At the end of 2009, NAVTEQ revealed 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 four 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 travelled 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. Study results have been applied to country specific data (e.g. market size: average annual kilometres driven) in reporting these figures.
The participants, who had not previously owned a navigation device, had their vehicles fitted 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 kilometres and almost 500 hours on the road.
‚This study continues to support the positive role that navigation plays in improving the consumer driving experience,‚ says Irvine Aitcheson, director sub-Saharan Africa at NAVTEQ. ‚In addition, the study supports the tangible benefits of navigation on fuel savings and environmental impact.‚