Determining road traffic conditions using data from multiple data sources

• US 7,912,628 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2007
• Issued: 03/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Inventors: Parikh, Kush G., Downs, Oliver B., Cahn, Robert C., Hersch, Jesse S., Chapman, Craig H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu; Yonel
• Application Number:
  US11/752,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20080071465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,400 Days
• Field of Search: 701117-119, 701213-215
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0116 from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/012 from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0968 Systems involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle

Abstract

Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating vehicle travel on roads by generating and providing information related to traffic congestion on the roads, the method comprising:

receiving information describing a network of roads in a geographic area;

for each of the roads in the network, identifying multiple segments of the road for which road traffic information will be distinctly tracked and provided, each road segment having one or more associated road traffic sensors that provide data regarding vehicles traveling by the road traffic sensors;

for each of one or more of the road segments, and for each of multiple distinct periods of time, generating information related to vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, by,

obtaining multiple data samples of multiple types that each reflect one or more travel characteristics of one or more vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple data samples of a first type that are each a road traffic sensor reading generated by one of the one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road segment, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple data samples of a second type that are each a mobile data source data sample reported by one of multiple vehicles on the road segment;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types that represent actual vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, the assessing including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road segment based at least in part on comparison of the travel characteristics reflected by the excluded data samples to the travel characteristics reflected by the other data samples;

automatically analyzing the travel characteristics reflected by the identified group of multiple data samples in order to generate one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time, the estimated measurements being generated in a weighted manner such that each data sample of the identified group is weighted based at least in part on a type of the data sample and on recency of the data sample;

automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on the road segment for one or more future periods of times based in part on the estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and based in part on, other current conditions in the geographic area that affect future traffic on the road segment; and

providing the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and the predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the road segment for use in facilitating travel on one or more of the roads,

so that users can navigate vehicles over the network of roads based on estimated current and predicted future traffic congestion of the roads.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating of the information related to vehicle travel at each of multiple periods of time includes generating the information at multiple distinct times such that the period of time for each generating of information is a current period of time, and wherein the estimated actual traffic congestion measurements for a road segment and a current period of time are generated and provided in a substantially realtime manner for that current period of time.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on a road segment during a period of time includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and direction of movement of one or more vehicles that reported those multiple data source data samples, and wherein the generated estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion and predicted measurements of future traffic congestion for a road segment and period of time correspond to speeds of vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on a road segment during a period of time includes identifying the multiple mobile data source data samples for the road segment during the period of time by matching geographic locations associated with the multiple mobile data source data samples with a geographic region associated with the road segment.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on a road segment during a period of time includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being outliers with respect to the multiple data samples of the identified group.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on a road segment during a period of time includes automatically analyzing the multiple road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples to identify road traffic sensor readings that are likely to be unreliable based at least in part on comparison to other related road traffic sensor readings, and wherein the identifying of the one or more excluded data samples includes selecting at least some road traffic sensor readings identified as being likely to be unreliable to be excluded.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the automatic analyzing of the road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples to identify road traffic sensor readings that are likely to be unreliable includes comparing each road traffic sensor reading to average historical traffic readings for the road traffic sensor for that road traffic sensor reading, wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on a road segment during a period of time further includes, after a road traffic sensor reading from a road traffic sensor is identified as likely to be unreliable, automatically attempting to correct the road traffic sensor reading by attempting to estimate a reliable road traffic sensor reading for the road traffic sensor based on other information related to vehicle travel during the period of time, and wherein the selecting of the at least some road traffic sensor readings to be excluded includes excluding only identified road traffic sensor readings that are not automatically corrected.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, for at least one of the one or more road segments and at least one of the multiple periods of time;

receiving an indication of multiple additional data samples that correspond to vehicle travel on the at least one road segments during the at least one periods of time, the additional data samples being available from a data source that is distinct from one or more data sources of the obtained multiple data samples for the at least one road segments and the at least one periods of time;

