TomTom has expanded its real-time traffic service to Asian countries of China, Taiwan and Singapore, to help drivers, businesses and governments better tackle the traffic congestion in the region.

TomTom Traffic offers accurate and latest traffic information for highways, major roads and secondary roads using OpenLR location referencing in 33 countries in North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The service provides congestion forecasting which indicates whether a traffic jam is growing or dispersing, and also estimates the duration of the delays.

"Traffic congestion remains a major problem in China, Singapore and Taiwan."

Congestion and gridlock are significant problems for China, Singapore and Taiwan, with China being the fastest growing automotive market worldwide, with car ownership increasing by about 15% annually.

Singapore and Taiwan are also struggling with long traffic jams due to the size and high road density.

TomTom Traffic head Ralf-Peter Schafer said: "Even though they have taken the strictest measures in the world, traffic congestion remains a major problem in China, Singapore and Taiwan.

"The traditional responses to tackling congestion, such as building new roads and widening existing ones, are no longer effective in managing congestion levels.

"Reliable and accurate real-time traffic information is proven to be a successful and cost effective solution to managing congestion."