What was the inspiration behind TrafficGauge?
Seattle area traffic is amongst the worst in the country. As the growth in population has exceeded the local roads' ability to handle this massive influx, long commutes have become commonplace.

Inventor Ryan Peterson made the daily commute along one of the area's more congested routes for several years, all the time thinking that there must be a better way. During a particularly long and ugly drive, Ryan conceived the idea for what would eventually become TrafficGauge. Over the next four years and with the support of a team of 20 hardware and software engineers, the idea became a reality.

What does the TrafficGauge Mobile Traffic Map do?
TrafficGauge helps drivers outsmart freeway traffic from the driver's seat by delivering real-time traffic information to a hand-held wireless device. The TrafficGauge Mobile Traffic Map is simple by design and affordable: the device is always on and updated as often as every four minutes during peak traffic times. It features a high resolution, fixed map display which enables the user to pinpoint traffic slowdowns quickly and easily. TrafficGauge indicates three levels of traffic conditions (clear, slow, stop-and-go) and even lets you know when there's a home sports game.

People in the Seattle area who use TrafficGauge report that it helps them save, on average, 4.8 hours a month by making smarter route decisions. The device also better equips them to determine what time to leave or when they'll arrive, and provides peace of mind knowing what lies ahead.

Who can most benefit from TrafficGauge? TrafficGauge is ideal for:

• Commuters who face rush hour traffic
• Mobile professionals, who need to be on time for appointments
  (or at least call ahead if they're going to be late)
• Professional drivers who deliver people or materials around
  town and want to increase their productivity and reliability
• Other day-time drivers from mobile moms taking the kids to
  school to construction workers driving to a work site

How does TrafficGauge work?
Departments of transportation gather traffic flow data from wire loop sensors under the freeways. TrafficGauge accesses this data and sends a wireless broadcast as often as every four minutes to its mobile traffic map device. In doing so, commuters are provided with a continuously updated snapshot of ever-changing traffic conditions. With its “always on” feature, TrafficGauge shows how dramatically traffic conditions can change in just a matter of minutes and allows users, at a moment's notice, to pick a quicker route.

The Los Angeles/Orange County TrafficGauge receives official government data from Caltrans and Metro. Simple by design, the map configuration for the Los Angeles/Orange County device also was developed with input from Caltrans and Metro to make it quick and easy-to-read.

Similarly, the first TrafficGauge device, which launched in the Seattle market just over a year ago, taps into the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) traffic data.

How much does TrafficGauge cost?
The Los Angeles/Orange County TrafficGauge device can be purchased for $79.95, which includes one free month of service. Additional months of traffic service can be purchased in the following increments:

Number of Months	Price	Notes
Month-to-month	$6.99/per month	Automatic credit card payments
6-months	$36.99	$4.95 in savings (a 12% savings)
2-years	$129.99	$37.77 in savings (a 23% savings)

TrafficGauge comes with a 30-day, no-risk money back guarantee as well as a one-year warranty¹. The device works right out of the box and requires no activation and no contract. TrafficGauge is available directly through the company website at www.trafficgauge.com or by calling 1-866-872-3345. Beginning this holiday season, TrafficGauge will be available at retails locations throughout the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

Due to its size and coverage area, the Seattle TrafficGauge device retails for $49.95 and includes one free month of service. Additional months of traffic service for Seattle can be purchased for $4.99 per month, purchased in six-month increments. Other service package options are also available.

Why is there a price difference between the Seattle and Los Angeles/Orange County devices?
The Seattle TrafficGauge device, which covers 176 miles of roadway, is priced less than the Los Angeles/Orange County version because the device itself is smaller in size and is based on a much smaller map footprint. By comparison, the Los Angeles/Orange County TrafficGauge covers 850 freeway miles...nearly five times the coverage of Seattle.

Why was Seattle the first city to get TrafficGauge?
Like most major markets, traffic is a top-of-mind issue in Seattle. The city's traffic problems are consistently rated amongst the top ten cities in the country. In the greater Seattle area alone, 890,000 people commute to work, and hundreds of thousands more drive congested roads to deliver children to school, shop, or attend sporting events. In addition, large fleets of delivery vehicles, taxis, shuttle buses, and rental vehicles suffer lost productivity due to traffic, as do mobile professionals, such as sales representatives.

Since Seattle is TrafficGauge Inc.'s hometown, the company's founder thought it the most logical place for the initial launch of this product as the company would like to see its community benefit first.

How big is the traffic problem in other cities? When will TrafficGauge be available in other cities?
Traffic is a pervasive issue across all large metropolitan areas, and is becoming a bigger and bigger issue even in medium and smaller sized communities. The reason behind the problem: the number of automobiles in the United States has increased by 60 percent since 1975, while roads have increased by less than three percent². Due to constraints on state and federal budgets, new road construction is likely to remain stagnant.

Beyond Seattle and Los Angeles/Orange County, 15 other metropolitan areas currently offer graphical traffic data, and an additional eight markets will be online within two years, representing over 27 million commuters as potential TrafficGauge customers. Additionally, several Asian and European metropolitan areas currently offer graphical traffic data, providing an opportunity to reach several million commuters in those markets. TrafficGauge is currently developing products for new markets and plans to roll out additional cities in 2005.