automatically assessing a value of the additional data samples for improving the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements for the at least one road segments and the at least one periods of time, the assessing of the value being based at least in part on whether the additional data samples are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the at least one road segments during the at least one periods of time, on one or more types of the additional data samples, on recency of the additional data samples, and on an amount of similarity between the additional data samples and the identified groups of data samples for the at least one road segments and the at least one periods of time; and

providing an indication of the assessed value of the additional data samples.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating of the one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on a road segment during a period of time includes generating comparative information- to indicate differences between actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and expected traffic congestion on the road segment for the period of time, and wherein the providing of the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements for the road segment includes providing the generated comparative information for the road segment.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the other current conditions on which the one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on a road segment for one or more future periods of times are based include current weather for the geographic area, current events that are scheduled to occur in the geographic area, current school sessions that are scheduled to occur in the geographic area, current traffic accidents on the roads, and current construction activities on the roads.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication from a user of a beginning location in the geographic area and of a destination location in the geographic area;

automatically identifying segments of roads of the network along a route to the indicated destination location from the indicated starting location, the route including multiple identified road segments, and such that the one or more road segments for which the generating of information related to vehicle travel occurs include the multiple identified road segments, and such that the multiple periods of time for which the generating of information related to vehicle travel occurs include periods of time during which travel along the route may occur; and

for each of one or more travel start times, determining a predicted travel time for the route if travel begins at the travel start time, the predicted travel time being based on the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and predicted future traffic congestion measurements for at least some of the multiple identified road segments such that predicted future traffic congestion measurements at a first future period of time after the travel start time are used for a first group of one or more of the road segments of the route and such that predicted future traffic congestion measurements at a second future period of time after the travel start time are used for a second group of one or more other of the road segments of the route, the second future period of time being later than the first future period of time and the road segments of the second group being after the road segments of the first group along the route;

and wherein the providing of generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the multiple identified road segments includes providing information about one or more of the determined predicted travel times for the route.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein providing generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and predicted future traffic congestion measurements for road segments during a period of time includes, for each of one or more users, displaying a map of the geographic area that includes at least some of the roads in the network and that includes graphical representations for indicated segments of the included roads of corresponding generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and/or predicted future traffic congestion measurements for those indicated road segments.

13. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road, and wherein the obtaining of the multiple data samples that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road includes identifying an associated geographic location for each of a plurality of mobile data source data samples and includes selecting a subset of the plurality of mobile data source data samples for use as part of the obtained multiple data samples for the road based at least in part on the mobile data source data samples of the selected subset having associated geographic locations that correspond to geographic locations associated with the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples so as to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the providing of information related to vehicle travel during the period of time on a road is performed in a realtime and/or near-realtime manner.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the period of time is a current period of time, and wherein the providing of the information related to vehicle travel in a realtime and/or near-realtime manner includes providing during the current period of time the one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the period of time is a period of 15 minutes or less.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the providing of information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on a road is performed for each of multiple distinct periods of time, so as to repeatedly provide information related to the vehicle travel on the road in a realtime and/or near-realtime manner.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the providing of the one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements includes providing the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements to each of one or more users for display to the one or more users.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the providing of information related to vehicle travel during the period of time is performed for each of multiple distinct segments of multiple distinct roads that are part of a network of roads in a geographic area, and wherein the providing of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements to each of one or more users for display includes providing to each of the users a graphical representation of the geographic area that includes graphical representations of the multiple roads and that includes graphical representations for each of multiple road segments of corresponding determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for that road segment.

20. The method of claim 13 further comprising, for each of at least one of the one or more roads, automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic flow during each of one or more future periods of times on the road, and providing one or more indications of the generated predicted future traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating future travel on the at least one roads.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the period of time for which the estimated actual traffic flow measurements are determined is a current period of time, and wherein the predicted future traffic flow measurements for the one or more future periods of times are generated during the current period of time and are based in part on the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the current period of time.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the predicted future traffic flow measurements for a road for the one or more future periods of times are further based in part on current conditions that include multiple of current weather, current events that are scheduled to occur, current school sessions that are scheduled to occur, current traffic accidents on the road, and current construction activities on the road.

