Dip road data to be sold to indust
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OPTIMUM route information hitherto held by the Department Transport is to be offered for sale to the transport industry.
Transport Under Secretary Lynda Chalker announced last week that the DTp has reached agreement with SIA, Systematica, and British Telecom's National Data Processing Service to sell the data to the industry.
Mrs Chalker added that the information was collected to help the DTp with its highway responsibilities, and said: "The commercial exploitation of the data has great potential and should result in considerable economies in travel.
"Its use in this way will help the Department to recover some of the development costs. It can save energy costs and give greater flexibility in road routing," she added.
The data covers English roads in the main, although there are more limited details of Scottish and Welsh roads, and includes details of lengths, widths, and average attainable speeds on sections of road.
The agents will be able to provide such services as optimum routes for journeys, analysis and planning of delivery schedules, optimum location of distribution depots, specialist maps and information sheets, and details of the location of roadside facilities.
Initially, the data will be sold on a three-year licensing arrangement, and royalties will be paid to the Treasury.