The world’s first Traffic Foundation has been launched today by TomTom in a bid to tackle congestion, a £20 billion annual cost to the UK economy1 alone.
The move, one year on from TomTom’s commitment to reduce congestion for all in its Traffic Manifesto, will bring together key stakeholders from academia, industry and policy-making.
The not-for-profit TomTom International Traffic Foundation will nurture talent in the field of traffic management, funding PhD and post-doctorate research, publishing research papers and hosting a number of traffic-related events.
“The impacts of congestion on businesses are manifold, from increasing journey times, mileage and fuel costs to reducing productivity,” said Giles Margerison, Director, UK and Ireland, TomTom Business Solutions.
“At TomTom Business Solutions we provide the tools for business to minimise the impact of traffic so that drivers spend their time effectively and productively in their vehicles. Our continued commitment to this is the TomTom International Traffic Foundation.”
In September 2010 TomTom outlined 20 actions points that would contribute to traffic congestion reduction globally. Over the last 12 months several actions have been accomplished, including:
- doubling the number of active TomTom HD Traffic users from more than half a million to close to 1.3 million, thus increasing the accuracy of the service and reducing journey times for all
- increasing the global reach of TomTom HD Traffic from 8 to 22 countries, including the US and Australia
- improving the quality and accuracy of TomTom HD Traffic with the launch of version 5.0 which now covers virtually the entire road network, ensuring drivers are always given the best route to avoid traffic congestion
- increasing the availability and accuracy of TomTom HD Traffic by bringing the service in-dash, working with automotive and in-car entertainment partners, including Renault, Fiat, Mazda
- reaching over 42 million people with TomTom HD Traffic information via radio, TV and online partnerships, enabling people to make a more informed choice about the best time to drive
- making TomTom HD Traffic more accessible by giving millions of consumers across Europe the opportunity to ‘trade-in’ any old satnav from any brand for a new TomTom LIVE device
- making TomTom HD Traffic available to everyone online with the launch of a TomTom live online traffic map to help drivers plan their journeys around the jams (www.tomtom.com/livetraffic)
TomTom International Traffic Foundation
The TomTom International Traffic Foundation will fund two PhDs and two post-Doctorate research projects annually into Traffic Management and Knowledge Technology. Successful candidates will be selected on a case-by-case basis. The research topics for 2012 will be:
- Engineering models for Traffic Management
- Vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-server communication
- Physics of transport and traffic
2012 will also see TomTom fund research into a topic that aligns with the EU policy on Transport: ‘Creating standards in the field of road transport’ at European level. This relates to the EU Directive 2010/40/EU on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport.
1Irving Yass (2010) “Delays Due to Serious Road Accidents” RAC Foundation, London.
