Navigation systems as traffic jam avoidance support

Through the partnership with Swiss Radio, traffic announcements from Viasuisse have been broadcast using the RDS-TMC signal for years. These announcements appear on the display of the car radio. Today, navigation instruments are increasingly common in vehicles. The new generation of navigation systems has a jam warning function. Also these new systems use traffic information from Viasuisse.

Not long ago: Navigation systems simply showed the way from A to B. The GPS-based units calculate the bearings of the point of departure A and the destination B and work out the shortest route. More information was up to now not envisaged, was not technically possible. Any hindrances on the route indicated were not taken into consideration.

Information about the route and the traffic
Now different manufacturers of navigation systems (TomTom, Navigon, Garmin etc.) all offer Live Services, which also provide detailed information on traffic jams for the driver. This shows the exact arrival time and the overall delay resulting from the jam. The service also includes indications of alternative routes to avoid the traffic congestion.

The newest generation of navigation instruments with congestion warning function are so-called «Connected Devices» (or «Smart phones»). They communicate on the IP-basis using the mobile phone network. These services – whether free or charged – can be employed as an Application or Service, for example as an iApp out of the iTunes store or as a package item on the navigation instrument. Some of the newest services employ additional historical data material. They take into consideration also the normal traffic flow on an average day at a particular time over the relevant segment of the route. The device then shows possible variations in the average travel time depending on whether the route is being driven during the morning Rush-Hour or at a later time of day.

IP-based means the latest
The IP-based services have great advantages over the RDS-TMC signal. RDS-TMC is transmitted over radio frequencies. These permit only mono-directional communication and very limited amounts of data. With IP-based services information can be selected and down loaded onto the receiving device with no time loss.

Development of new services for commuters
For well-known journeys, drivers do not normally use a navigation system. Whoever travels the same route to work daily does not programme the familiar route in his navigation system before leaving. Nevertheless, information at the right time is essential in case an accident happens on the route and traffic comes to a halt. Today’s navigation devices and their applications need a route to be programmed in all cases, in order for relevant route information to be supplied.

In the future, intelligent journey information without navigation offers a real advantage. These services are updated permanently to indicate the latest status of the frequently driven route the traveller takes. Abroad, services of this kind are already on the market. Within the next twelve months the first products should become available for purchase also in Switzerland.

GPS-Data as the source of traffic information
Viasuisse employs GPS-Positioning and travel speed data to improve the quality and quantity of traffic announcements. For this, anonymous data from different vehicles is collected and analysed. This system is called FCD (Floating Car Data). Viasuisse works with telecommunication providers, who collect data from vehicles of their customers (e.g. fleet companies). In this way a type of data circulation is created: From the GPS-Data traffic flow data is generated, which then is presented again by the navigation systems so that it can be transmitted to the drivers.