TeleNav Press Release
BackTraffic-induced Highway Hypnosis Stalls Unprepared Drivers
May 15, 2007
GPS-enabled rerouting technology on mobile phones
could reduce drive times and eliminate frustration this Memorial Day holiday
Sunnyvale, CA – May 14, 2007 – As the U.S. population continues to grow, increased road congestion is a major problem that commuters and vacationers encounter. A recent survey sponsored by TeleNav found that 72 percent of drivers do not check online for traffic updates prior to hitting the road, leaving themselves potentially unprepared for long commutes and dependent upon intermittent radio station updates.
Road congestion is a serious problem that isn’t going away and often gets worse around holiday travel seasons like the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. In 2003, Americans spent 3.7 billion hours in traffic, and the average commuter now loses 47 hours to gridlock every year. Additionally, according to some estimates, driving in Atlanta, Minneapolis and nine other urban areas will be worse than present-day Los Angeles by 2030. Seventy percent of the 490 poll respondents in TeleNav’s survey said they have been stuck in traffic and wished there were some way to quickly find a faster, alternate route instead of relying on radio station updates.
Currently, several technologies monitor traffic flow, but there are limited avenues to make this information available to drivers, especially when already in transit. Having a device on-hand that provides real-time and proactive rerouting could potentially reduce road rage and travel-related stress. One scientist found that the tension commuters experience when stuck in traffic is comparable to first-time parachutists.
“The benefits of providing a service to drivers that allows them to avoid travel congestion are immeasurable,” said HP Jin, TeleNav president, CEO and co-founder. “With such a solution, not only can road warriors spend less time on the road, but their lifestyles could also potentially be improved, both physically and mentally.”
Now GPS-enabled mobile phones are bringing customers real-time solutions for their traffic headaches. TeleNav launched TeleNav Traffic™ in January of 2007, as part of its TeleNav GPS Navigator™ service, and announced a six-month free promotion of the service for TeleNav GPS Navigator users. Due to the popularity of TeleNav Traffic and the benefits provided to drivers across the country, TeleNav has decided to continue to offer TeleNav Traffic at no additional charge to users with compatible phones.
Integrated with the award-winning mobile GPS navigation service, TeleNav Traffic proactively monitors traffic along a driver’s specific route and will provide ongoing, real-time alerts of upcoming congestion and incidents. If drivers would like to choose faster, alternate routes, they can do so simply by pressing a single button on their mobile device.
To learn more about TeleNav GPS Navigator and TeleNav Traffic, please visit www.telenav.com.
Media Contacts
Mary Beth LowellCommunications Manager
425-531-0122 phone
media@telenav.com
About TeleNav Inc.
TeleNav, Inc. is a leading provider of location based services, or LBS, including voice guided navigation, on mobile phones. TeleNav's LBS solutions provide consumers and enterprises with convenient and easy to use location specific, real time and personalized features and functions. TeleNav's flexible and proprietary LBS platform enables it to efficiently provide its LBS to millions of end users, across more than 500 types of mobile phones, all major mobile phone operating systems and a broad range of wireless network protocols. TeleNav's wireless carrier partners include Alltel, AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, Cincinnati Bell, NII Holdings, Rogers, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, Telcel, Telecom Italia Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Vivo Brazil. TeleNav's other partners include Ford Motor Company, Hewlett-Packard, HTC, INRIX, LG, Motorola, NAVTEQ, Nokia, Palm, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Samsung, Sanyo and Tele Atlas. TeleNav is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
For more information on TeleNav, please visit www.telenav.com.
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