DETROIT-Cue Networks, Etak Inc. and Metro Networks announced they have teamed to deliver a real-time traffic information service, initially available in 10 metropolitan areas with plans to expand to 75 by 2000.
The service combines Etak’s digital map and traveler information technology with Metro Networks’ local traffic and information reporting business. The service is delivered via Cue Networks’ radio paging network. The combined solution aims to deliver traffic updates and route guidance information to in-vehicle and handheld products, including pagers, palmtop personal computers and in-vehicle information systems.
Metro Networks gathers the traffic information from government sources, including police and traffic-management centers, as well as from its own aircraft and camera system. That information is sent to Etak Traffic Workstations, which consolidate the information and place it into a standard map format and send it over Cue’s network.
Clarion’s AutoPC platform is one of the system’s first customers. The company hopes to launch the service later this year.
Coverage now includes Seattle; San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles, Calif.; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; Denver; Detroit; Phoenix; Minneapolis/St. Paul; and Indianapolis.