23. The method of claim 13 wherein the period of time is a future period of time, and wherein the determining of the one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow on a road during the period of time includes predicting the one or more estimated actual traffic flow measurements so as to reflect actual traffic that will occur on the road during the future period of time.

24. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of the one or more mobile devices moving along the road.

32. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road during the period of time includes automatically identifying road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples that are likely to have been generated by one or more malfunctioning road traffic sensors, and automatically correcting the identified road traffic sensor readings by estimating one or more reliable road traffic sensor readings for the malfunctioning road traffic sensors based on other information related to vehicle travel during the period of time.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the identifying of road traffic sensor readings that are likely to have been generated by one or more malfunctioning road traffic sensors is based at least in part on comparison of those road traffic sensor readings to other related road traffic sensor readings.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the other related road traffic sensor readings to which the road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples are compared are average historical traffic readings for the malfunctioning road traffic sensors.

35. The method of claim 32 wherein the other information related to vehicle travel during the period of time that is used for the estimating of the one or more reliable road traffic sensor readings for the malfunctioning road traffic sensors includes at least one of reported vehicle travel speeds for a second road that is related to the road, of predictive information that reflects vehicle travel speeds predicted to occur on the road during the period of time, and of historical average vehicle travel speeds for the road.

51. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more roads include multiple roads, and wherein the method further comprises automatically determining to treat at least one of the roads as a key road for which road traffic flow measurement information will be tracked and provided in the future.

61. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more road traffic sensors associated with each of the one or more roads each include at least one of an embedded loop sensor, a camera, a radar ranging device, a motion sensor, and an RFID-based sensor to detect RFID-based tags in vehicles.

62. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more mobile devices moving along the one or more roads each include at least one of a device with GPS capabilities and of a device with cellular telephone transmission capabilities.

63. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more road traffic sensors associated with each of the one or more roads include one or more embedded loop sensors, one or more cameras, one or more radar ranging devices, one or more motion sensors, and one or more RFID-based sensors to detect RFID-based tags in vehicles.

64. The method of claim 63 wherein the one or more mobile devices moving along the one or more roads include one or more devices with GPS capabilities and one or more devices with cellular telephone transmission capabilities.

65. The method of claim 13 wherein the one or more mobile devices moving along the one or more roads each include at least one of a device with GPS capabilities and of a device with cellular telephone transmission capabilities.

66. The method of claim 13 wherein the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time include one or more estimates of speeds of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time further include multiple of one or more estimates of a traffic arrival rate volume for the road during the period of time, of one or more estimates of traffic density for the road during the period of time, and of one or more estimates of percentage traffic occupancy of at least one point on the road during the period of time.

68. The method of claim 13 wherein the providing of the information related to vehicle travel during the period, of time on a road is performed by an automated traffic information system as part of a fee-based service.

96. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples and the automatic analyzing of the identified group of multiple data samples are performed by one or more programmed computing systems.

25. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of the one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein at least one of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for each of the one or more roads is based on speeds of vehicles traveling on the road, and wherein the analyzing of mobile data source data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of one or more mobile devices moving along a road includes, for each of the mobile data source data samples, automatically determining an associated speed for the mobile data source data sample based on information from multiple of the mobile data source data samples; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

26. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, at least one of the one or more roads including vehicles traveling on the road in two opposite directions, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple, types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of the one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the analyzing of mobile data source data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of one or more mobile devices moving along a road includes, for each of the mobile data source data samples, automatically determining an associated direction for the mobile data source data sample based on information from multiple of the mobile data source data samples; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

27. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes identifying an associated time during the period of time for each of the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples and includes determining a temporal distribution of those mobile data source data samples over the period of time based on the associated times, the determined temporal distribution being for use as part of at least one of the identifying of the group of multiple data samples to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time and of the automatic analyzing of the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

28. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or More data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples for the one or more roads during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes identifying an associated geographic location for each of the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples, and includes determining a geographic distribution of those mobile data source data samples based on the associated geographic locations, the determined geographical distribution being for use as part of at least one of the identifying of the group of multiple data samples to represent actual vehicle travel on at least one of the one or more roads during the period of time and of the automatic analyzing of the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on at least one of the one or more roads;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

29. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being outliers with respect to the multiple data samples of the identified group;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

30. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being road traffic sensor readings that are automatically identified as being likely to have been generated by one or more malfunctioning road traffic sensors;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

31. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road, wherein the mobile devices moving along the one or more roads are devices within vehicles;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being mobile data source data samples that correspond to one or more vehicles whose travel patterns are automatically identified as not corresponding to typical vehicle travel patterns for the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

36. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group being performed by one or more configured computing systems and including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road;

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and

automatically analyzing road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples that are generated by road traffic sensors to identify road traffic sensors that are likely to be malfunctioning and providing indications of the identified road traffic sensors, the analyzing of the road traffic sensor readings including comparing those road traffic sensor readings to other related road traffic sensor readings.

37. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified ;

group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the automatic analyzing of an identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes performing the analyzing by weighting at least some of the multiple data samples to reflect one or more attributes of those data samples; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the weighting of at least some data samples so as to reflect one or more attributes of those data samples includes weighting each of the at least some data samples based at least in part on recency of information provided by the data sample.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the weighting of at least some data samples so as to reflect one or more attributes of those data samples includes weighting each of the at least some data samples based at least in part on the type of the data sample.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the multiple types of obtained data samples for a road include a first type of data samples that include the road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples, and a second type of data samples that include the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein the multiple types of obtained data samples for a road include multiple types of road traffic sensor readings and/or multiple types of mobile data source data samples.

42. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the determining of the one or more estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes generating comparative traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time, and wherein the provided indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements are indications of the generated comparative traffic flow measurements; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the generated comparative traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time indicate differences between the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time and expected traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time.

44. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road;

receiving an indication of one or more additional data samples that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on at least one of the roads during the period of time;

automatically assessing an value of the additional data samples based at least in part on an incremental benefit that the additional data samples convey with respect to the obtained multiple data samples for the at least one roads and the period of time; and

providing an indication of the assessed value of the additional data samples.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the received indication of the one or more additional data samples is an indication of a third-party data provider who is capable of providing the one or more additional data samples, and wherein the assessed value of the additional data samples is for use in determining an amount of money to pay the data provider for the additional data samples.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the automatic assessing of the value of the additional data samples is further based at least in part on whether one or more of the additional data samples are automatically identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the at least one roads during the period of time.

47. The method of claim 44 wherein the automatic assessing of the value of the additional data samples is further based at least in part on one or more of recency of information provided by the additional data samples, of one or more types of the additional data samples, and of an amount of similarity between the additional data samples and the identified groups of data samples for the at least one roads.

48. The method of claim 44 wherein the determined one or more estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the at least one roads are part of a first set of estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the at least one roads during the period of time, and wherein the automatic assessing of the value of the additional data samples includes:

automatically analyzing a second group of multiple data samples to determine a second set of one or more other estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the at least one roads, the second group of multiple data samples including at least some of the identified group of multiple data samples and at least some of the additional data samples; and

comparing the estimated actual traffic flow measurements of the first and second sets to identify any improvements in the estimated actual traffic flow measurements of the second set that correspond to use of the additional data samples.

49. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, the one or more roads including multiple roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road, traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road;

receiving an indication of one or more routes that include travel along the multiple roads;

for each of at least some of the multiple roads, automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic flow during each of one or more future periods of times on the road,

for each of the one or more routes, determining a predicted travel time for the route based on at least one determined estimated actual traffic flow measurement for a road on the route and based on at least one predicted future traffic flow measurement for a road on the route; and

providing information about one or more of the determined predicted travel times for the one or more routes.

50. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems;

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and

automatically determining that at least one of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time differs from at least one expected traffic flow measurement for the road during the period of time by at least a minimum amount, and notifying one or more users of the differing of the at least one estimated and expected actual traffic flow measurements.

52. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group being performed by one or more configured computing systems and including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the one or more determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for one of the roads include multiple determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for multiple distinct portions of the one road;

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and

automatically determining to treat at least one of the multiple distinct portions of the one road as distinct road segment for which road traffic flow measurement information will be distinctly tracked and provided, the determining of the at least one distinct road segments being based at least in part on analysis of the multiple determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements.

53. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that, are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the automatic assessing being performed by one or more configured computing systems, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road;

automatically determining to replace the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements from the automatic analyzing with other determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time that are based at least in part on historical information about traffic flow for the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road, wherein the provided one or more indications are of the other determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein the historical information about the traffic flow for, the road is based on at least one of historical traffic sensor readings from at least some of the road traffic sensors associated with the road and of historical mobile data source data samples reported by mobile devices that previously moved along the road.

55. The method of claim 53 wherein the historical information about the traffic flow for the road is selected to reflect previous traffic on a related portion of the road during a related period of time.

56. The method of claim 53 wherein the automatic determining to replace the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements from the automatic analyzing is based on the obtained data samples failing to satisfy one or more criteria and/or on the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements from the automatic analyzing failing to satisfy one or more criteria.

57. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the automatic assessing being performed by one or more configured computing systems, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by the one or more configured computing systems; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and

for one of the one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel on the one road during a second period of time after the period of time, by;

automatically determining estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the second period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior actual traffic flow for the other road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the second period of time.

58. The method of claim 57 further comprising attempting to obtain data samples for the one road and the second period of time that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the one road during the second period of time, so that one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the second period of time on the one road may be determined from those obtained data samples, and wherein the automatic determining of the estimated actual traffic flow measurements based at least in part on the historical information is performed after failing to obtain data samples for the one road and the second period of time that enable determination based on those obtained data samples of estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the second period of time on the one road that satisfy one or more criteria.

59. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:

for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by

obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple, types and that reflect travel, characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;

automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;

automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and

for each of one or more other roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during the period of time on the other road by;

automatically determining estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior actual traffic flow related to the other road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the period of time.

60. The method of claim 59 further comprising attempting to obtain data samples for the other road and the period of time that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the other road during the period of time, so that one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the other road may be determined from those obtained data samples, and wherein the automatic determining of the estimated actual traffic flow measurements based at least in part on the historical information is performed after failing to obtain data samples for the other road and the period of time that enable determination based on those obtained data samples of estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the period of time on the other road that satisfy one or more criteria.

69. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:

receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times, wherein the multiple data samples of the multiple types include multiple data samples that are each based on one or more data readings each generated by one or more traffic sensors associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time, and include multiple other data samples that are each based on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road, at one or more times;

automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements.

70. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the multiple types include multiple types of traffic sensors associated with the road.

71. The computer-readable medium of claim 70 wherein the multiple types of traffic sensors include multiple of embedded loop sensors, cameras, radar ranging devices, motion sensors, and RFID-based sensors.

72. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the multiple types include multiple types of mobile devices moving along the road.

73. The computer-readable medium of claim 72 wherein the multiple types of mobile devices include devices with GPS capabilities and devices with cellular telephone transmission capabilities.

74. The computer-readable medium of claim 72 wherein the multiple types of mobile devices include multiple types of devices with GPS capabilities.

75. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the multiple types include one or more embedded loop sensors, one or more devices with GPS capabilities, and one or more devices with cellular telephone transmission capabilities.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the providing of the one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements includes providing information about the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements to one or more users for use in facilitating travel by the one or more users on the road.

81. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the method further comprises automatically determining to replace the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing with other determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the period of time that are based at least in part on historical information about traffic conditions related to the road, and wherein the provided one or more indications are of the other determined estimated traffic condition measurements.