How does TrafficGauge stack up to other sources of traffic information?
TrafficGauge is the only real-time, mobile traffic map serving the Seattle and Los Angeles/Orange County communities. Other current sources of traffic information include government and other traffic web sites, radio, and TV. The local government websites are real-time and highly accurate. Accessing and broadcasting this data as often as every four minutes, TrafficGauge shows how dramatically traffic conditions can change in just a matter of minutes and allows users, at a moment's notice, to pick a quicker route.

Here's how TrafficGauge compares to other mobile sources of traffic information:

	TrafficGauge	Radio	Traffic Map on PDA	Traffic Map on Cell Phone
Product availability	yes	yes	very limited	very limited
Always on and up-to-date	yes	no	no	no
Complete Traffic Conditions	yes	no	slow downloads3	slow downloads3
At a glance Display	yes	no	no4	no4

How does TrafficGauge stack up to other sources of traffic information?
TrafficGauge is the only real-time, mobile traffic map serving the Seattle and Los Angeles/Orange County communities. Other current sources of traffic information include government and other traffic web sites, radio, and TV. The local government websites are real-time and highly accurate. Accessing and broadcasting this data as often as every four minutes, TrafficGauge shows how dramatically traffic conditions can change in just a matter of minutes and allows users, at a moment's notice, to pick a quicker route.

How long do the batteries last?
For the Los Angeles/Orange County device, about two months. TrafficGauge uses two standard alkaline AA batteries (supplied).

Why aren't there more roads on TrafficGauge?
Many variables were taken into consideration when arranging the layout for the Los Angeles/Orange County version of TrafficGauge, the most important of which is the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) figures collected by Caltrans for each section of freeway in California. Based on these numbers, the most traveled roads were included on the L.A./Orange County device. We also wanted to make sure to include freeways around major airports as our Seattle experience has shown that customers rely heavily on TrafficGauge when driving to and from the airport.

Additionally, both Caltrans and Metro provided input on the TrafficGauge map during its development. Given the desire to keep the TrafficGauge device compact, senior managers and operational engineers agreed that the current map configuration covers the most critical roadways in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County areas.

Why isn't TrafficGauge's screen scrollable?
In order to be easy-to-use for drivers, TrafficGauge was designed to provide quick, at-a-glance traffic information. We did not want drivers to have to fuss with scrolling buttons for information. Also, TrafficGauge's fixed-display LCD screen enables the highest-possible resolution (much more so than dot matrix screens) and at a much more affordable price than other technologies.

Why does TrafficGauge show slightly different data than some websites' data?
TrafficGauge interprets and displays traffic data slightly differently than websites. For example, although based on the same underlying road sensor data, TrafficGauge's graphical segments do not perfectly match the length, location, and color of graphical segments shown on a municipality's website traffic map. (The TrafficGauge display was simplified to enable drivers to read it at a glance.)

How do I start TrafficGauge?
After removing TrafficGauge from its package, you will see that it is in “Demo Mode” (there is an icon at the bottom of the screen that will be lit with the words “Demo Mode”). To start receiving real-time traffic, simply press and hold down the “Backlight Button” in the lower right hand corner of your TrafficGauge for about five seconds. The “Demo Mode” icon will go away and TrafficGauge will begin delivering you real-time traffic information for Los Angeles and Orange County.

Why doesn't TrafficGauge have a power button?
TrafficGauge is always on so you can read the latest traffic conditions immediately without having to start up each time (as you would a computer, cell phone, or PDA). TrafficGauge draws minimal power to operate. Its ordinary alkaline batteries last up to two months.

What kind of guarantee and warranty comes with TrafficGauge?
TrafficGauge comes with a 30-day, no-risk-money-back guarantee and a one-year limited warranty.

What are the plans for new products?
Currently, the company is focused on developing TrafficGauge Mobile Traffic Map and supporting service to other markets capable of supporting the device. There are no announcements at this point in regards to new products.

About TrafficGauge Inc.

What is the company's mission?
TrafficGauge Inc.'s mission is simple: the company is committed to saving time and reducing unnecessary stress on the highway by delivering real-time traffic information where it is needed most — in the vehicle.

Who are the principals?
TrafficGauge has adopted an innovative leadership model. Capitalizing on the complementary strengths of two innovative leaders they have created a joint leadership approach to navigating the business.

TrafficGauge Inc. was founded by Ryan Peterson, President. Mr. Peterson, who is spearheading TrafficGauge's technology development and operations, has six years experience leading product development teams in the telematics (Infomove) and implantable pacemaker industries (Guidant).

¹Warranty increases to two years if two-year traffic service agreement is purchased with initial order.
²USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics “National Transportation Statistics 2001
³Slow download time requires user to refresh information frequently to secure complete traffic information.
⁴Getting to visual map of traffic requires multiple button-pushing and screen-scrolling... not an at-a-glance viewing of information.