COMPANY car drivers north of the border will reap the benefits of live traffic information, after the Scottish Executive signed a five-year contract with traffic data company ITIS Holdings to supply a comprehensive journey time planner and traffic delay information service covering Scotland's roads.

The contract is worth more than £0.5 million, and will see ITIS provide predicted travel times and 'live' delay alerts on the Trans European Road Network (TERN) in Scotland which encompasses 19 key routes covering 1,500km of roads and motorways north of Birmingham up to Thurso, and between cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Carlisle, Inverness and Dundee.

Drivers will be able to input their proposed route, including their expected date and time of travel, and the system will calculate the 'normal' journey time and the current predicted journey time that takes into account factors such as road-works and volumes of traffic and delays regularly experienced on particular days and times.

John Gooday, the Traffic Controller Scotland, said: 'This service will lead to reduced congestion through individual drivers having better information, which will allow them to make informed decisions regarding the route and time of their journey and, hopefully, encouraging some to change their mode of transport.' The service is expected to go live in January.

  • Details are available at www.nadics.org.uk.