P R E S S R E L E A S E
New York, NY – June 2, 2005 – SmartRoute Systems (SRS), a Westwood One (NYSE: WON) company, and The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), announced today that their SUNGUIDE 511 joint venture in South Florida recorded a new high, receiving its five millionth call in April 2005. The National 511 Deployment Coalition now ranks SUNGUIDE 511 South Florida second only to San Francisco’s 511 service.
Launched in July 2002, the SUNGUIDE 511 partnership has emerged as one of the nation’s premier traveler information systems. Prompted by a strong marketing campaign and increased consumer awareness, SUNGUIDE 511 has become a cornerstone of the daily commute for thousands of southeast Florida residents. The SUNGUIDE 511 traffic information system processed more than 292,000 calls in the month of March, surpassing its previous high of 244,000 set only one month earlier.
While usage numbers continue to rise, customer satisfaction remains high. According to customer surveys, the SUNGUIDE 511 system has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the country. Jesus Martinez, ITS Administrator for the Florida Department of Transportation District 6, states, “We are excited that our customers have embraced this valuable service. We look forward to rolling out enhancements later this summer.”
Together, SUNGUIDE 511 and the Smart Traveler website http://www.511southflorida.com/ provide comprehensive and timely tracking of traffic conditions in the Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe County areas. In March 2005, the Smart Traveler website received more than 395,000 hits. SUNGUIDE 511 has recorded several usage peaks in its lifespan. After replacing its original standard phone number to 511, the system experienced a 500% surge in caller volume. As consumer awareness has grown, the system has experienced a significant rise in call volume. During the 2004 hurricanes, call count and web hits also rose significantly as 511 provided valuable traffic information for those travelers evacuating the area. With the 2005 hurricane season approaching, SUNGUIDE 511 may once again play a critical role.
SmartRoute Systems provides local traffic, news, sports and weather information to wireless, Internet, in-vehicle navigation systems and voice portal customers. SRS reports include: traffic incidents, road and lane closures, construction delays, scheduled roadwork, event delays, travel times and alternate routes. SmartRoute Systems was acquired by Westwood One in November of 2000 and now has available traffic incident data from Metro Networks, in addition to news and other local content from Metro Source.
Westwood One (NYSE: WON) provides over 150 news, sports, music, talk, entertainment programs, features, live events and 24/7 Formats. Through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks/Shadow Broadcast Services, Westwood One provides local content to the radio and TV industries including news, sports, weather, traffic, video news services and other information. SmartRoute Systems manages traffic information centers for state and local departments of transportation, and markets traffic and travel content to wireless, Internet, in-vehicle navigation systems and voice portal customers. Westwood One serves more than 7,700 radio stations. Westwood One is managed by Infinity Broadcasting Corporation. For more information visit www.westwoodone.com.
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| For press information contact |
| Peter Sessa |
| Westwood One |
| 212.641.2053 |
| peter_sessa@westwoodone.com |