Background:

March 11, 2011. The earthquake/tsunami in Northeastern Japan led to over 20000 people dead/missing. The main roads were affected and traffic was put to a complete stop.

Honda Internavi is the world's first car navigation system that recommends routes based on real-time traffic data collected via the 3G-network from other Internavi-equipped Honda vehicles and provides the most pleasant driving experiences to drivers across Japan. Because of this complex system, it was difficult to communicate its benefit to people.

The Challenge:

During this unprecedented disaster, what could be done to enable the transportation of everything from water, food, clothes, blankets, to rescue crews, volunteers and heavy machinery to clean the debris, help people who were affected by the disaster and people who tried to help them?

The Solution:

March 12, 10:30 am. Honda's Internavi navigation system identifies the roads that remained intact based on 3G-network traffic analysis -- the first to do so, and only in 20 hours after the disaster.

Internavi closely tracked traffic conditions, and the following information was publicized in the form of an easy to understand visual map:

- Roads that had been used since the disaster

- Roads that had not been used in the last 24 hours

- Roads that had remained open continuously

The information was distributed via the internet and through Google Maps.

Honda transferred the continuously tracked information (which is usually used for analyzing traffic jams) into a real-time map which tells “which roads function” that helped people who were affected by the disaster. By visualizing the invisible system architecture in a different point of view, people could now realize the presence of Internavi.

The Result

After releasing the road data through the web on March 12, it spread wildly through numerous SNS platforms. The application of the Internavi data was stretched on March 14, 21:30, when it was adopted to Google Crisis Response page. This Internavi-fueled page became an unmatched information source for Japan in crisis. Following that, many organizations (including the Goverment of Japan Emergency Mapping Team) and individuals mashed up the data to work on disaster relief and recovery. Today, Honda’s challenge expands to providing information data for other disasters and accidents and finding solutions to minimize the effect of future disasters.

Furthermore, Internavi’s real-time data collection and distribution proved so useful to people which lead 120% Internavi membership increase, and 200％ usage jump.