The AA announced today that AA Traffic, the first step in the development of real time traffic information in New Zealand, now includes motorway congestion and flow details for State Highways 1 and 16 in Auckland.

Four colours indentify the motorway's traffic congestion - ranging from green for free flowing traffic, through to orange for moderate, red for heavy, and black for gridlock. The congestion information is available on aamaps.co.nz and aaroadwatch.co.nz, and is updated every five minutes.

AA spokesperson Phil Allen says "the congestion and flow information is yet another great development for AA Traffic. It builds on the quality live traffic information already provided online for all main and arterial roads; in-car navigation traffic updates, email and text alerts, and airport and ferry information."

"This latest upgrade means AA Traffic is a valuable tool for Auckland drivers, to help them to better plan their journeys and improve their travel times."

"Auckland's motorway congestion is constantly changing. It challenges almost all drivers, who never know how much time it will take to reach their destination. One day a trip from Albany to the CBD might take 20 minutes, yet for no obvious reason the following day the same trip, at the same time, might take up to an hour."

Congestion and flow information will be rolled out for the remainder of the Auckland motorway network and elsewhere in New Zealand as the data becomes available.

"Everyone knows that Auckland's motorway traffic is slow during rush hour, therefore we will not send out this congestion data as part of our text alert service on weekdays between 6:00am and 9am, or between 3:30pm and 7:00pm. Of course, during these times the congestion data remains available online and we will send out alerts when there are unexpected incidents," says Mr Allen.

The AA developed AA Traffic using GeoSmart, a company owned by the AA and New Zealand's leading supplier of in-car navigation, fleet management, web mapping, route optimisation, and cartography solutions.

For more information contact

Phil Allen
General Manager - GeoSmart
New Zealand Automobile Association
M. +64 21 415 310
Email: phil.allen@geosmart.co.nz

The New Zealand Automobile Association is an incorporated society with over one million members. It represents the interests of road users who collectively pay over $2 billion in taxes each year through fuels excise, road user charges and GST.