If you're building an app that needs traffic data, you have a few options. The big names — HERE, TomTom, INRIX — dominate the market. But they all sell the same thing: traffic flow from probe data (GPS traces from phones and connected vehicles).
Road511 is different. It aggregates infrastructure data from government 511 systems that the big providers don't touch.
What Each Provider Actually Offers
| Data Type | Road511 | HERE | TomTom | INRIX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic flow (speed/congestion) | Limited (select states) | Yes (core product) | Yes (core product) | Yes (core product) |
| Traffic events/incidents | 57 jurisdictions | Yes (own sources) | Yes (own sources) | Yes |
| Live cameras (10K+) | Yes | No | No | No |
| DMS sign messages | Yes (30+ states) | No | No | No |
| Bridge clearances (621K) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Truck routes (479K STAA segments) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Weight restrictions | Yes (multi-state) | No | No | No |
| Spring load limits | Yes | No | No | No |
| Road conditions (surface state) | Yes (15+ states) | No | No | Limited |
| RWIS weather stations | Yes (20+ states) | No | No | No |
| Rest areas & truck parking | Yes (30+ states) | No | No | No |
| EV charging (100K+ stations) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Fuel prices (state-level) | Yes (EIA + StatCan) | No | No | No |
| Event lifecycle history | Yes | No | No | No |
| GeoJSON native | Yes | No | No | No |
| Webhook notifications | Yes | Via HERE Platform | No | No |
Pricing
| Provider | Entry Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Road511 | $0 (14-day trial) / $29/mo | Full API access, 50K req/day |
| HERE | ~$200/mo | Traffic flow + incidents, limited calls |
| TomTom | ~$150/mo | Traffic flow + incidents |
| INRIX | ~$50K/year | Enterprise only, negotiated |
Road511 at $29-99/mo is 10-100x cheaper than HERE/TomTom for similar request volumes, and has data categories they simply don't offer.
When to Use Which
Use HERE/TomTom if you need:
- Real-time traffic flow (speed, congestion, travel times)
- Turn-by-turn routing with live traffic
- Global coverage (Europe, Asia, etc.)
Use Road511 if you need:
- Camera feeds, DMS messages, road conditions
- Bridge clearances, truck routes, weight restrictions
- Cross-state normalized 511 data
- Event lifecycle analytics (clearance times, trends)
- EV charging station data
- Fuel prices by state
Use both if:
- You're building a fleet management platform — HERE/TomTom for routing + Road511 for truck restrictions, bridge clearances, fuel prices, and camera verification
- You're building a comprehensive navigation app — traffic flow from one, infrastructure data from the other
The Real Differentiator
HERE, TomTom, and INRIX compete with each other on the same data: traffic flow. They spend hundreds of millions on probe data collection.
Road511 provides the infrastructure data that nobody else aggregates. 10,000 cameras, 621,000 bridges, 479,000 truck route segments, real-time sign messages, road conditions — all normalized from 57 government sources into one API.
The data is complementary, not competitive.