Study: GPS systems with real-time traffic can save drivers four days per year, cut emissions by 21%
In Los Angeles, the 101/405 interchange is so congested that in 2002 it was determined that 27,144 hours per year were wasted trying to get from one freeway to the other. That's over 1,100 days. Per year. Not only does that number sound wildly low, but we guarantee it's gotten worse in the last seven years. Much worse. But according to a new study, GPS-systems with real-time traffic info can save American drivers four days a year of being mired in lousy traffic.
Now, we're taking this particular study with a grain of salt because it was sponsored by nav-system data-provider NAVTEQ. Still, even if it's only half true, we'll take our two days back. Here's what they did: The study looked at three types of drivers in a metro area (in this case the German cities of Dusseldorf and Munich), drivers with no navigation, drivers with static navigation and drivers with real-time traffic enabled navigation.
Not surprisingly, the third group of drivers spend 18% less time on their trips than the other two sets. Multiply those results out over a year and you save four days. Not only that, but it would lower the average driver's CO2 output by 21%. Of course, we're not sure how this would effect time spent stuck on interchanges like the aforementioned 101/405 where there's always traffic – no matter what – and there's really no other way to go. Full press release after the jump.
[Source: NAVTEQ | Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid]
PRESS RELEASE
NAVTEQ Study Shows Traffic-Enabled Navigation Can Save Drivers 4 Days per Year
Results Build Upon Fuel and Carbon Emission Savings Previously Reported
CHICAGO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, has revealed further insights from a proprietary research study designed to assess the consumer impact of everyday use of navigation devices. These findings focus specifically on the impact that the addition of real-time traffic has on the driver experience, and point to the use of traffic information as a primary influencer in time savings for the average driver.
The results are from a three pronged study conducted in two metropolitan areas of Germany - Dusseldorf and Munich -- which evaluated drivers without a navigation system, drivers with a navigation system, and drivers with a navigation system that included real-time traffic. Previous studies in this field focused more on "getting lost" scenarios versus the benefits to drivers of navigation system use during the course of their normal driving habits.
The study revealed that the drivers using traffic enabled navigation devices experienced dramatic time savings, spending 18% less time driving on an average trip versus drivers without navigation. If applied over the course of a year, a driver who does not currently use a navigation device would save themselves 4 days of driving each year if they had a traffic-enabled navigation system. Additionally, the findings show that drivers with real-time traffic experience reductions in distance traveled as well as increase fuel efficiency which would lead to a decrease in CO2 emissions per driver of .79 metric tons, or 21% less than a driver without a navigation system.
These results not only point to the positive impact on German drivers, they can be projected to other countries as well, for example*:
-- UK drivers with traffic enabled navigation would save 2.5 days per
year and drop their CO2 emissions by 20%
-- US drivers with traffic enabled navigation would save 4 days per year
and lower their CO2 emissions by 21%
* Study results have been applied to country specific data (e.g. market size; average annual miles driven) in reporting these figures
The participants, who had not previously owned a navigation device, had their vehicles outfitted with a logging device which was used to track the route they drove and their driving speed. The study results reflect more than 2,100 individual trips, more than 20,000 kilometers and almost 500 hours on the road.
The study was conducted by NuStats, a social science research firm that over the past 25 years has established itself as a leader in population surveys and qualitative research pertaining to transportation in general, and personal mobility and transit use in particular.
"This study continues to support the positive role that navigation plays in improving the consumer driving experience," says John MacLeod, executive vice president, NAVTEQ Connected Services. "In addition, the study supports the tangible benefits of navigation on fuel savings and environmental impact."
About NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 192 offices and in 43 countries.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TonyInMI 7:34PM (8/27/2009)
Cash for GPS! A GPS on every dash!
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NudeLove93 8:20PM (8/27/2009)
Trade in your used maps and compasses, and the government will give you 150 dollars off of your new GPS!
YouFaceTheTick 1:36AM (8/28/2009)
GPS on every dash should cost a manu (with a 4-5 inch screen) less than $100 per unit. They could up-charge $300 and I think a majority of buyers would opt for it. but instead the manus try to bilk people for $2000. And few people bite.
Fernando 12:45PM (8/28/2009)
Yup, I see the gov. mandating this in the future. Zeus help us!
MM 7:35PM (8/27/2009)
I'd like to cry Bull Sh*t. I spent the last few weeks in the DC area and my GPS with Traffic Alert sent me around one traffic back up to another traffic back up. It thinks its saving me time in traffic but this system works best in areas that are not notoriously gridlock nightmares.
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MixiM 12:21PM (8/28/2009)
That's why a GPS with Real TIme traffic data would avoid directing you through crowded or jammed streets. And by that saving you time and money...
tenfifteen 7:24AM (8/28/2009)
Amen. Maybe in lightly congested areas, but in NYC, LA, SF, DC... worthless imho. My daily commute includes the DC beltway (MD side) and goes north about halfway to Baltimore. I routinely ignore the traffic unit, and we get there sooner than its ETA for the previous route; I was just telling my better half yesterday what a useless hunk of crap it is, and a waste of the $60 annual subscription to the service.
One thing it doesn't consider is HOVs, which we make frequent use of. Yesterday, traffic onto my normal (HOV) route looked miserable from the exit off the Beltway, and I decided--for the first time in a couple of months--to take the unit's "advice" and go ahead to the next route north. It had our original ETA at 5:07 using this recommended route, and after sitting in bumper to bumper for the next several miles, we got home at about 5:34.
It also likes to put you off the highway pretty regularly, and when I've ignored that advice, I've found maybe once in every 10 times there'll be a bit of stop-and-go. Only rarely has that lasted more than a half-mile or so.
Finally... the GPS itself routinely tries to put you on routes that 99.9% of people can't access (e.g., the NSA campus or the NASA Goddard center).
jim 9:08AM (8/28/2009)
If all cars were equipped with traffic GPS the savings would vanish as significant numbers of cars sought alternate routes. Plus many of those alternate routes would be through residential neighborhoods creating another set of problems.
Alex 9:35AM (8/28/2009)
GPS systems are bunch of crap unless you have absolutely no idea where you are going. They take no consideration for the size of the road or the number of traffic lights when calculating routes.
I live in Media, Pa and when giving me directions to Center City Philadelphia it suggests i take Rt 1 all the way in. That would take over an hour with all the traffic lights, and the fact that Rt 1 is one lane half the time. I-95 on the other hand will get me there in under 30 minutes.
It doesn't even matter if i select "shortest route" or "fastest route" it always gives me awful routes.
audi_arena 10:14AM (8/28/2009)
Alex, you have to admit that the Ben Franklin Boulevard is a bit of an anommally... Where else in the country do you have 5 to 6 lanes in each direction seperated by a dumb-ass median and a stoplight every quarter mile?
Ligor 12:52PM (8/28/2009)
it's just like the halogen lights, initially when only a few cars have them they work ok, but once the whole market adopts them, then everyone would just get sent to what once was flowing traffic and it would cause a jam, so i'm with you
the study is BS
Ruben D. 7:51PM (8/27/2009)
from experience being in So Cal, its worked great in San Diego, LA atleast for me not so much.
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Scott Tendering 8:22PM (8/27/2009)
My Garmin GPS is almost useless for traffic alerts. It only can route me around bad traffic if I am following the EXACT route it wants me to. And it often alerts me to traffic jams only once I'm in them.
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korg5000bc 8:29PM (8/27/2009)
How much would it save to have synchonized traffic signals?
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RITmusic2k 2:00PM (8/28/2009)
Heh, where I live, we have synchronized traffic signals all over the place. But nobody here can handle driving at the speed limit... so in essence, we don't have synchronized traffic signals.
mugatu 9:15PM (8/27/2009)
I just don't understand why anyone would pay for a built-in factory nav package when cell phones are evolving so fast everyone will have navigation on them anyway. Seems like a de-value your car option to me. I wouldn't buy a used car with a big hump of outdated screen staring at me. Not when an iPhone or Android or whatever does whatever the factory package does and then does it better every time there's a software update or new phone app available.
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mugatu 9:18PM (8/27/2009)
I'm a little off topic since this is for all nav systems, but I had to get it off my chest.
fixitfixitstop 9:51PM (8/27/2009)
off-topic or not, I agree with you....and paying $1000-2000 for it is just a ripoff.
mugatu 10:20PM (8/27/2009)
Thank you. One of my relatives bought a Toyota sedan a few years ago and passed on the navigation package that would have cost several thousand dollars. He said even the dealer told him he didn't want it. Of course that advice may have been aimed at getting stock off the lot.
InFiNiTTI 10:03PM (8/27/2009)
Ugly
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