21 September 2004

Multimap’s “Travel Directions” Service Lets Drivers Know When They’re in the Zone

Service enhancement shows drivers when they cross into London’s Congestion Charging zone

Multimap, Europe’s leading online mapping company, today announced that drivers can now view at a glance where their journey crosses London’s Congestion Charging Zone, when searching for directions on Multimap.com. The new enhancement to Multimap’s “Travel Directions” service, whereby Congestion Charging Zone icons appear against every relevant instruction in the step-by-step list of directions delivered, enables drivers to better plan paying their congestion charges before they set out on a journey.

When drivers search for travel directions on www.multimap.com, the leading mapping provider delivers a detailed map with numbered icons indicating users’ most direct and quickest route, plus a list of step-by-step travel directions. Each instruction that takes the driver through the Congestion Charging Zone is flagged with a congestion charging icon, so that drivers are aware when they are in the zone. Drivers are also alerted when they are leaving or entering the Congestion Charging Zone between directions. Users can click on the congestion icon to link to www.cclondon.com, and visit Transport for London’s payment finder service. This gives them access to detailed maps, also provided by Multimap, and information about their nearest place to pay the congestion charge, enabling them to find the relevant outlet easily.*

Mimi Parsons, advertising sales manager, said, "Our step-by-step travel directions are immensely popular with our 7.3 million user base, and we’re delighted to now offer drivers planning their journeys in the capital this service enhancement. It will make their lives much easier when it comes to planning and paying the congestion charge in advance of a journey. And, with TfL’s ’Where’s-my-nearest‘ service already on the cclondon.com site, drivers can also easily find out the most convenient place to pay their congestion charge.”

*Drivers using TfL’s service can find their nearest retail outlet, petrol station or self-service machine to pay the congestion charge by visiting www.cclondon.com and clicking on the “Payment finder; where is my nearest place to pay?” button. This takes them to the “Payment Finder” service, at which point they enter their street, town or postcode; indicate whether they require disabled access; and click on the “Search” tab. A map then appears with icons representing between one and ten of the nearest outlets to the address entered, depending on the precision of that address. Users can pan N,S,E,W and zoom in/out. A list of the top ten outlets appears beneath the map in order of proximity to the user’s specified search area. This list includes full address details, opening hours, level of disabled access, and a link to a close-up map for each outlet listed.

About Multimap.com

Multimap.com is Europe’s leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial (“where’s my nearest?”) searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on WAP, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public web site www.multimap.com provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; weather forecasts; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 7.3 million unique users, registers more than 140 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited web sites in the UK. Multimap recently came 27th in The Sunday Times’ Tech Track 100 league table of fastest-growing companies.