TomTom

Global supplier of location and navigation services TomTom has showcased the results of a historical traffic data study at the annual ITS World Congress in Vienna.

The study was conducted in cooperation with the National Data Warehouse for Traffic Information (NDW), a Dutch government body.

In the study, NDW and TomTom compared historical travel time data with the results showing that the data and technologies help governments to analyse important traffic trends while identifying major bottlenecks.

It also demonstrated that TomTom data can be helpful in carrying out plausibility checks of travel times and detecting failures in the roadside systems.

TomTom’s travel time data is gathered from a section of the company’s 70 million customers, with NDW monitoring the network using a number of roadside systems.

TomTom’s GPS information, known as Floating Car Data, is not limited to a fixed location or planned periods of observation, while the NDW data collection methods help in analysing a specific area of the road and detecting changes that occur at every minute.

"The study was conducted in cooperation with the National Data Warehouse for Traffic Information (NDW), a Dutch government body."

NDW director Marja van Strien said that the combination of NDW data and TomTom’s travel time information provides quality traffic information, while covering more road.

"The aim of this study was to test the quality and potential uses of the different data sources available, so we can find the best methods for traffic analysis and management," Strien added.

NDW has a database that provides information on current traffic situation on the motorways, secondary roads and urban thoroughfares of the participating authorities.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom is engaged in the supply of in-car location and navigation products and services.

Image: TomTom collects travel time data from a set of drivers out of the company’s more than 70 million customers. Photo: courtesy of TomTom International BV.