Google Maps and GPS navigation technology

Navigation applications like Google Maps and Waze utilize a combination of satellite data and user-generated reports to provide real-time updates on road conditions. While the Global Positioning System (GPS) provides the foundational location data via a network of 31 satellites, specific incident reports—such as police sightings, roadwork, or flooding—are primarily driven by crowdsourcing. Users report these events through the app, and subsequent drivers can confirm the validity of the report to ensure accuracy.

However, the widespread adoption of these services has introduced new challenges. As more users rely on GPS-based routing to avoid traffic, the apps can inadvertently redirect large volumes of vehicles onto quiet backstreets, causing congestion in areas not designed for high traffic. This phenomenon occurs because the algorithms often lack visibility into how many users they are sending to a specific route or where competing services are directing drivers.