Sept/Oct 2005

Drivers using the latest satellite navigation systems from Siemens group's VDO Dayton operation are being encouraged to put Britain's two leading traffic information systems head to head.

ITIS and Trafficmaster compete to provide up-to-date information about road conditions, and some VDO satnav systems can pull data from either service on a live basis to advise drivers of potential problems and suggest alternative routes. They use the wireless TMC (Traffic Message Channel) to deliver the information.

TMC comes as part of VDO's higher-end satnav systems, including the MS 5700, MS 5600 and MS 4400, and now the company is offering users the option to chose either of the two traffic information providers when they sign up for the service.

To underline the point, new users buying before 31 December are being offered one month's free use of the data feed from both services, so that they can try each of them before deciding which they will sign up for.