Traffic and Travel Information
Traffic and travel information includes information about prevailing and current conditions and regulations concerning the transport infrastructure, points of interest, traffic, and weather. This information is usually categorised into pre-trip and on-trip information. Pre-trip information is used to plan the transport. The transport demand, i.e. the decision whether a transport is done or not, may depend on pre-trip information concerning travel distances and times, tolls, and multi-modal interchange possibilities such as roll-on/roll-off on piggy-back trains or ferries. On-trip information is used to react on the dynamism of transport related issues. Route guidance can be provided dynamically including arrival time estimations considering current traffic and weather conditions. Route guidance instructions are given by acoustic and/or visual turn-by-turn driving instructions. Location based services such as information about nearest car truck stops, gas stations, maintenance and repair facilities, etc. can be provided when the vehicle is en-route.
Traffic and travel information are often collected by the transport infrastructure provider and can be disseminated through a variety of media. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, traffic forecasts are provided in the Internet.
The Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a service using the Radio Data System (RDS) for sending traffic and travel information using conventional FM radio. Navigation systems can use this information to calculate shortest routes considering delays due to congestion. The following figure shows an example of such a navigation system:
