Tele Atlas Launches Most Powerful and Comprehensive Turn-By-Turn Map Database for North America
`S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands--Oct. 15, 2002--Tele Atlas N.V.--Highly Accurate Database First to Integrate Real-Time Traffic Data, Powers Next Generation Navigation/Telematics, Location-Based Services and Intelligent Transport Systems
Tele Atlas North America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tele Atlas N.V., today launched a new turn-by-turn capable map database that combines significantly improved accuracy and coverage with the only direct traffic-linked map and real-time traffic feed.
The result is the industry's most powerful North American map database for driving a range of automobile navigation and telematics applications, location-based services (LBS), and intelligent transportation systems.
"This new North American database is the product of nearly 20 years of map engineering complemented by more than 200 field data collection personnel working constantly to make our data as complete and current as possible," said George Fink, president of Tele Atlas North America, Inc. "In addition to providing our customers with an unprecedented combination of accuracy, coverage, and traffic capabilities, the worldwide automobile OEM community, automobile electronics providers, and LBS suppliers now have an additional source of supply that is already a trusted, global provider of digital map solutions."
In the initial release of the new Tele Atlas North American database, 56 percent of the U.S. population is covered in a fully attributed, turn-by-turn capable format. Tele Atlas has 100 percent street network coverage, including image-attributed road miles for 80 percent of the U.S. population, so that virtually all roads covered will have a better representation of real world geometry, connectivity, and positional accuracy. With this data, navigation/telematics and LBS developers can confidently build powerful and reliable route calculation applications. The map database also offers superior geocoding covering more than 120 million addresses with more than 45 million address ranges. This content enables highly accurate and comprehensive location of origin, destination, and points of interest addresses.
Tele Atlas' North American database offering also provides superior geometrical and positional accuracy, helping improve the performance of GPS-based applications. Tele Atlas' information exceeds the National Map Accuracy Standard of 12 meters or better for more than 80 percent of the U.S. population, with the majority of observations within 5-to-7 meter accuracy. In terms of geometrical accuracy, the database provides features that are topologically correct with proper connectivity. Careful attention is paid to make the attributes of these features (road names, road classes, turn restrictions, signposts, etc.) as correct as possible.
Tele Atlas' latest product is a true North American solution. Nearly 7.3 million miles of U.S. and Canadian (through an alliance with DMTI Spatial) roads are covered resulting in a seamless North American database with contiguous routing from door-to-door and coast-to-coast, within the U.S., and between the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, coverage areas can be customized for particular customer products.
Real-time Traffic Data
With the release of the Tele Atlas database, the navigation/telematics market now has access to an industry first: the only direct traffic-linked map as well as a real-time traffic feed provided through the company's strategic alliance with Westwood One, the single largest traffic gathering and reporting operation in the world. Tele Atlas and Westwood One deliver real-time traffic information in the U.S. for 92 markets and 98 percent of the population in the most congested metro areas. This database release represents the world's most comprehensive traffic delivery solution for the U.S., containing nearly 350,000 traffic reporting locations linked directly to the Tele Atlas map database to enable real-time traffic or other content delivery. Consequently, Tele Atlas makes it not only possible, but practical for navigation/telematics suppliers to build systems with dynamic re-routing capabilities that respond to traffic situations on arterial roads and freeway exit ramps as well as on freeways themselves.
"We have had extensive product development discussions with navigation platform suppliers and automobile OEMs," George Fink said. "In these discussions, there is general agreement that our real-time traffic capabilities will help fuel adoption of automobile navigation systems in the North American market by transforming them from conveniences into invaluable tools."
The Tele Atlas North American map database is presently available for evaluation with production shipments scheduled for January 2003.
Tele Atlas is the worldwide leader in the development of state-of-the-art geographic databases. It has the largest portfolio of the most highly detailed and positionally accurate digital maps of both Europe and North America, covering around 343 million inhabitants in 18 European countries and providing 100% coverage of the whole of North America. The company's digital maps offer worldwide solutions for companies in the Geo Spatial, Navigation and Location-Based Services industries. With its 1800 staff, the company is actively increasing coverage on a global scale and is continuously updating, refining and adding detail to its map databases. Since May 2000, Tele Atlas has been listed on the Neuer Markt Frankfurt, TA6.
Visit www.teleatlas.com for the latest Tele Atlas products and services.