Compass IoT, a leading aggregator of connected vehicle data, has partnered with Purdue University to develop speed heatmaps that enhance the understanding of traffic flow, congestion, and corridor management. This collaboration brings together Compass’ connected vehicle data aggregation and the expertise of Professor Darcy Bullock, a world-renowned researcher in connected vehicle data applications for traffic management.
The project leverages passively collected vehicle trajectory data to analyse and visualize travel speeds across key UK corridors, including the M4 and M5 for December 2024. The data visualised two noteworthy insights:
- A crash on the M4 resulted in closures of the motorway on December 12th from 4:30am to 8pm. The maximum queue length shown on the heatmap was approximately 5-6km long.
- Overnight closures in the Northbound direction of the M5, 9pm-6am from Monday through Thursday can be seen by white gaps in the heatmaps. The closures were part of the National Highways’ resurfacing scheme. The white gaps indicate no vehicles travelled through that section of road for that period.
The heatmaps enable transport agencies, local councils, and national highway authorities to better understand speed variations, congestion patterns, and traffic bottlenecks, supporting data-driven decision-making for network performance improvements. They also provide insights into when and where closures occur by visually identifying data gaps.
“Applying connected vehicle data to UK motorways allows us to analyse congestion and speed fluctuations with a level of detail that traditional methods simply can’t provide,” said Marinos Tsiplakis, General Manager. “Partnering with universities like Purdue enables us to combine real-world vehicle movement data with globally recognized research expertise to help authorities optimize their road networks.”
Professor Bullock highlighted the collaboration in a recent LinkedIn post, where he shared early insights from the data. His research has been instrumental in leveraging vehicle probe data to improve motorway performance, enhance incident response, and reduce congestion.
Compass also hosted Professor Bullock on its Byte Size Podcast to discuss how connected vehicle data is shaping the future of transport in the UK and beyond, from real-time congestion analysis to long-term corridor planning strategies.
Image – Compass IoT – Purdue Speed Heatmap using Compass Connected Vehicle data visualising overnight M5 closures