NAVTEQ has announced yesterday an agreement with the Russian network radio station Autoradio (Prof Media Broadcasting Corporation) to distribute real-time traffic information via Radio Data System (RDS).

Autoradio will distribute NAVTEQ Traffic services via RDS to nine major Russian markets, including Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Broadcast traffic jams will debut first in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, with a phased roll-out in other cities to follow.

According to a Frost & Sullivan report (2009), 93% of Russian consumers say they want access to real-time traffic information.

Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a technology for delivering traffic and travel information to drivers. It is typically digitally coded using the FM-RDS system on conventional FM radio broadcasts.