OnStar launches traffic avoidance service in China

In a bid to help its 500,000 subscribers avoid traffic, Shanghai OnStar, the Chinese joint venture between General Motors, SAIC, and Shanghai GM, has announced the launch of a new feature. Aptly named Avoid Traffic, the service is an improvement to turn-by-turn navigation that utilises real-time traffic information to route users around traffic congestion via OnStar’s familiar turn-by-turn voice commands.
November 16, 2012 Read time: 1 min
In a bid to help its 500,000 subscribers avoid traffic, 6889 Shanghai OnStar, the Chinese joint venture between 948 General Motors, 6890 SAIC, and Shanghai 1959 GM, has announced the launch of a new feature.

Aptly named Avoid Traffic, the service is an improvement to turn-by-turn navigation that utilises real-time traffic information to route users around traffic congestion via OnStar’s familiar turn-by-turn voice commands.

Using Avoid Traffic is similar to having an on-board traffic assistant: users simply send OnStar a destination and the service determines the best route based on current traffic conditions. Users can also call in to live OnStar advisors who can optimise a route for optimal traffic conditions. Unlike other, more traditional navigation systems offered by competitors, the maps included in OnStar will be updated every three months for the most up-to-date road information.

Avoid Traffic is currently only available Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen; it will become available in other cities across China in the coming months.
Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Russia ramps-up technologies for transport communications
    March 28, 2018
    Covering an area almost as big as the US and Canada combined, Russia is planning to increase transport-related communications to improve road safety and traffic efficiency. Eugene Gerden reports. Russia’s government plans to increase road safety through the use of modern transport communication and the development of the relevant legislative base. Initially, particular attention will be on the introduction of connected cars and Vehicle to Anything (V2X) technologies. Russia has fewer than 60,000 connect
    Read More
  • Data exploits parking potential
    March 11, 2015
    David Crawford parallel parks with innovations in two continents. Surveys of US cities indicate that drivers searching for parking can account for up to 37% of all urban traffic congestion. A 2011 study by IBM of 20 cities around the world found that nearly six out of ten drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once; while motorists generally spent on average 20 minutes looking for a sought-after spot.
    Read More
  • Reducing congestion with Tomtom's historical traffic data
    December 5, 2012
    Historical traffic data provided by TomTom is being used by the local government in Spain’s Basque region to reduce road congestion at less cost. Old habits die hard. Photos from as far back as the 1930s show people counting cars by the roadside in order to provide congestion data to those running road networks. Today, such techniques are still used, albeit augmented by a range of automation technologies such as inductive loops, infra-red sensors and number plate recognition. Even with these advances, howe
    Read More
  • PTV Group boosts presence in China
    March 15, 2017
    German software provider PTV Group is expanding its international business in the transport and logistics sectors, with the appointment of a new managing director for its local branch office in Shanghai, China. With experience in all facets of transportation, Oscar Jiang Jing is charged with boosting the group's business in the Chinese market. In addition to the existing office in Shanghai, a further two regional offices will be established in Beijing and Chengdu within the next three years. The compa
    Read More

Highlighted Content