82. The computer-readable medium of claim 81 wherein the historical information is based on at least one of historical traffic sensor readings from one or more traffic sensors associated with the road and of historical mobile data source data samples reported by one or more mobile devices that previously moved along the road.

84. The computer-readable medium of claim 81 wherein the multiple data samples of the multiple types include data samples from one or more types of mobile devices with GPS capabilities, and wherein the multiple data samples are received in a near-realtime manner after generation of those data samples by mobile devices of the one or more types.

85. The computer-readable medium of claim 81 wherein the multiple data samples of the multiple types include data samples from one or more types of devices with cellular telephone capabilities, and wherein the multiple data samples are received in a near-realtime manner after generation of those data samples by mobile devices of the one or more types.

86. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the method further comprises:

automatically determining estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during a second period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior traffic conditions for the road; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the second period of time.

88. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing device.

89. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein the contents are instructions that when executed cause the computing device to perform the method.

76. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:

receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times;

automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time, the automatic analyzing of the multiple data samples being performed by the configured computing device and including automatically assessing the multiple data samples to identify data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road and including determining the one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time based on a group of the multiple data samples that excludes the identified data samples; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements.

77. The computer-readable medium of claim 76 wherein the identifying of the data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road includes automatically comparing the data readings from traffic sensors on which the at least one data samples are based to other related traffic sensor data readings in order to identify data readings that are likely to be unreliable.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77 wherein the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements correspond to one or more segments of the road of interest, and wherein the identifying of the data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road includes identifying data samples that are not associated with the one or more road segments of interest, identifying data samples that are not associated with times during the period of time, and identifying data samples that are outliers with respect to the group of data samples.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77 wherein the period of time is a future period of time, and wherein the determining of the one or more estimated traffic conditions measurements includes predicting future traffic conditions on the road for the future period of time based in part on current traffic conditions on the road and in part on other current conditions.

93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 76 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing device, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the computing device to perform the method.

83. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:

receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times;

automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time;

automatically determining to replace the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing with other determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the period of time that are based at least in part on historical information about traffic conditions related to the road, the automatic determining to replace the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing being performed by the configured computing device and being based on the multiple data samples failing to satisfy one or more criteria and/or on the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing failing to satisfy one or more criteria; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements wherein the provided one or more indications are of the other determined estimated traffic condition measurements.

94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 83 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing device, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the computing device to perform the method.

87. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:

receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times;

automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time;

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements;

attempting to obtain data samples for the road that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during a second period of time, so that one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions during the second period of time on the road may be determined from those obtained data samples;

automatically determining estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the second period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior traffic conditions for the road, the automatic determining of the estimated traffic condition measurements being performed by the configured computing device and being based at least in part on the historical information after failing to obtain data samples for the road that enable determination based on those obtained data samples of estimated traffic condition measurements for the second period of time on the road that satisfy one or more criteria; and

providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the second period of time.

95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 87 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing device, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the computing device to perform the method.

90. A computing device configured to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, comprising:

one or more processors;

a first module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, and for each of multiple roads and multiple periods of time, automatically analyze multiple data samples that reflect vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time, the multiple data samples including at least one data sample based on one or more data readings generated by one or more traffic sensors associated with the road and including at least one other data sample based on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road during the period of time, and wherein the automatic analyzing of the multiple data samples for a road and a period of time includes automatically assessing the multiple data samples to identify data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, and includes determining the one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time based on a group of the multiple data samples that excludes the identified data samples; and

a second module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, provide one or more indications of at least some of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements.

91. The computing device of claim 90 wherein at least one of the multiple periods of time is a future period of time, and wherein the determining of the estimated traffic conditions measurements for the roads during each of the at least one future periods of time includes predicting future traffic conditions on the roads for the future period of time based in part on current traffic conditions on the roads.

92. The computing device of claim 90 wherein the first and second modules each include software instructions for execution by the one or more processors.