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Project Overview
VicTraffic is the new suite of mobile apps from VicRoads that help you avoid getting stuck in traffic. VicTraffic is available as a responsive website, as well as native iPhone and Android apps.
The VicTraffic project consolidated (and replaced) 5 separate applications, which previously were used to disseminate info about alerts and road closures, travel times, live traffic cameras, road works and events, and tow allocations. Accommodating such a range of data and technologies into user friendly interfaces was no mean feat!
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Julian Carroll (Project Manager)
Andrew Markham (Systems Architect)
Matt Evans (Lead Developer)
Ben Morrall (Developer)
Matthew Martin (Developer)
Project Brief
Wave Digital was tasked with developing a suite of applications so users could access accurate, real-time information about Victorian road conditions, wherever they were.
The apps had to be eminently usable, so that even those unlucky souls seeking alternative routes in situ, and under extreme conditions - like floods, fires or 40 degree days - could get the information they needed, and get going.
VicTraffic is now Victoria's official source of road closures, alerts and travel times. The Director of Road Operations for VicRoads, Dean Zabrieszach describes VicTraffic as "one of the most sophisticated in the country, offering live updates around the clock, seven days a week."
Project Need
The apps need to be able to deliver 800+ real time incidents, to Victorians in a fast, intuitive way. Wave Digital had to come up with a solution that supports large data sets, scales appropriately and is presented in the user-friendliest manner.
We designed a set of business logic to allow us to tailor the UX on mobiles in line with the devices capability, and the users expectations.
For example, a mobile device with location services prompts the user for permission to access their location. When permission is granted, we assume the device is capable of rendering maps, so we default with map view instead of list view. Furthermore, we can start the user zoomed into their current location which has the benefit of a faster launch with a smaller set of focused data.
Rather than load all incidents at once, we introduced an asynchronous grid based loading system. This allows us to fetch appropriate data based on an invisible grid associated with the user’s viewport. We also introduced point clustering to significantly improve user experience and help with load times.
No suite of apps would be complete without a scalable, redundant infrastructure backing it. It’s vitally important these applications stand up to day-to-day traffic as well as unexpected traffic spikes when incidents occur. The VicTraffic infrastructure is provisioned across two geographically separate data centers, allowing the system to recover from whole datacenter failure with minimum interruption.
User Experience
We avoided information overload and cumbersome settings panels (that we know most users don’t use) with an innovative set of logic that reveals more data as the user zooms further into a smaller area. And for those that like to tinker, we've included a settings panel that allows them to turn different data types on and off.
The primary UX is centred around a map based interface. On the native apps users can quickly locate themselves with the (location services) "Locate Me" feature, or the standard pan and zoom controls. To cater for users who don’t know where their location is on a map interface, a fast location search interface with suggestions allows user to quickly find and zoom into a town or suburb. Past searches are saved for convenience.
Project Marketing
The VicTraffic responsive web application is promoted front and center on the main VicRoads website. It can be found at http://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/ .
Certain alerts are automatically tweeted (https://twitter.com/vicroads) with a link back to the web app. Currently there are over 18,000 followers.
You can also find these apps on the Apple App Store (http://bit.ly/victraffic-ios) and Google Play (http://bit.ly/victraffic-android).
Tags
Government Services
This category recognises applications developed for all levels of government services.
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