Tomtom declares war on traffic congestion

Tomtom has declared that it wants to see an end to traffic congestion.

Not content with challenging traditional paper-based maps, Harold Goddijn, the satellite-navigation company's chief executive officer, described how Tomtom wants to reduce traffic congestion by helping motorists make better use of the road network.

Unsurprisingly, Tomtom's plan involves more people using its satellite-navigation technology to plan their routes. Tomtom's HD Traffic feature allows the devices to search a built-in database of routes with details of when they are most and least congested. The device can then route the driver around potential jams.

According to Tomtom, if 10 per cent of drivers in a given area were to use the service, it would cut average journey times in the area by five per cent overall, benefiting non-users as well.

At an event in London this week, Mr Goddijn said: "You don't have to divert an awful lot of drivers to make a difference. Often congestion is the result of the last 10 per cent of drivers entering a road."

Asked whether the Tomtom system would just spread congestion around rather than reduce it Mr Goddijn replied: "When you're sitting in traffic you're not just in a traffic jam, you're creating congestion yourself. Moving drivers to other routes reduces congestion overall."

Of the 45 million European users of Tomtom navigation devices, only one million are permanently connected to the internet, allowing them to use the HD Traffic feature. Tomtom said roughly 200,000 of those devices are in the UK (according to DVLA figures there are 36 million licensed drivers in the UK).