I understand mapping the shortest routes, tollways vs non tollways, ect but how is programming like google maps able to determine the amount of time your commute will take due to traffic patterns and congestion?
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The other replies about other phones feeding speed data are only partially correct. You can get an accurate calculation of drive time without it, just by knowing the speed of each segment of road. This data is available in map databases, and it comes from sensors within a municipality. Measurements are taken throughout the day so it is possible to get road segment average speed measurements for different times of day to refine further the drive time estimate, but even without this, posted speed limits can be used (and this is what early GPS maps did).
Google takes this further by taking speed data from phones in real time so that it can react to things like accidents and unexpected jams.
When the GPS calculates a route, the algorithm generally makes a branching tree of routes from the start point and the destination point, adding up times for each road segment, and whichever two branches from each side meet, that’s the fastest route.
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