on their location to application servers. The server part of the application analyzes this data and figures out the average current speed of users depending on location. Places with low speed and many users are currently jammed.