Partner News: Navteq launches its first historic traffic product in Europe

Date: 07 March 2008

ERTICO Partner brings traffic-enhanced routing to Germany with Traffic Patterns.

ERTICO – ITS Europe Partner Navteq has announced the launch of Navteq Traffic Patterns in Germany.  This will be the first Navteq traffic product in Europe and marks the beginning of Navteq Traffic’s international expansion.

Navteq Traffic Patterns is a database with information about the average traffic flow velocity for specific sections of road geo-referenced to the Navteq map.  In the US, Navteq Traffic Patterns is well adapted and covers over 750,000 miles across the 48 contiguous United States, providing more accurate navigation calculation and arrival time estimates and avoiding typical congestion areas. Routing algorithms now have the capability to calculate the most ideal route as traffic patterns change based on the time of day and day of the week.

Over 170,000 kilometres

The German product includes over 170,000 kilometres of the most traffic-intensive road network in Germany; and also includes five daily traffic modules with updated speed values in hourly increments.

“The ability to see patterns in traffic creates opportunities for application developers to offer enhanced routing features for navigation products without adding wireless communication capabilities.  By knowing the pattern of a segment of road at a particular day and time, we can suggest alternate driving routes much more confidently,” said Howard Hayes, Vice President of Dynamic Content at Navteq.  “By matching the data to location markers on our map, Navteq Traffic Patterns stands out from the crowd.”

Navteq Traffic Patterns gives product developers and service providers a reliable, easy-to-use data set for a variety of smart routing applications. These applications will put the information drivers need to avoid typically congested areas at their fingertips.  For commuters, emergency service providers and surface vehicle fleets, Navteq Traffic Patterns will improve arrival time estimates, offer routes that avoid congestion and reduce fuel costs.

For further information, please visit the Navteq website at www.navteq.com