Real Time Traffic: “The Big Revolution is Two-Way Traffic Data” (3 of 4)

TomTom HD Traffic

Probe Data

Turning to the European real time traffic data market, Lanctot said TomTom has in the recent past been the dominant solution with HD Traffic.

He said the great leap forward there was the use of Vodafone data: “What is interesting there is that they are saying there are getting a sufficient number of probes and are using them more than they are using the Vodafone data.

“What they have come close to but have not quite said is that they are not using Vodafone data at all.”

Lanctot said that is an indication of the enhanced accuracy of the probe data – that it’s a superior data source, which is where INRIX also benefits from its fleet relationships.

“Having probe data coming from a vehicle is always going to be superior to getting probe data from a device or cell tower signalling location data from a device.

“There’s so much more work you have to do to make sense of the other data.”

However, Lanctot said the suggestion now is that HD Traffic may no longer be the top solution. He said his understanding is that what NAVIGON is currently doing is superior to the TomTom offering.

“I can’t vouch for that but it’s what people are saying. That NAVIGON, which uses INRIX, has a competitive solution,” he said.

False Positive

His own recent experience was comparing ITIS Holdings embedded in a BMW 7 Series driving in the UK with a TomTom with HD Traffic on the dash.

“The problem with the HD Traffic – and I think in the UK they are using the Vodafone data – is that with this cell signalling you get this, for a want of a better term, false positive,” he said.

“You don’t get incident data but what you are getting is flow. And I think there are some misinterpretations of the information that are suggesting there is congestion when there isn’t.”

Lanctot said this was reflected in TomTom’s announcement in which they said they identify 200% more incidents than competing devices. He said that was great if those are real incidents.

“It’s not clear that they really are. So that was sort of an unfortunate announcement by TomTom, which otherwise has a great reputation, product and service,” he said.

“That I think was a little bit misleading and pointed to the fact that using that data you do get some false positive readings about congestion.”

As to why that is, the analyst said it might have something to do with those signals only being useful when people move between one cell and another – and the data not being valid for people that are moving around within one cell.

“ I know it’s extraordinarily complex. So I salute the fact that TomTom, and ITIS too, have been able to use that sort of data and turn it into something commercially useful because no-one in the US has been able to do that,” he said.

Continued…

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