Photo: TomTom
Navigation apps are no longer just a piece of software supposed to help drivers go from where they are to where they want to be, as they have evolved to become fully-featured platforms supposed to make public roads safer.
And in many ways, increasing safety on public roads comes down to making them more predictable. And to do this, they need real-time data that is displayed to drivers when they head to a specific destination.
The likes of Google Maps and Waze, for instance, have managed to do a terrific job in this regard, but now navigation expert TomTom is pushing the whole thing to a completely new level.
More specifically, TomTom has joined forces with Dutch authorities for a partnership that provides drivers with up-to-date and real-time information on the road ahead.
TomTom is therefore working together with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, ANWB, Be-Mobile, Inrix, Hyundai, and Kia to combine its own traffic data with information from the national road traffic database, officially known as NDW.
In other words, all users of TomTom Traffic Services will be in the know about everything related to traffic obstacles, traffic jams, road works, closures, and restrictions. And because the partnership provides TomTom with access to official sources as well, the information offered to drivers isn’t only up-to-date but also as accurate as possible.
Drivers will receive in-car alerts when they approach the location of a report, so in some ways, it’s a Waze-like implementation that relies on official sources.
At the end of the day, TomTom is indeed making the roads more predictable, though when looking at the other alternatives on the road, Google’s Waze already does pretty much the same thing using the power of community. So eventually, it’s up to users out there to decide what platform to use, no matter what car they drive.
The likes of Google Maps and Waze, for instance, have managed to do a terrific job in this regard, but now navigation expert TomTom is pushing the whole thing to a completely new level.
More specifically, TomTom has joined forces with Dutch authorities for a partnership that provides drivers with up-to-date and real-time information on the road ahead.
TomTom is therefore working together with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, ANWB, Be-Mobile, Inrix, Hyundai, and Kia to combine its own traffic data with information from the national road traffic database, officially known as NDW.
In other words, all users of TomTom Traffic Services will be in the know about everything related to traffic obstacles, traffic jams, road works, closures, and restrictions. And because the partnership provides TomTom with access to official sources as well, the information offered to drivers isn’t only up-to-date but also as accurate as possible.
Drivers will receive in-car alerts when they approach the location of a report, so in some ways, it’s a Waze-like implementation that relies on official sources.
At the end of the day, TomTom is indeed making the roads more predictable, though when looking at the other alternatives on the road, Google’s Waze already does pretty much the same thing using the power of community. So eventually, it’s up to users out there to decide what platform to use, no matter what car they drive.
Google News