KIRKLAND, Wash. – May 20, 2008 – INRIX®, the leading provider of traffic information, today announced the availability of the world’s first ‘third generation’ routing engine. INRIX’s new routing solution goes beyond current state-of-the-market “traffic avoidance” routing algorithms to combine real-time, predictive and historical traffic information providing consumers with accurate fastest-route calculations and origin-destination recommendations. Everyone knows that traffic changes over time. But until now, traffic routing engines were unable to take this simple fact into account. By delivering the world’s first “third-generation” routing engine, INRIX offers a sophisticated time-intelligent, traffic-influenced routing solution. This solution is available as part of INRIX Connected Services, announced separately today.
As navigation devices evolve to provide ever-greater levels of customer value, INRIX is delivering the ability to provide the richest user experience for turn-by-turn routing. Leveraging the temporal nature of traffic information on all road segments along potential routes – including highways, inter-urban roads and arterials, INRIX routing algorithms can intelligently evaluate multiple routes and apply the most relevant fusion of traffic information available, in time across each segment of roadway along the entire route. For example, traveling from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe presents several complex routing options that span three to four hours of travel. With INRIX third generation routing, consumers will be routed based on time-of-day traffic conditions along the route when the consumer is anticipated to encounter it, not when the route is first initiated INRIX looks into the future to determine how traffic is expected to change along the course of travel – a true breakthrough in providing better routes and travel times to consumers.
“INRIX’s deployment of third generation routing engine technology and the company’s overall connected services strategy heighten the daily relevance of in-car navigation services,” commented Phil Magney, principal analyst, Telematics Research Group.
The first generation of routing engines on the market were limited to “traffic avoidance” based solely on incident data (i.e. reported crashes, construction, etc.). If a crash was reported, these engines could calculate an alternative route, but there was no guarantee that the new route would be any faster, and indeed, could actually be worse. Second generation solutions improved on this to take real-time traffic flow conditions on major highways into account at the time a consumer initiated travel. The problem with these solutions over the course of a 30 minute or 3 hour commute is that conditions could have changed, but the routing options would not.
With INRIX’s third generation routing engine, consumers will be able to truly make choices based on what is happening on the roads when they’ll actually be driving on them, enabling the consumer to always have an accurate estimate of travel time and the fastest, most direct route possible. The concept of true traffic and time influenced routing has never been achieved before now. Furthermore, INRIX leverages the new INRIX Total Fusion traffic data separately announced today to provide accurate real-time and predictive traffic information on more than 800,000 miles of road, which includes almost every major road in the United States, making this breakthrough service available to consumers across the nation.
Navigation and auto OEMs have been eagerly waiting for such a technological breakthrough. As prices for navigation devices come down, demand for relevant, useful features such as true traffic-influenced routing, will only stand to boost popularity and sales across all channels.
About INRIX Connected Services
INRIX Connected Services platform offers an unparalleled suite of content services providing navigation OEMs and location-based service application developers with private label, go-to-market solutions for in-vehicle, personal navigation device (PND), wireless phone and other connected devices. The INRIX Connected Services platform encompasses the world’s first ‘third generation’ routing engine, dynamic traffic data covering 800,000 miles of roadways, additional location-relevant content, and a developer zone designed to greatly simplify creation of location-based service applications.
