TeleAtlas and Inrix Expand Partnership

location based services

Tele Atlas and Inrix, Inc. announced today at ITS America that the companies are significantly extending their collaboration to deliver next-generation traffic services in North America. Under the new agreement, Inrix and Tele Atlas will form joint operations to optimally collect, integrate and deliver enhanced Tele Atlas traffic solutions and related map information within wireless applications and personal and in-car navigation systems. Tele Atlas customers will immediately benefit from the expanded partnership through access to Inrix’s industry-leading real-time and predictive traffic information and the ability to develop next generation navigation solutions featuring applications such as traffic-influenced dynamic routing.
Inrix currently provides real-time traffic incident information for 138 metropolitan markets and real-time traffic speed and dynamic predictive information for more than 20 markets. Tele Atlas supplies digital map data and related content to application developers and device manufacturers across a range of markets.
“Tele Atlas and Inrix share a passion for providing customers with the highest quality navigation information available,” said Tele Atlas’ Mike Gerling, chief operating officer, Americas. “Inrix’s industry leading real-time and predictive traffic services combined with our comprehensive approach to providing the most accurate digital map information enable our customers to make drive-time easier for millions of individuals and businesses.”
“Our expanded relationship with Tele Atlas firmly establishes Inrix as the leading provider of traffic information services in North America,” said Inrix President and CEO Bryan Mistele. “Together, we’re providing our customers with navigation solutions of unparalleled quality, coverage and reliability.”
The rapid adoption of personal and in-vehicle navigation systems, the growth of Web-based routing, and a broad choice of high-bandwidth data channels -- such as cellular, satellite, FM sideband, and HD radio -- are fueling an explosion of location-enabled traffic solutions. As the market evolves, Tele Atlas and Inrix have a unique opportunity to provide navigation to application software companies and location-based services (LBS) platform providers with enhanced solutions for consumer and business applications across wireless, personal navigation, automotive, fleet management, public transportation, and other markets. The companies uniquely provide businesses with relevant, actionable information that helps their customers accurately anticipate traffic conditions minutes, hours, weeks and even months in advance.
So What?This takes traffic feeds in a whole new direction. This signals that this type of traffic prediction will be in the next generation of GPS units that are under development now. Obviously they will need real-time updating, but FM and data feeds via Bluetooth phones are becoming standard in high end models. As computing costs drop and the installed base of traffic enabled GPS units expands this type of technology becomes do-able in the mass market. Let's hope that it doesn't stop at the local radio station traffic center and keeps rolling down the line to us.
This starts to set up an interesting play here though. Garmin and Magellan are solidly in the NAVTEQ camp for the US at least, while Cobra and TomTom are in the TeleAtlas camp. Some have said that Cobra has recently moved to Teleatlas, which is not true - I reviewed the Cobra 4500 last year which was loaded with TeleAtlas data. So while they may be expanding their relationship with TeleAtlas, they have already been using their data for some time. Is this the competitive edge that TeleAtlas needs to drive adoption of their data and service? I have found their data sets to be lower quality than the NAVTEQ data for the US applications, so one has to wonder if they are urgently improving in light of their new capabilities. You can never extend a weak brand; so they can't offer cutting edge traffic feeds inferior map data. It will be interesting to see where they go with this.
In a new report titled “Real-Time Traffic Information: Services and Infrastructure for Data Collection and Delivery” ABI Research states it expects the expanded Inrix/Tele Atlas partnership will have an important impact on the North American traffic market.
“In a market laden with disappointing products, Inrix may be the first aggregator that can provide traffic data in a way that improves the quality of the information delivered with mapping data for various personal navigation solutions,” said Dan Benjamin, Principal Transportation Analyst, ABI Research.
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