Traffic alert app from Pennsylvania company launches in UK

Motorists using major highways in England can now access real-time, personalised traffic and roadway travel information on their smartphones by downloading a free app developed by Philadelphia-based Information Logistics. The Hands-Free Traffic Talker England (HFT England) app audibly broadcasts information about a motorist's specific travel route, freeing the user from the distractions of touching the phone, reading messages, or listening to irrelevant traffic alerts.
August 6, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Motorists using major highways in England can now access real-time, personalised traffic and roadway travel information on their smartphones by downloading a free app developed by Philadelphia-based Information Logistics. The Hands-Free Traffic Talker England (HFT England) app audibly broadcasts information about a motorist's specific travel route, freeing the user from the distractions of touching the phone, reading messages, or listening to irrelevant traffic alerts.

England's 503 Highways Agency is providing traffic information and timely advisories about all of its roadways to Information Logistics. Advisories concern lane closures, active road works, accidents, traffic congestion, and other conditions affecting travel. The Highways Agency, an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom's 1837 Department for Transport, is responsible for operating, maintaining, and improving the strategic road network of England, outside London.

"We want to allow road users to access live and targeted traffic information in a safe manner when they need it. The availability of smartphones provides a way to do just that, and the introduction of this hands-free app is really exciting, it being both iPhone and 1812 Android compatible," said Highways Agency director for traffic management Simon Sheldon-Wilson.

"Our collaboration with Information Logistics is a good example of the public and private sectors working together to provide motorists with real-time traffic news and constant updates about incidents on the network," Sheldon-Wilson added.

Information Logistics President Mary Farrell said this is the company's first overseas launch of the traffic app. "We're just very delighted that the Highways Agency saw the value that our app can deliver to motorists," Farrell said. "We like to tell people that our app moves with them, and now we can say it's moved to England. This launch represents an important breakthrough for our team here." The app is currently used in the US by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to provide location specific traffic advisories to motorists using its toll-road system.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Virtual traffic management centres, a new direction in traffic monitoring
    January 30, 2012
    David Crawford picks up a new direction trend in traffic monitoring The surprise winner in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) category of the recently-announced 2011 OSMOSE (Open Source for MObile and SustainablE city) Awards for European innovations in urban transport, is the Danish city of Aalborg - which doesn't have a TMC. Alternatively, one might consider its 'virtual' TMC as a signpost for the future in medium-sized cities.
    Read More
  • Success of London's Olympic public transport systems
    December 4, 2012
    The Olympic flame has moved on, allowing review of the relative degrees of London’s 2012 transportation success, how it was done and with what lasting effects. Jon Masters reports. This magazine’s international position provides a good vantage point for assessing impressions left by London’s 2012 Olympic Games. On the whole, it has been only praise and congratulations heard since the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in August and the Paralympics in September. The events looked great and ran smoothly
    Read More
  • New traffic service offering from Inrix
    October 28, 2013
    According to Inrix, its latest Inrix XD Traffic service covers 6.4 million kilometres of road in 37 countries and provides twice the amount of road coverage than has previously been available to automakers, transportation agencies, fleets and media worldwide. Inrix XD Traffic delivers insight into what’s happening on the road independent of the country or map provider, with features such as: detailed traffic speeds for every mile down to 250 metre increments; map independence; sophisticated analysis of
    Read More
  • Panasonic gets connected on The Ray
    June 5, 2020
    A stretch of rural Georgia highway called The Ray is a particularly useful testbed for V2X technology. Panasonic’s Chris Armstrong tells Adam Hill what’s so special about it
    Read More

Highlighted Content