Navigation and traffic information services provider TomTom has announced that its real-time and historical traffic data, speed profiles, and map elements will be integrated into rideOS’s innovative routing platform for self-driving vehicles to improve predictive analytics.
California-based rideOS designs and builds next-generation marketplace and mapping services that can be used by ride-hailing companies, OEMs, logistics providers and governments, to operate mobility on-demand (MOD) transportation services for both self-driving and human-operated fleets. The company has developed a platform that synthesizes, manages and distributes critical safety data and routes for any and every type of transport. The operating system (OS) will be a key service in the future when multiple modes of transportation, from human-operated to fully autonomous, will be sharing the roads.
Through the new agreement, the rideOS services will also become compatible with TomTom’s high-definition maps, and the two companies will explore additional opportunities together. The live and historic traffic component of rideOS’s data platform is provided by TomTom through OpenLR, an open-source project that provides royalty-free dynamic location referencing to enable reliable data exchange. TomTom sources its real-time traffic updates from 550 million data points around the world, through an anonymous and mutually beneficial process.
“The future of self-driving technology is dependent on mapping and navigation technologies,” noted Anders Truelsen, managing director of TomTom Enterprise. “High-definition maps, real-time and historical traffic data, live data from vehicle sensors, and more, must be filtered through a coordinating layer such as rideOS if we are to get past the hurdle of self-driving and human-operated vehicles driving side-by-side.”
Chris Blumenberg, CTO and co-founder of rideOS, commented, “Working with TomTom ensures that we have highly accurate data, which enables us to be the most reliable coordinating layer for self-driving vehicles. Not only are they a trusted partner that shares our vision for the future, but they have also provided us with the highest-quality real-time traffic data, which has been integral to our constraint-based routing engine.”
To help support global technology startups, TomTom has also announced that it will offer free maps and traffic tiles on its Mobile Software Developer Kit (SDK) for both Android and Apple operating systems. TomTom says that with the financial risks that come with building a company, the free offering in its Mobile SDK is a game-changer for developers looking to build the next innovative mobility app.
The free maps tiles mean that startup businesses all over the world can present a professional first impression to interested customers and investors. TomTom Maps APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) also play a key role in other new areas for entrepreneurship such as Internet of Things, where traffic data is needed to enable self-driving cars and smart city planning.
Truelsen, said, “Every day, more exciting opportunities in areas like mobility and ridesharing emerge, in which digital maps play a crucial role. Given our history in guiding people to where they need to go, it is only fitting for us to offer free Mobile Maps SDKs to help guide developers on the road to success.”
