Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Yandex began to estimate traffic on Tashkent streets on a ten-point scale. A traffic light appeared on Yandex’s main page, in Navigator and Yandex.Maps, which shows the overall traffic situation in points. From 0 to 3 points - the roads are free, 4–6 - traffic is difficult, 7–10 - serious traffic jams. A person can look at the traffic light and decide whether it is worth driving now.

To estimate how loaded the streets are, Yandex uses information from various sources. Impersonal and generalized data comes from the users of Yandex.Maps, Yandex.Navigator and from the machines of partner companies. The data does not contain any information about the driver, and show only the location, direction and speed of the vehicle. Based on the speed of vehicles, the system understands whether the car is in a traffic jam or goes as usual.

Along the streets of the city, routes are drawn up in advance that include the main highways and avenues. For each route, there is a reference time, during which you can drive it along a free road without breaking the rules. When the system receives all data from the drivers, it estimates how much the real time differs from the reference. Based on this difference, the load in points is calculated for all routes.

By launching the traffic jams score, Yandex learned how the situation is changing on the streets of Tashkent. On weekdays, traffic jams in the city begin to grow after 7:30 and reach a peak around nine in the morning. Evening rush hour comes after 17:30. The hardest time for drivers is from 18:20 to 19:10, when traffic jams reach 7 points. On weekends there is no morning rush hour, but there are traffic jams in the evening - for example, by 7:30 pm on Saturday the roads are loaded with 6 points. In Tashkent, the rush hour on weekends lasts longer than in other cities, where traffic jams usually decline by 19:30.

Weather conditions, holidays and other factors that can change the usual course of events affect the traffic situation. So, on 19 December, traffic jams in Tashkent reached 9 points - on this day, bad weather was added to the pre-New Year rush. Now, with the help of new service, drivers in Tashkent will be able to assess the situation on the roads in advance and more accurately calculate the time on the road.