******************************************************************

                       NEWS RELEASE FROM THE

                   CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION

******************************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 1995
CONTACT: Claudia Chandler -- 916-654-4989


              ENERGY COMMISSION LEADS TEST OF DEVICE 
                TO HELP DRIVERS AVOID TRAFFIC JAMS


Want to check out up-to-the-minute road conditions to steer clear
of traffic jams?

Try a voice-activated navigation system right in your car.

The system gives drivers instructions, after stating their 
current location, on how to get to a destination by avoiding 
bottlenecks.  Drivers in Los Angeles will be recruited to take 
part in a road test of the device early next year. 

Among a wide range of emerging intelligent transportation 
technologies, the audio system shows promise in curbing urban 
smog in the Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Riverside metropolitan 
area, by relieving traffic congestion and reducing fuel use and 
air pollution.

The evaluation of the unit -- a small on-board computer with a 
screen and cassette/disk player actuated by the driver's voice -- 
is made possible by a $325,000 contract approved by the California
Energy Commission with the South Coast Air Quality Management 
District.

Commission funds will be matched by $100,000 from SCAQMD and 
close to $500,000 from private sources for the first of a two-part
field test on surface streets and freeways  of the South Coast air
basin.

The 12-week test beginning in January will decide how the system 
can be made interactive with real-time data and how it can update 
itself using traffic data bases. The test will also help develop 
the message medium to access current traffic information: either 
by cellular phone, FM cell (radio waves) or paging frequency.

Although it can be put aboard all types of vehicles, the audio 
navigation system is of special importance to electric vehicles 
because it provides information on the closest recharge station;
its immediate, real-time traffic data will also optimize range by 
pointing drivers to less congested routes.

"LA's smog won't fade away overnight," said Energy Commission 
Chairman Charles Imbrecht. "But this navigation system for 
commuters helps new technology in the fight against the basin's 
air pollution."

Unlike other navigation systems on the market that rely on global 
positioning satellites to pinpoint a location, the audio system 
developed by Southern California-based Amerigon uses real time 
data, such as traffic maps from Caltrans and other data banks 
showing which freeways have SigAlerts (traffic jams) and which 
freeways are free-flowing. The audio unit is considerably more 
economical than the other systems.

The SCAQMD and Amerigon in suburban Monrovia, its subcontractor 
for the test, will recruit up to 35 drivers to appraise the unit 
aboard vehicles of all types: passenger cars, light duty trucks, 
medium-duty and heavy duty vehicles. 

"The test of the system  augurs well for the campaign to make the 
state's air cleaner," said Commission Vice Chair Sally Rakow. 
"The test is doubly gratifying because the system is made by a 
California firm."


                               # # #


end of file
File Name: 95-12-14_Audio_Navigator_Testing_to_Begi