iCarTel2

iCartel is a free application that will help you reduce the time you spend stuck in traffic. iCartel, based on the MIT CarTel ("Car Telecommunications") research project, builds on a community approach to delivering reliable traffic information and helping users plan around it.

iCartel goes far beyond simply displaying red, yellow and green on a street map. Through a combination of current and historic traffic analysis iCartel is able to forecast conditions and suggest routes that keep you out of traffic and get you to your destination on time.

*Traffic-aware driving directions that auto-advance as you drive (use the lock button in the lower left to enabled auto-advance)
*Accurately predict travel time
*Suggests ideal commute time and route to avoid congestion
*Collect, log and analyze your trips
*Provides the ability to receive background notifications about your favorite routes
*Provides support for background logging of position, with intelligent power management (disabled by default)
*Built in music player
*Routing is enabled for the entire US

As you use the application, the traffic you experience is combined with information from other drivers – resulting in traffic information for the roads most important to you, not just the major highways. You also gets an account on icartel.net, a personal commute web portal that shows your recent trips and provides analyses of your drives. Your location information is always held private and never revealed to others.

iCartel currently has a user base in Boston that provides a reliable traffic experience. As users in other cities run iCartel, the coverage will drastically increase. Run iCartel, have your co-workers use it and in no time, you will have built a reliable traffic map for your area for all to use!


This is a revised version of an application of the same name that was previously available on the app store. It has been released as a new application to support push notifications.

Note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.