Press release
A qualitative quantum leap for transportation models
TomTom cooperates with PTV and provides comprehensive travel data
Karlsruhe/Washington, D.C., January 25, 2011. Transportation experts expect that the cooperation between TomTom and PTV will enable a quantum leap: the German software provider PTV AG and its North-American subsidiary will be using TomTom's unique historical travel data to provide detailed travel time information for the entire road network. This means that transportation modellers can now easily access data on traffic speed and thus on traffic quality for a specific route and day using PTV software. Through the renewed relationship with TomTom, PTV is meeting the growing demand for high quality in the transportation sector. The two companies have been working together for years. Apart from TomTom’s map products PTV will now also use the new platform TrafficStats.
Transportation experts can now select all aggregations they need by using an online portal. "An interface enables our customers to directly import the requested data into our transportation planning software VISUM or our simulation software VISSIM and, on this basis, to validate and calibrate transportation models," explains Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schwerdtfeger, member of the Board of Directors of PTV AG and head of the business unit Traffic Software. TomTom's travel times therefore provide an additional data source. The advantage: the data and current information on traffic volumes can be correlated. Moreover, all data is made available in a time-saving and cost-efficient manner and can be accessed at the push of a button. Complex surveys via GPS and license plate recognition are no longer required.
Average value and reality
So far, transportation modellers have rarely had access to this type of information. "However, we believe that travel times will be included in an increasing number of transportation models, allowing experts to further improve their models," emphasises Schwerdtfeger. A model presents the average value; reality demonstrates the difference. In a perfect model the mean value corresponds to the average reality regarding different population parameters, such as travel time and traffic volumes. "Our travel time offer will be of great interest to all those who want to develop transportation models of higher quality," says Schwerdtfeger. Moreover, the academic world that wants to provide information about the accuracy of travel demand models for the benefit of standardised quality management will also profit from this new data source.
Access to highly accurate traffic information
"To achieve such high-quality travel data, hundreds of vehicles equipped with GPS devices would have to travel within the test area every day," said Maarten van Gool, Managing Director at TomTom, at the Transport Research Board (TRB) 90th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Thanks to TrafficStats, a platform launched yesterday by TomTom, these vehicles can remain parked in the garage. The leading provider of location and navigation solutions anonymises and aggregates all data collected on travel times for the entire network. PTV, the well-known supplier of traffic planning software, imports the data into its software solutions and provides its customers with prompt data access. This enables PTV customers to get access to TomTom’s highly accurate and up-to-date traffic information and it gives TomTom the possibility to get in touch with PTV's customer base around the world.
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