Sydney and Brisbane motorists can avoid wasting time in traffic following the expansion of Australia’s first real-time traffic information service.
SUNA, developed by Intelematics Australia, launched its Sydney and Brisbane services today, providing detailed information on traffic congestion and other road conditions to GPS navigation devices.
Armed with the new service, motorists can be redirected around accidents, traffic jams and other hazards or anticipate delays on major roads. This is the first service in Australia to deliver real-time information to the dashboard so that drivers can arrive at their destination without unnecessary frustration.
Adam Game, Chief Executive Officer, Intelematics Australia said the integration of real-time traffic information and navigation helped motorists to make better judgments and avoid unnecessary delays.
“Whilst there is no magic solution to everyday congestion, SUNA can help motorists identify when delays are unusual or severe and on these occasions an alternate route can be considered,” Game said.
“In Sydney alone there are typically more than 200 traffic warnings about congestion and incidents every peak hour period. SUNA could help motorists avoid spending many unnecessary hours in their car.”
Through SUNA’s sophisticated traffic models and with cooperation by Australia’s various State road authorities, this world-first approach has enabled the service to drill down to an extraordinary level of real-time detail.
The service provides comprehensive geographical coverage of the two new metropolitan areas. In Sydney, coverage includes the major arterial road network and key motorways across the Sydney Basin, in greater Brisbane; most state controlled roads are covered, with the service to be progressively rolled out to local arterials and the Gold Coast.
SUNA was initially launched in Melbourne last year and the service is now available to customers in Sydney and Brisbane, providing real-time traffic coverage across more than 75 per cent of Australia’s urban population.
Unique to SUNA is its ability to identify traffic congestion levels using data derived from traffic light control systems. SUNA is the first Traffic Message Channel service in the world to apply technology which takes advantage of the data collected by tens of thousands of vehicle sensors driving modern traffic light control systems.
SUNA will supplement the sensor-based data with information from probe vehicles deployed in known congested areas as well as live observation of road conditions by trained experts. The combined information is then broadcast in an encoded digital format via the FM frequency directly to compatible navigation devices.
