Navteq's Traffic.com, a source of traffic solutions for consumers, is helping parents this back-to-school season with mobile traffic tools that make it easy to drop off the kids at school and get to work on time.

A visit to Traffic.com provides insights into roadway conditions that can affect the daily carpool and school bus pick-up. Traffic.com provides updates and reports ranging from the shortest routes to accident and construction locations and real-time information on delays.

"Our goal is to launch seasonal promotions of our free traffic services at times of the year when congestion and delays are of heightened concern to drivers," said Alex Wiegand, the Germany-based vice president of Navteq.

"With seasonally targeted themes, we believe we can capture consumer mindshare and obtain new users, particularly given the ever-increasing time spent commuting," he said.

Traffic.com claims to be the No. 1 traffic-only Web site for online and mobile traffic information in the United States.

"Back-to-school is a hectic time of year, and not only are parents putting in extra time and effort to get their kids to school each morning, but they also must allow for extra time for their commute to work," Mr. Wiegand said.

"Our Web site tools and personal traffic alerts, sent by phone, email or text message, give harried drivers the ability to plan ahead and on the go, so they make the best decisions about the fastest routes to take," he said.

For any on-the-go parent getting kids to school, real-time traffic and traffic alerts can become a daily must-have.

"Our back-to-school campaign targets busy parents and commuters that battle their way through school traffic-congested suburban streets to get to their primary commuting routes," Mr. Wiegand said. "Generally, we target U.S. drivers ages 18-54, professional and tech-savvy consumers."

Consumers can use Traffic.com's services to obtain the latest traffic information by calling 1-866-MY-TRAFC (1-866-698-7232), a free automated voice hotline for speed dial access to roadway updates.

Consumers can also connect to http://mobi.traffic.com, a free wireless Web site for mobile traffic hotspot reports.

Consumers can text their city keyword (NY, CHIC, PHL, LA, etc.) to short code TRAFC (87232) to get instant traffic updates for the worst city area delays.

Traffic.com city codes can be found at http://help.traffic.com/city-codes-used-for-sms.

There is also a downloadable Traffic.com2GO mobile application that brings accurate, real-time traffic reporting to consumers' mobile phones.

Many routes to consumer
All Traffic.com's services are advertising-supported and free to the consumer.

"As we are targeting traffic-congested cities across the U.S., we are using a variety of methods to spread the word, and public relations and obtaining valuable press placements is of key importance," Mr. Wiegand said. "SEM and SEO efforts play prominently in our strategy to drive new users to our site.

"Our existing MyTraffic registered user base provides an excellent audience to which we communicate via a monthly e-newsletter called FastLane that contains information on new features and viral components such as Tell-A-Friend," he said.

"To extend the reach of our free services, we maintain a network of hundreds of co-branded Web and mobile customer sites that offer the same traffic tools and alert features you also find on the Traffic.com site."

Navteq is a provider of digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, location-based services and government and business solutions.

Traffic.com's outbound alerts for pre-selected routes can be sent by phone and text.

"For example, a Traffic.com user can name and save their commute from home to work and schedule MyTraffic alerts to be sent to them by phone," Mr. Wiegand said.

"This person could indicate that they only want an alert to be sent if the Jam Factor for their route is worse than an 8.0 and it's a weekday during rush hours, which enables each driver to make an immediate decision to try another route," he said.

"Traffic conditions are unique in how frequently they change, and we offer our mobile services with this in mind, providing drivers with the ultimate in high-value, real-time information while on-the-go.

"Our mobile services for voice, mobile Web and text messaging offer users multiple ways to access their drive information anytime anywhere."