ADAC and Graphmasters Test Navigation Systems in City Traffic

NUNAV Navigation is faster and more fuel-efficient than Google Maps.

HANNOVER, July 11, 2022. Coming through city traffic fluidly, comfortably, quickly, and fuel-efficiently: drivers have clear demands on navigation systems. The most common free system, Google Maps, leads all users onto the currently fastest route – unlike NUNAV. The navigation system of the Hanover-based company Graphmasters works with swarm intelligence and distributes traffic on very different routes smoothly in the road network. This can sometimes mean a longer route, but still be faster. But what is actually the better solution for drivers and at the same time for the environment? Does so-called collaborative routing with artificial intelligence really lead to fewer stops and thus less fuel consumption? The ADAC Niedersachsen/Sachsen-Anhalt has made the practical test together with NUNAV. More than 60 participants set off yesterday in the evening traffic from the Südstadt in Hanover to Stöcken to the parking lot of VW Nutzfahrzeuge, half of them with Google Maps, the other half with NUNAV. The result: The NUNAV users arrived at the destination almost four minutes before the Google Maps users. This was mainly due to the lower number of stops at traffic lights and intersections. A large part of the NUNAV users arrived before the average travel time, while there were many latecomers among the Google Maps users. The Google Maps standstill time averaged 14:51 minutes per vehicle, while it averaged 11:04 minutes for NUNAV. Those who used NUNAV were therefore more fluid on the road, while the average distance was slightly longer at 11.09 kilometers than with Google Maps at 10.42 kilometers. The result was illustrated directly after the live traffic experiment using a digital map on which the routes of the participants and thus the different routing were displayed in time lapse. “From the ADAC’s point of view, the traffic experiment is a good and important opportunity to ‘experience’ in practice how modern technology can affect driving comfort and the environment,” says Christine Rettig, Deputy Managing Director of ADAC Niedersachsen/Sachsen-Anhalt. “Everything that makes mobility smarter has the potential to make traffic flow more smoothly and safely and to get the traffic turnaround on the way. Fewer stops mean less fuel consumption, fewer emissions, and more comfort for drivers who do not stand at the same traffic light as all the other traffic participants routed in the same way. Especially in view of the currently extremely high gasoline prices, the consumption data are interesting and collaborative routing can be a good alternative for drivers.” “We are pleased to be able to show with the traffic experiment that our approach to traffic control offers a real advantage,” emphasizes Matthias Pastunink, product manager at Graphmasters. “In modern traffic control, the participants must be guided individually in order to perfectly utilize the road network.” Statement by the Lower Saxony Minister of Transport Dr. Bernd Althusmann on the traffic experiment Graphmasters technology is part of the new digital traffic management of the state of Lower Saxony. In the Lower Saxony/Region Hannover traffic management center, the operators have a better overview of the traffic and can transmit traffic control strategies to the participants via NUNAV. Lower Saxony’s Minister of Transport Dr. Bernd Althusmann: “The result of the ADAC traffic experiment shows: With our digital traffic management, we are setting new standards. Traffic participants receive the fastest route individually via the NUNAV app – based on the ‘real-time traffic situation’. Traffic is distributed more intelligently and evenly, flows more smoothly and efficiently, so that traffic jams can be avoided. This means: Less stress for drivers, less greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions, and at the same time more safety on the road.”