Highways Agency to feed data to TomTom

The Highways Agency has reached an agreement with TomTom to feed real time traffic information on England's motorways and major A roads into the company's satnav services for road users. It already provides the information to drivers through its own channels, but will now add a feed to TomTom's High Definition Traffic Services, which allows users to check for delays in their area before they set off on a journey. The agency will provide the information in a Datex II format, which it helped develop as a European standard for the exchange of road data information. It said the new arrangement will be particularly beneficial to families going on holiday over the next few months. Roads minister Mike Penning, said: "Through our national traffic control centre, we source up to the minute traffic data from the motorways and other major roads we manage, and we want to get that information out to road users where and when they need it most. "This agreement between the Highways Agency and TomTom is a good example of public and private sectors working together to assist road users and exploit today's technology." He said the agency works with a number of third party organisations to get its information to as wide an audience as possible. "We have also shared our information with GoogleMaps and the BBC who provide our traffic camera images so road users can check on the internet before they leave," he said. "We look forward to working with other partners in the future." The agency currently manages the 4,300-mile strategic road network and collects data on traffic flows from monitoring equipment built into the road surface, backed up by CCTV and other sources. This information is fed through platforms such as its own and third party websites, mobile phones, digital information screens and Twitter. This article is published by Guardian Professional. For weekly updates of news, debate and best practice on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.