“Through our app, we had already been warning users about tailbacks and traffic stoppages for quite a while, but because the data has been improved considerably, we are doing this a lot more precisely now", explains Jorn de Vries. “That’s true for notifications about ambulances, too. These have become much more specific and relevant to the user. And that will only get better in the future.”

Quick and up-to-date
De Vries says that the biggest gains here have come about because the partners within Talking Traffic have reduced the ‘latency’ (the time necessary to process data into presentable information) to less than one second in some cases. “Users are informed much more quickly and fully about tailbacks, stopped vehicles, slippery roads and fog.

Our participation in the partnership also helped us to include navigation with the app. This increased functionality was necessary to be able to communicate with intelligent traffic lights in the future. Our users have the advantage of being able to do everything now with the Flitsmeister app. The app is getting better and better at warning them about situations and gives them directions now, too.”

More innovations
Users can look forward to even more services in the coming year. Flitsmeister is going to expand the app with a parking payment module, and the information on the matrix signs about, say, recommended speeds and rush-hour and added lanes will be shown promptly in cars. “We’d like to add real-time information about bridge openings soon as well.”

Later this year, Flitsmeister hopes to provide information about traffic lights, about when a light will turn green and at which speed you can ride a wave of green lights. “We successfully tested this on the N205 provincial road during the Intertraffic exhibition. The launch of this service, though, will depend, of course, on when we achieve a good spread of intelligent traffic control systems (‘ITCS’) with Partnership Talking Traffic and all the road administrators.”

In the meantime, Flitsmeister is looking at how it can present all this new information effectively and safely to users. “We’re constantly improving the presentation of information in the app. We’re examining how we can support this at the same time with voice recognition technology. Safety will always come first for us."