Want to reduce the cost of motoring and your environmental impact? Well you don’t have to go out and buy a green car – you simply have to drive in a smarter manner.
The Highways Agency will be hosting an event in Birmingham aimed at showing the key players in the automotive sector how smarter driving can boost the industry. Journey planning in particular is crucial and by promoting this approach the industry could add value to their products.
According to Denise Plumpton, the Highways Agency Director of Information, a smarter approach to driving is vital in today’s economy.
“The information highway operates in parallel to the real highway, using real-time and historic traffic data to make journeys more reliable and so improve the efficiency of road transport. These benefits can be crucial in today’s economic climate,” she said.
“Adopting and promoting some of the free services we offer could help the car industry make their products more attractive to the consumer. It’s not a complete solution, but every little helps.
“For example, if more manufacturers were to fit a DAB digital car radio as standard it would give road users constant access to live information from the Highways Agency’s Traffic Radio service.”
It is estimated that around 6,000 vehicle detection systems now feed data into the National Traffic Control Centre and this is presented in the form of live traffic updates to provide safer roads and more reliable journeys. Avoiding the stop-start of typical congestion can help to reduce vehicle wear and tear and make vehicles more fuel efficient.
