Real-Time Congestion Monitoring at CES 2025 with HERE Real-Time Traffic API, AWS Lambda and Flourish

Introduction

CES 2025 has drawn global attention once again, with thousands of attendees flocking to the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). As exciting as it is, the influx of visitors has led to one inevitable outcome: traffic congestion. To provide real-time insights into this phenomenon, HERE's Social Advocacy team built several traffic monitoring solutions: 

• A dashboard leveraging the HERE Real-Time Traffic API (v7), AWS Lambda, and Flourish's Live CSV feature. 
• A Traffic Congestion and EV charge point availability map using HERE Real-Time Traffic API (V7), HERE Geocoding and Search API (V7) and HERE EV Charge Points API (v3):

       Live traffic conditions around CES 2025

Why the HERE Real-Time Traffic API? 

HERE offers a variety of traffic-related solutions, each tailored to specific use cases. For our project, we chose the HERE Real-Time Traffic API (v7). Here is why: 

• Ease of Integration: The API's detailed documentation makes setting up different solutions straightforward. 

• Real-Time Data: Unlike historical datasets, the API delivers current traffic conditions such as speed, Jam Faction (congestion score) and other information, which is crucial for both of our use cases 

• Streamlined Querying: The API enables retrieving data by latitude/longitude pairs as a circle with radius, bounding box, or corridor, returning both road traffic data and road geometry as a JSON response 

While other HERE offerings like Traffic Analytics Speed Data and TrafficML Flow 3.3 have unique advantages, their data complexity was not suitable for our lightweight, real-time solutions. The Real-Time Traffic API provided the perfect balance of detail and simplicity for both bringing the visuals to map as well as creating dashboards. 

Building the Backend with AWS Lambda for Flourish dashboards 

To manage the historical traffic data, we have created several serverless pipelines with AWS Lambda. Here is how it works: 

1. Data Retrieval: The Lambda function makes calls to the HERE Real-Time Traffic API every 5 minutes, retrieving congestion data for a defined area around the Las Vega Convention Center (LVCC) r, and aggregates the calculated data in a Historical CSV file.
2. Historical Benchmarking: In another Lambda function, to calculate the percentage change in congestion levels., we compare current Congestion Score with the one from the Historical CSV file exactly one month ago  
3. Data Delivery: The processed data is then ingested into Flourish’s Live CSV endpoint, where it is visualized in near real-time. 

Why Lambda? Its serverless nature was perfect for our lightweight, high-frequency tasks, eliminating the need to manage infrastructure. Over several weeks, the pipeline handled thousands of requests with remarkable stability, minimal failure rates and minimal costs. Creating an entry in a CSV file every 5 minutes makes 288 lines per day. 

Timeline Visualization: Flourish's Live CSV feature: 

Flourish’s Live CSV feature serves as the front end for our congestion dashboard. By continuously feeding it updated traffic data through a publicly available CSV, we can render interactive and dynamic visualizations that refresh every 5 minutes. Key metrics included: 

• Congestion Score: A numerical representation of congestion ranging from 0 (free flow) to 10 (completely blocked). 

• Congestion Trends: Percentage change in congestion levels compared to the historical benchmark. 

The visualization allows users to zoom in on specific roadways around the LVCC, highlighting live congestion and its historical comparison. 

Combining HERE APIs for Live Map Visualization 

When it comes to understanding traffic patterns and EV charger availability in real-time, our live map visualization is an invaluable tool. While dashboards provide aggregated insights into congestion trends and historical data, our map offers a real-time, spatial snapshot of activity around the CES 2025 venue. 

This dynamic visualization delivers a point-in-time look at traffic flow and electric vehicle (EV) charging station availability, helping attendees navigate the busy event environment with ease. 

To simplify traffic insights, the roads are displayed in three intuitive colors based on live congestion data: 

• Green: "Free Traffic Flow" – for a Congestion Score below 4. 

• Yellow: "Minor Congestion" – for a Congestion Score between 4 and 6.3. 

• Red: "Heavy Traffic" – for a Congestion Score greater than 6.3. 

These visual indicators make it easy to understand the state of the roads, ensuring drivers can make informed decisions about their routes in real time. 

As an added layer of functionality, we have integrated EV charge station data into the map. Markers in green indicate available charging stations, while grey markers show those currently occupied. This provides a live, actionable view of charging options around the venue. 

For EV users, this feature is a game-changer, especially during peak periods. Pro tip: Keep an eye on charger availability around lunchtime, as stations tend to get busier during this time. 

Key Takeaways 

Our solution demonstrates the power of combining HERE’s APIs with serverless architecture and interactive visualization tools. By leveraging the HERE Real-Time Traffic API, we delivered an actionable, user-friendly dashboard that provided CES attendees and organizers with crucial insights into traffic patterns. 

Whether you are managing traffic for an event or optimizing daily commutes, this tech stack offers a scalable and efficient solution. As for us, we are already exploring how to enhance the pipeline for future use cases—integrating predictive analytics to forecast congestion trends. Stay tuned!