Many schools are starting their Autumn term during the first week in September so many people will probably see this as a last chance to get a holiday in for all the family, especially if the weather is good. There are several festivals on over the weekend, for example the V-Festivals in Shropshire, the Notting Hill Carnival, Blackpool illuminations switch-on, air festivals at Bournemouth, Shoreham and Old Warden (Bedforshire) and of course the football season is well underway. 

Top hotspots predicted by Trafficmaster are as follows

The RAC Foundation in conjuction with Ipsos MORI has published the results of a survey that concluded over half of motorists would rather take the chance of getting stuck in a traffic jam rather than get on public transport. These findings are amongst a report called “The Congestion Challenge” which is a new survey on car use and congestion.

The survey found the following:

- 53% of drivers prefer being stuck in a traffic jam rather than having to use public transport.

- 77% however support increasing the number and frequency of buses to tackle traffic growth.

- 41% think congestion is a serious problem in their area however this has fallen from 63% in 1999.

- 61% think that congestion will rise over the next five years.

- 44% of drivers oppose any form of congestion charge for driving into city centres even if the money is spent on improving local transport. This has risen from 32% in 2001.

- Support for congestion charging schemes has also fallen from 54% to 41% over the same period.

Ben Marshall, who is the Research director of Ipsos MORI and a co-author of the report said “Perhaps the biggest challenge facing policy-makers and politicians is what to do next. In particular, should public opinion be followed, or led? Who should do this, and how?

Citroen C5

Citroen has upgraded the new Citroen C5 with a new colour satellite navigation system as standard in the VTR+ model. The new car range is now called VTR+ NAV and features Citroen’s fully integrated MyWay navigation system with its 7-inch colour screen.

You also get European mapping, voice guidance, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity and live traffic information from Trafficmaster PLC. MyWay also provides auxillary connectors in the glove box to allow portable media players to be plugged into the audio system.

725 L2 Crew Van

The award winning Citroen Berlingo is now available as a five seat 725 L2 Crew Van and offers a unique combination of up to 5 seats, a 716kg payload , great load length of 1,320/1,805mm and a class-leading 2.4/3.35cu.m load compartment.

One of the key features of this new Citroen Berlingo 725 L2 Crew Van, is the innovative sliding/folding rear seat and bulkhead design which offers you the optimum combination of passenger safety and load compartment volume. If you operate the van as two seater you can get the larger capacity of 3.34cu.m volume and a 1,805mm long load compartment.

Seats folded

Robert Handyside, Citroen’s Commercial Vehicle Operations Manager, comments “The new Berlingo 725 L2 Crew Van will appeal to a wide range of LCV customers. We expect strong demand from operators involved in civil engineering, construction and utilities maintenance businesses”. 

Standard equipment on the van includes unglazed twin sliding, side load doors and unglazed asymmetric side-hinged rear doors, central locking, electric front windows and head restraints, plus three point inertia rear seat belts on all five seats. You also get Trafficmaster Smartnav and Trackstar stolen vehicle tracking system as well which is unique in this sector.

Features and dimensions

Internal load length: Rear seats up: 1,320mm; folded: 1,805mm.

Load space volume: Rear seats up: 2.4cu.m; folded 3.35cu.m

Width between wheel arches: 1230mm

Interior load compartment height: 1250mm

Payload: 716kg

Load compartment features: Nearside and offside side load doors.

This new van is launched on the 1st July 2009 and other van technical data on any make and model is available now.

BMW and Trafficmaster

BMW Group UK has added a new Trackstar On-Demand Mileage Reporting System from Trafficmaster to the Trackstar stolen vehicle tracking system, already available as an accessory option on all BMW and Mini models. The system gives you complete accountability of knowing exactly where your vehicle is (or was) at any given time.

You can run reports of business or private mileage, check your vehicle location or look at historical journeys thereby giving you a wealth of data. The Private and Business Mileage software interrogates data collated by Trafficmaster’s black box which is fitted in the vehicle. The system records all journey start and end locations, the time taken to make your journey and the exact distance travelled. All you have to do is to classify this as business or private mileage. If you have a regular pattern of business or private mileage you can even pre-categorise journeys according to the time and day.

