Traffic Wales gets upgrade

Traffic Wales gets upgrade

Welsh government relaunches its bilingual online traffic information service

The Welsh government has relaunched Traffic Wales, its online traffic management and information service, with new features aimed at helping motorists plan their journeys.

Among the new features on the revamped bilingual website are a calendar to view planned roadworks or events and a freight section aimed at road hauliers.

Microsoft Bing Maps will enable users to find locations, which will include the locations of incidents, roadworks, planned events, message signs and CCTV, the Welsh government said.

There is also a customised email or text alert service to inform subscribers the moment a major incident has happened. Alerts will include flight or train delays.

Carl Sargeant, the minister with responsibility for transport, said: "Ensuring that motorists get real time information as quickly and as easily as possible is essential so that they can plan their journeys and potentially avoid congested routes.

"The new look Traffic Wales website will provide motorists with an improved easy to use tool, along with more conventional channels such as the radio, to make informed travel decisions."

The Welsh government's usage figures show that between October 2010 and September this year the site had 763,000 hits, an average of 64,000 per month. Web traffic peaked on 17 December 2010, when the site had nearly 72,000 hits during the severe winter when many local roads were closed.