Above: Traffic congestion analysis powered by StreetLight Data.
Americans spend an estimated 14.5 million hours each day stuck in traffic, and all that congestion affects more than just their nerves. Taking into account factors like lost productivity, the increased expense of transporting goods, and wasted fuel, gridlock costs U.S. drivers about $305 billion a year.
StreetLight Data sources information from third-party smartphone weather apps, dating apps, and other apps with location components (about 300 in all), delivering a nearly real-time look at about 20 percent of a region's traffic. (That data is anonymized to protect users' privacy — StreetLight Data only sees a randomized device number.) Agencies with sensor networks augment its database with their own measurements.
It then applies sophisticated algorithms to determine things like the percentage of travelers commuting from one city to another, those travelers' final destinations, and even the highway onramps they're most likely to use. Urban planners and civil engineers use the insights to study not only troublesome traffic patterns, but climate-changing emissions from transportation, the impact of new modes of transportation on communities, and infrastructure investment.
StreetLight Data operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model — states pay monthly for access to its web-based analytics dashboard. Virginia, Minnesota, Ohio, and New York City are among its customers.
StreetLight Data has raised more than $25 million to date, but it has its sights set on expansion. In June, it launched the Multimodal Measurement Initiative, a working group of public agencies, academic institutions, and private transportation firms that seek to "measure the way all modes of travel interact" — including bikes, public transportation, pedestrians, cars, trucks, delivery vehicles, and on-demand rideshare services.