Carl Whipp, Aftersales Marketing Manager, BMW Group UK Ltd said ” This new On-Demand Mileage reporting system is an excellent addition for BMW and Mini drivers already enjoying the benefits of the BMW Group UK approved Trackstar stolen vehicle recovery package”.

Andy Morrison, Head of Automotive Sales at Trafficmaster added “This new system makes it easy to keep totally accurate journey records- whether business or private- and gives BMW and Mini owners the extra security of knowing exactly where their vehicle has been at any given time. It further enhances the excellent stolen vehicle security package already provided by BMW/Mini Trackstar programme.

BMW and Mini Smartnav and Trackstar customers can have a 12 month subscription to the Trackstar On-Demand Mileage record system free of charge for contracts taken out from now until the 30th September.

South Tyneside Council which provides services for over 150,000 residents has just signed up with Trafficmaster, to use the latest Fleet Director fleet management solution including the Smartnav intelligent satellite navigation system. Fleet Director is being retro-fitted to 221 existing vehicles in their fleet and 124 new Citroen vans, being delivered in May, have had these features already fitted.

Fleet Director is basically an internet-based fleet management system making sure you are operating your vehicles in the most productive and cost effective way. Fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 30% and productivity by 12%, according to Fleet Director data.

Smartnav is Trafficmaster’s highly sophisticated in-vehicle satellite system enabling South Tyneside’s drivers to receive live traffic information with time-aware routing through the Smartnav Touchscreen facility.

Ray Hepburn, Fleet Manager at South Tyneside Council said ” We chose to use the Fleet Director system because it gives us the ability to see all our vehicles in real time and to ensure we manage their journeys and work schedules in the most efficient way. This will save time and reduce our fuel costs and wear and tear on the vehicles”.

Trafficmaster has been making life easier for drivers by providing the most comprehensive live traffic information service available. This has helped both car and van drivers plan the most efficient route for any journey. They have now launched a three year strategic partnership with the AA to provide them with traffic data. The information will be delivered by a new memorable number-84322-which spells out “the AA” on most mobile phones.

Tony Eales, Chief Executive of Trafficmaster, commented ” This exciting collaboration between Trafficmaster and the AA can only help motorists keep moving, reducing congestion as well as fuel costs. Trafficmaster’s unique traffic monitoring network of road-side sensors will mean that AA customers have access to the most comprehensive, live traffic information”.

Rupert Miles, CEO AA Media, said ” As the UK’s leading motoring organisation, the AA’s 15 million members rely on robust and up to date information and assistance to help plan their journeys and avoid delays en route. Our service not only includes Trafficmaster’s real-time traffic information but also enables customer’s to set up journeys where alerts can warn them about traffic problems and provides access to eye witness reports of any traffic events”.

The UK’s leader in real time traffic information, Trafficmaster, has launched a Digital Broadcast Service in partnership with Digital One. Digital One is the world’s largest digital radio network operator.

The combination of Trafficmaster’s real time traffic information which covers 95% of the UK’s motorways and trunk roads and advanced DAB tachnology, will enable their navigation devices to receive even more detailed road and traffic data.

Trafficmaster’s Digital Traffic Brodcast will compliment the existing range of channels which include: RDS,TMC & XML. Traffic data will also be used in the Trafficmaster Smartnav system.

M1 roadworks misery to end after three years

The ten miles of roadworks on the M1, which have brought congestion misery for motorists for three years, are finally coming to an end.

The M1 between the interchange with the M25 at junction 6a to junction 10 near Luton has been widened from three lanes to four in each direction. The carriageways will be opened stage by stage with the M1 fully open by Friday (December 19). The work has cost nearly £300 million; and it is estimated that 160 million journeys have been disrupted.

For those drivers in too much of a hurry, points have been added to more than 35,000 licences after having been caught by the average speed tracking cameras.

Comparecontracthire.com has tried to help drivers plan their journeys by linking up with Trafficmaster. Trafficmaster provides live UK road traffic and speed restriction information thereby helping drivers save time and reduce their carbon footprint. By planning ahead you can also reduce your stress levels by avoiding areas where you know there is a problem.

The live traffic map is located at www.comparecontracthire.com together with live contract hire quote engines comparing prices from a panel of finance companies.