INRIX, a leading provider of traffic information and driver services, will provide traffic intelligence to the organisers of the Tour de France’s UK stages in an effort to help minimise traffic congestion around this year’s event.
The UK will host the first three stages of this year’s Tour de France, visiting Leeds, Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge and London. The Tour de France is the world’s largest annual sporting event and huge crowds are expected to watch the race from the roadside. With so many travelling spectators and the fact that the race takes place on closed roads, managing the impact of traffic congestion and unplanned incidents as well as public transport networks is a considerable task for the organisers, TdFHUB2014.
INRIX will assist TdFHUB2014 to plan and respond to any incidents by providing INRIX radio and the INRIX traffic map. Using its state-of-the art traffic analysis techniques, INRIX radio is a localised traffic solution that accurately pinpoints traffic delays and incidents on an easy-to-use web page. INRIX traffic map displays the current traffic speeds based on a ‘traffic light’ colour coding system on a map. The system is powered by the anonymous monitoring of GPS-enabled devices to produce speeds, delays and travel times.
INRIX will also have a senior operator based within the event command and control room to facilitate accurate and speedy dissemination of traffic and travel information to its own team of reporters based at its nationwide traffic intelligence centres, along with its media clients which include the BBC and numerous national and local commercial radio stations that will be broadcasting across the three UK stage areas.
David Pearson, highways and transport director for TdFHUB2014, said:
“Staging the opening of the Tour de France is a massive logistical operation. Our primary aim is to ensure people can travel to watch the event without too many delays or disruptions, so we are working with INRIX Media to help deliver a safe and reliable travel experience for spectators to enjoy their day.”
Nick Simmons, managing director of INRIX Media, added: “There are so many considerations to take into account when staging any sporting event, but the footprint of the Tour de France makes this event totally unique from a planning perspective. INRIX Media will be providing TdFHUB2014 with near real-time incident, speed, delay and travel time data to help traffic flow smoothly throughout the three days, and ensure minimal impact from any incidents.”
