23 decmeber 2004: combat christmas congestion with Orange

Driving Home for Christmas Gets Easier with TrafficTV

London. 23rd December 2004 - Trafficmaster, the UK's leading satellite navigation and traffic data company, is today predicting delays of up to an hour over the festive period. Heavy congestion is expected in all major cities in the run up to Christmas, especially on Christmas Eve between 12 - 2pm.

London problem spots include the M4 corridor Westbound, junctions 18 - 21 on the M25, the M1 Northbound, the A12 and A13, the A23 Southbound towards Brighton and the A102 around the Blackwall Tunnel area.

To combat the queues Orange, the UK's most popular mobile network has come up with a new way to beat the traffic when driving home for Christmas. From selected handsets travellers can now use their mobiles to check out CCTV video images of traffic on the road ahead with Orange's new TrafficTV service and avoid the inevitable Christmas traffic queues.

""Now people can use their phones to view CCTV footage of potential traffic problems on the road ahead,"" said Max Taylor, Head of 3G Marketing at Orange. ""With millions of vehicles on the roads trying to get home on Christmas Eve and with reports of possible snow showers, traffic flows are going to be extremely congested; we hope the TrafficTV service will help to ease people's journey home to loved ones safely this Christmas.""

""With so many people returning home to be with friends and family there's likely to be over three times the volume of traffic on the roads around midday on Christmas Eve as on a regular Friday,"" said Adrian Joseph, Group Sales and Marketing Director at Trafficmaster. ""Having the ability to access traffic cameras on your phone to check how clear the road ahead is will provide users of the TrafficTV service with a real headstart in beating the jams; it's like having your own traffic jam crystal ball.""

Trafficmaster is recommending travellers take these steps to avoid driving into Christmas traffic chaos:

• If at all possible make your journey home before Christmas Eve- - Start your journey as early as possible; roads will be clearer in the morning- Get the map out and check the possible routes you can take before you leave - Check traffic reports before you start your journey and if you have the means during your journey using services like TrafficTV to avoid running into heavy traffic

TrafficTV is developed by IMTG and spans many of the UK's major cities, roads and motorways. CCTV footage is sent to Orange from key roadside traffic cameras up and down the country controlled by a number of bodies including Traffic Wales, the Scottish Executive, Reading Borough Council and Tyne Tunnels. The footage is then made available exclusively for the networks' mobile users as TrafficTV. Orange GPRS mobile users can download traffic reports, stills and video clips from TrafficTV with Orange 3G users also able to access live CCTV video footage.