Amsterdam, 18 September 2012 – TomTom today announces a partnership with traffic management experts DUEL to provide location and traffic information in the Lazio region of Italy. TomTom will deliver a combination of maps, and both historical and real-time traffic information to support forecasting of traffic for the area. Drivers will benefit from a more comprehensive and accurate view of what is going to happen on the road networks, enabling them to choose the best possible route to their destination.

"According to TomTom's Congestion Index *, Rome is among the most congested cities in Europe with a congestion level of 34%, meaning that on average travel times in the region are 34% longer than they would be under uncongested conditions," said Nuno Campos, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TomTom Licensing. "TomTom is excited to partner with DUEL to collaboratively develop more effective traffic management."

"TomTom's highly granular and accurate traffic information is enhancing the sources already used by Italian local authorities," said Mr. Colasanti, DUEL's CEO. "We believe that the fusion of this data with existing sources will produce significant congestion reduction through the development of a powerful traffic forecasting tool."

TomTom HD Flow delivers speed information for all roads so that traffic flow on the entire road network can be visualised and evaluated to assess true travel times for the entire network. When this real time information is combined with historical traffic data, TomTom is able to both pinpoint congestion and help identify alternative, faster routes. The traffic forecast data will be available for drivers via both a website and a mobile application managed by the ACI, the Italian Automobile Club, within the Luce Verde Regione Lazio service.  

 * The methodology used in the Congestion Index compares travel times during non-congested periods (free flow) with travel times in peak hours. The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time. The Index takes into account local roads, arterials, as well as highways. All data is based on actual GPS based measurements.