Patent Document ID: 20070208496
Application ID: 11473861
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for automatically providing data samples from vehicles traveling on roads for use in assessing traffic conditions on those roads, the method comprising: for each of multiple vehicles traveling on one or more roads, providing information regarding travel of the vehicle by, for each of multiple successive periods of time of pre-determined length, acquiring multiple data samples during the period of time from a geo-location device traveling with the vehicle, each data sample being acquired at a distinct acquisition time during the period of time and including a reported geographic location and speed of the vehicle at that acquisition time; temporarily storing the multiple data samples during the period of time in a storage device; and at the end of the period of time, sending the multiple stored data samples together in a single data transmission via a wireless data transmitter to a remote traffic information system that is configured to use at least some of the data samples for facilitating travel of other vehicles on the one or more roads; and removing the multiple stored data samples from the storage device so that data samples acquired during a next period of time can be temporarily stored.