Crowdsourced GPS probe data has been gaining popularity in recent years as a source for realtime traffic information. Efforts have been made to evaluate the quality of such data from different perspectives. A quality indicator of any traffic data source is latency that describes the punctuality of data, which is critical for real-time operations, emergency response, and traveler information systems. This paper offers a methodology for measuring the probe data latency, with respect to a selected reference source. Although Bluetooth re-identification data is used as the reference source, the methodology can be applied to any other ground-truth data source of choice (i.e. Automatic License Plate Readers, Electronic Toll Tag). The core of the methodology is a maximum pattern matching algorithm that works with three different fitness objectives. To test the methodology, sample field reference data were collected on multiple freeways segments for a two-week period using portable Bluetooth sensors as ground-truth. Equivalent GPS probe data was obtained from a private vendor, and its latency was evaluated. Latency at different times of the day, the impact of road segmentation scheme on latency, and sensitivity of the latency to both speed slowdown, and recovery from slowdown episodes are also discussed.Keywords: Latency, GPS-probe data, Bluetooth
INTRODUCTIONAccurate and timely data is a vital component of any Intelligent Transportation System. In recent years, proliferation of location-aware internet connected devices has enabled private sector to use crowd sourcing technics for providing network wide real-time travel time and speed data for traffic management applications. This has resulted in traffic data services that report speed and travel time in real-time. This data in turn is used by private industry for traveler information and routing, and increasingly by public entities as a replacement for field data collection and to expand observability of roadway conditions network wide. The I-95 Corridor Coalition's Vehicle Probe Project has successfully integrated third party data of this nature, commonly referred to as probe data, for a number of public agency applications. Initial concerns about accuracy were addressed by a comprehensive validation program that compared probe industry reported speeds and travel times with those from a sensor-based reference source. Real-time applications are also sensitive to the latency, that is the time delay between actual field conditions, such as a major slowdown, and when it is reflected in the traffic data stream. Appropriate method to benchmark latency is currently lacking, and is the focus of this paper.Consumer electronics are finding an ever-increasing role in our everyday lives. A majority of these devices are also equipped with a point-to-point networking protocol commonly referred to as Bluetooth. Bluetooth enabled devices can communicate with other Bluetooth enabled devices anywhere from one meter to about 100 meters. This variability in the communications cap...