Tele Atlas, a worldwide provider of digital map databases and real-time traffic information in the United States, announced that it is now shipping, on schedule, its comprehensive turn-by-turn map database in shapefile format. According to the company, MultiNet Shapefile Format 4.1 allows users to route customers to more destinations in North America than any other street network data provider. "Our MultiNet data in shapefile format provides a powerful and easy-to-use spatial database for our geographic information systems (GIS), location-based services (LBS) and telematics customers," said George Fink, president and chief operating officer of Tele Atlas North America, Inc. "We are committed to delivering content and products to our customers that allow them to reduce their product development time and bring innovative solutions to market more quickly." The company says that in addition to continuing to provide comprehensive coverage of the United States street network, this latest release offers turn-by-turn data for metropolitan regions covering 56 percent of the United States population. The company also claims that Tele Atlas's data is field collected and rich in attributes, which provides better representation of real-world geometry, connectivity and positional accuracy. The positional accuracy of Tele Atlas's street network is 8 meters or better root mean square (RMS) for nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population. The additional release of the comprehensive street network coverage of Canada complements the US street network, which now allows users of MultiNet Shapefile Format 4.1 to take full advantage of a seamless North American database. "ESRI has worked closely with Tele Atlas on designing products that meet the needs of ESRI users," says Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI. "This release will provide the content and quality needed to supply GIS users with enhanced geocoding tools and access to seamless North American data. ESRI users, particularly those with routing and logistics needs, will find significant benefits and productivity gains from this new data." MultiNet Shapefile Format 4.1 is available immediately by DVD or CD. About Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas is a worldwide provider of digital maps. Its North American subsidiary is based in Menlo Park, Ca. The company says it enables its customers' success through unsurpassed leadership in delivering both digital maps and real-time traffic information for business and consumer applications. Tele Atlas focuses on providing content to key market sectors including Telematics/Automotive Navigation, Location Based Services (LBS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For more information on Tele Atlas products and services, please visit www.na.teleatlas.com.