Live traffic map - Google

Hi,

While using Actiontools I tried to setup a live traffic map using Google, but could never quite figure it out. I came across a guy who was able to get a live gif image of Google maps to work. I asked him how he got it and all he would say was I would have to find it for my area. I searched high and low and could never figure it out. I read the post where you can use Bing traffic map and I will if need be, but is there a way to get Google to work with sharptools via the gif?

Here is the link he sent me for his area. I am in the St. Louis area, and whole knowing the traffic status in Houston might be a nice bit of morning trivia, ni would prefer my local area! Thanks!

https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data=UzxGCdO4gu49XAx4huTlcSrfpvAoJtiMRUmRjV7huWtIvu0vM7w-qqVwa-c-KDVPK7h-4hLLNAVZnQqE80xrzjqFe45sGHRCc9BJquFu1tAUGFSUm9w1Nk-qBzfFoQ4f8WF9OkHNiJZE5LqHcYw1Uk7jm4Eq5TGJw6JPOROIJO0koVKTY_GXoMu5gO5XW9CwkU5WNzfVVEDsNIoi_AcdcTmubH1zojTMO-pxzf26D0BIFge3SDVUH90y58cE5k4GkXI

As you mentioned, @james put together a great post on how to generate a traffic map using Bing. But as James noted in the How To, Google doesnā€™t officially provide an option for overlaying traffic.

If I understand correctly, he may have just meant to literally search for ā€œSt Louis Trafficā€ on Google as one of the first things they display is an image snapshot of traffic in the area.

https://imgur.com/3tZwpD4

Which results in something like:

https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data=Cycy18z-lUgh-1BuD9iI-Wqmp6219wePy8Z_aMmLGyi21fYrZLafuV4_UuyWpI1TKXr0kkVwcFU1yqM7sG_wX1sdACY_pTWtVIorERuxsOGhrRrwOG-KNghYrRR3WD30NOhACFPDyklbuJJCS2FrcUPx2eR9mCb5ZdJHa4tAy95gsSCt1O00pumGkH_h0Hm3FLoFKxjT7ivAP_XpakBTLFhLMgm1KaSbEhhowBru2czzLhm8FMTH3mmSmThpxLEUt7PpXRYDS9RnWcj5Wxg

Iā€™m not sure how long these URLs last, if theyā€™re actually ā€˜liveā€™, their usage rights or anything thoughā€¦ but thatā€™s how I interpreted the other personā€™s suggestion.

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wonderful idea !! But how to control the zoom ? It looks like you canā€™t ā€¦
Correct me if Iā€™m wrong ā€¦

I donā€™t think you can control the zoom or anything other than changing what you search for. For example, if I search for the major city nearby, the map is zoomed out. If I search for a smaller suburb, itā€™s zoomed in. And if I search for a specific intersection, it zooms in even closer.

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