Live traffic app becomes iPhone hit

03 March 2010

The Highways Agency's new live traffic update application for the iPhone has become the fourth most popular free download on the App Store.

In just over a week of its release, the software, which gives drivers live updates about traffic conditions on England's motorways and major A roads, topped the travel charts with more than 50,000 downloads.

Data for the application is supplied by the Agency's National Traffic Control Centre which gathers information through thousands of road surface sensors monitoring vehicle flow, CCTV cameras and patrol reports.

The collected data is relayed by the Agency to the media, websites, phone lines, overhead signs on motorways, and now to the new software.

IPhone users are able to see their current location, get traffic updates, information about planned roadworks and listen to the Highways Agency's digital radio station, Traffic Radio, so they can better plan their journeys and avoid congestion.

Those who do not have an iPhone can log on to the mobile website launched by the Agency two years ago.

Simon Sheldon-Wilson, the Agency's director of traffic management, said: "By making our information freely available we are making it easier for people to plan their journeys.

"A few moments checking the route ahead before people set off can help us all cut congestion, save fuel and reduce carbon emissions."

Copyright © Press Association 2010