Survey Reveals That Atlanta is a City of “Courageous Commuters”
CONCORD, Mass.--Atlanta commuters spend more time in their cars going back and forth to work (64.2 percent) than any other city, according to a recent survey that revealed the city’s “driving personality.” The seven city survey was conducted by Concord-based TomTom Inc., the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps.
Home of the nation's third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies and the busiest airport in the U.S., Atlanta is known as a key transportation hub in America. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that slow/bad drivers and traffic topped Atlanta’s list of driving frustrations. Additionally, those that hail from Atlanta use their GPS devices to find alternate routes when stuck in traffic more than drivers from any other city. When cut off, Atlantans are more likely to gesture crudely (rather than just taking a deep breath, or changing lanes) than other drivers, ranking at 14.4 percent. Atlanta drivers also topped the charts as the most likely to slam on their brakes and slow down, instead of simply changing lanes upon discovering they are being tailgated, at 26.4 percent. Whether they’re racing down the I-75 to work or heading down Peachtree Road to Buckhead for some must-do shopping, Atlanta drivers have earned the title “Courageous Commuter”.
Cities surveyed fell into three different “driving personality” categories:
Diligent Driver – Extremely conscientious drivers who consistently stick to the rules of the road
Neutral Navigator – A milder breed of drivers who take a steady, “middle-of-the-road” approach to driving and typically go with the flow
Courageous Commuter – Bold drivers who do what it takes to overcome the obstacles and complexities of daily driving
Atlanta was one of seven major U.S. cities to be surveyed on a number of typical driving scenarios to determine its unique reactions and distinct driving style. Some interesting results follow.
Atlanta had solid scores when it came to courageous commuting:
| 19.9% Fill up their gas tank only when running on fumes | High Score: Los Angeles, 20.2% | ||
| 12.9% Talk or text on their cell phone when driving alone | High Score: Atlanta | ||
| 19.4% Leave for an appointment right on time and hope for no traffic | High Score: Atlanta | ||
| 66.2% Drive five to 10 miles over the speed limit | High Score: Atlanta |
“As Americans are spending more and more of their time on the road, driving personalities naturally emerge,” said Kendra Thornton, Travel Expert and Industry Publicist. “Through TomTom’s Driving Personality Survey, we are able to see how each city’s ‘driving personality’ directly relates to its unique lifestyle, landscape and culture.”
Drivers in Atlanta are among the least likely to call for roadside assistance when their cars break down. They instead are second most likely to call a family member, at 34.8 percent. One Atlantan had an embarrassing moment when she started honking loudly at the stopped car in front of her trying to get the traffic to move. To her embarrassment, she realized she was actually honking at the tail end of a funeral procession.
The seven cities surveyed include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York.
IQ Routes is of particular importance to Courageous Commuters, as they are especially concerned with saving on travel time. TomTom IQ Routes™ Technology uses historical travel time information to automatically provide users with the most reliable travel and arrival times on their navigation device. The most efficient route is calculated for the particular moment that drivers plug their destination into the device.
Readers can discover their own driving personality, by taking TomTom’s short quiz, at http://www.survey.com/tomtom.
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About TomTom
TomTom NV is the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps. TomTom NV has over 3,300 employees working in four business units – TomTom, Tele Atlas, AUTO and WORK.
TomTom's products are developed with an emphasis on innovation, quality, ease of use, safety and value. TomTom's products include all-in-one navigation devices which enable customers to navigate right out of the box; these are the award-winning TomTom GO family, the TomTom XL and TomTom ONE ranges and the TomTom RIDER. Additionally, independent research proves that TomTom products have a significant positive effect on driving and road safety.
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The AUTO business unit develops and sells navigation systems and services to car manufacturers and OEMs. WORK combines industry leading communication and smart navigation technology with leading edge tracking and tracing expertise.
TomTom NV was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has offices in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. TomTom is listed at Euronext Amsterdam in The Netherlands. For more information, go to www.tomtom.com.