Motorists must have a new service app the federally owned highway company gets more and better information about the traffic situation. Users should be able to download the app from Tuesday and the company will introduce it in Cologne. The new app is not intended to compete with Google Maps & Co., but rather a plugin.
Autobahn GmbH promises numerous added values, they speak of “exclusive data”. For the first time, information on traffic and infrastructure, as well as other data related to highways, would be bundled together in a single application. Users should be able to use hundreds of webcams along motorways to get an idea of the traffic situation.
Drivers also need to be better informed about detours and when construction sites or accidents will be closed again. The highway company will be the first to obtain the relevant information and provide it through the Autobahn app Also, before Google Maps, for example, said chief strategy officer Albrecht Klein. In a planned and more developed version, drivers should also be able to find out where construction sites are on a given route and when they are planned weeks before a trip.
The Autobahn app is not a navigation app
Independent route guidance should not be possible, as stated in a document by Autobahn GmbH: “The Autobahn application is not a navigation application and therefore does not compete with established navigation providers.” The route, that is, from the beginning to the end, is transferred to the navigation application used by the users; In the initial release, these are Apple Maps and Google Maps.
As with other apps, Autobahn GmbH shows traffic jams along the route. It should also show where and what kind of charging stations are for electric cars and where there are parking and rest areas. Truck drivers should see parking details, as well as locations and information on whether there is a shower, shop, or WiFi.
According to the document, user-related location information should only be collected if a user wants to be actively located during route verification for the map view. The application is free and ad-free and represents the systems ios Y Android available. It is a further development of the “Meine Autobahn” information application; According to Autobahn GmbH, the basis was the functionality of the “Verkehr.NRW” app.
Federal government responsible for highways since 2021
The federal states were responsible for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the highways until the end of 2020; the federal government has been responsible since early 2021. The goal of the big reform: build faster and fewer traffic jams. Because there is still a lot to do on federal highways and roads and bridges need to be renovated.
With realignment, construction companies must have the same contact person, bids and rules must be standardized, projects must be planned from a single source. It is a 13,000 kilometer motorway network.
The new motorway company had been repeatedly criticized, for example, because costs had increased or there were delays in computer systems. And indeed, the German Unit Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau GmbH was supposed to be integrated into Autobahn GmbH, but this was stopped due to legal problems. Now the application starts and should show what Autobahn GmbH can do.
