Highways Agency: Official traffic news is top of the downloads

A mobile phone application released by the Highways Agency has shot to the top of the iPhone charts in just over a week.

The free download takes data from the Agency’s National Traffic Control Centre to provide live updates of traffic flow on England’s motorways and major A roads - helping road users plan their journeys and avoid congestion hotspots.

In the first few days since its launch more than 50,000 people installed the application to their phone – taking it to top of the travel charts and making it the fourth most popular free download overall.

The new iPhone app identifies the user's current location, gives a breakdown of any planned roadworks, displays live traffic updates and tunes in to the Highways Agency's own digital radio station Traffic Radio.

“By making our information freely available we are making it easier for people to plan their journeys,” says Highways Agency director of traffic management Simon Sheldon-Wilson.  “A few moments checking the route ahead before people set off can help us all cut congestion, save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.”

The Highways Agency manages its network using data from thousands of vehicle sensors buried in the road surface, CCTV cameras and reports from its own patrols.  This information is then fed to websites, phone lines, the media and overhead signs on the motorways themselves.

People who do not have an iPhone can also get the latest updates using the Highways Agency’s mobile website which was launched last year.

"The mobile version of the Agency website is proving to be one of the most popular ways of accessing our live traffic data,” adds Simon Sheldon-Wilson. “We are clear you should never use a mobile phone while driving, but we also encourage drivers to take frequent breaks and that is an ideal time to check the road ahead."

Other services fed by the live data from the National Traffic Control Centre include
* overhead variable message signs on motorways;
* telephone information services;
* Traffic Radio on DAB digital radio and the internet;
* travel bulletins on nearly all local and national radio stations;
* Google maps; and
* more than 300 different websites run by various media organisations.

The Highways Agency website itself shows where England's motorways and major A roads are flowing freely, including incident reports, traffic speeds and the view from CCTV cameras. There are also options for people to download widgets, a desktop ticker and RSS feeds.

Notes to editors

1. The Highways Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. We manage, maintain and improve England's motorways and trunk roads on behalf of the Secretary of State.

2. Users can download the free Highways Agency app direct from the iTunes store by searching Highways Agency or by clicking the following link:
itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/live-traffic-info/id354106594?mt=8
The app was top of the list of free downloads in the ‘travel’ category in the ITunes store on 22 February (ten days after launch) ahead of Google Earth, the London Tube Map, BA flights and the Train Line.  In the general list, the Highways Agency was the fourth most popular free download  behind “Angry Birds”, ski jump and the Next catalogue.

3. The Highways Agency collects live traffic data from technology built into its network such as CCTV and vehicle detection loops buried in the road surface, along with reports from Traffic Officer patrols, contractors and police at the scene of incidents. The Agency does not currently use mobile phone location data to monitor traffic flow and has stated it would only do so after full consideration of any concerns about privacy and the effectiveness of the technology.

4. Real-time traffic information for England's motorways and major A roads is available:
- From our Traffic Radio service, available on DAB digital radio and the internet at www.trafficradio.org.uk To tune into the DAB service, simply press the "scan" button on your radio. The radio will tune into all available channels and you can select the new service by scrolling through the channels until you reach "Traffic Radio".
- From the web at www.highways.gov.uk/traffic or www.highways.gov.uk/mobile if using a phone or mobile device.
Before using any mobile, find a safe place to park. Never stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway except in an emergency. Make sure it's safe and legal before you call.
- By phone from the Highways Agency 24-hour voice activated phone service on 08700 660 115. (Calls from BT residential landlines to 0870 numbers will cost no more than 8p per minute; call charges from other landlines and mobile networks may vary).

5. For more general information about the Highways Agency and its work, visit the Highways Agency website www.highways.gov.uk, or telephone the Highways Agency Information Line on 08457 50 40 30 at any time (Calls to 0845 numbers will cost no more than 4p per minute from BT residential landlines. Call charges from other landlines and mobile networks may vary).

Receive our national and regional press releases by RSS and get the latest headlines straight to your desktop the moment we publish them to our website. Choose to receive a national press feed or one of our regionalised feeds - go to www.highways.gov.uk/rssnews for more information.

Issued by the Highways Agency.

Contacts

NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the above department
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk