MapQuest Provides On-the-Go Tools for Travelers Hitting the Road This Memorial Day Weekend
MapQuest Provides On-the-Go Tools for Travelers Hitting the Road This Memorial Day Weekend
As More Travelers Choose Driving Over Flying, MapQuest Provides Mapping, Directional Tools and Ways to Save on Gas
DENVER (May 25, 2011) – MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), helps Memorial Day Weekenders ease the stress of trip-planning and vacationing with a variety of tools including hotel lead pricing, optimized route planning, a gas prices locator, and free, voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation from its smartphone and iPad apps.
To better support holiday travel needs and interests leading into Memorial Day and road trips overall, MapQuest co-sponsored the Mandala/Solutionz Research study, Project 85. The recently released study on drive travel indicated that more than one billion trips are planned in the U.S. each year to travel more than 75 miles from home, with 85 percent* of leisure travelers planning to drive to their destinations. More popular than flying, auto, motorcycle and RV travel together encompasses 129 million travelers or 850 million trips each year.* MapQuest has long been providing maps and directions from a desk, but has now grown its offerings to help consumers at every step of the trip lifecycle.
"As consumers are hitting the road over Memorial Day and throughout the summer, MapQuest can help optimize the route, recommend points-of-interest before consumers depart or while on the road through the mobile solutions, and even provide direct booking opportunities right on the map," said Christian Dwyer, senior vice president and general manager, MapQuest. "Ironically, 92 percent of travelers are getting away to relax, yet so many folks find themselves stressed out over travel planning. MapQuest's valuable tools can remove some of that all-too-common travel anxiety."
"As consumers are hitting the road over Memorial Day and throughout the summer, MapQuest can help optimize the route, recommend points-of-interest before consumers depart or while on the road through the mobile solutions, and even provide direct booking opportunities right on the map," said Christian Dwyer, senior vice president and general manager, MapQuest. "Ironically, 92 percent of travelers are getting away to relax, yet so many folks find themselves stressed out over travel planning. MapQuest's valuable tools can remove some of that all-too-common travel anxiety."
According to the Project 85 study, mobile has increasingly become the primary medium to consume location-based content, making it simple for travelers to plan and enhance their trips on the go. MapQuest's mobile web, and smartphone and iPad applications continue to serve travelers around the country providing everything from maps, and directions to gas prices and movie information. MapQuest for Mobile, the company's iPhone app, has been the No. 1 navigation app since its launch two years ago, and the iPhone, Android and iPad apps all provide free, voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation similar to GPS directions without having to front the device or subscription fees. MapQuest provides a host of additional tools that can aid travelers through trip-planning, including:
• MapQuest Gas Pricing Tools: Search for the lowest gas prices on MapQuest.com or visit gasprices.mapquest.com for tools to help budget total fuel costs based on grade, vehicle type and distance
• Map Toolbar: Locate restaurants, coffee shops, gas stations and parking, among millions of other points of interest, with one click
• MapBuilder: Build a customized vacation map to share with friends and family
• Print to Phone Functionality: Send directions and maps from MapQuest.com directly to a mobile device
• Route Planner: For folks with multiple stops, route planner optimizes the itinerary to save time and gas, or can be customized based on traveler preferences to pinpoint exact locations including restaurants, landmarks, and points of interest
• Pedestrian Mode: Nationwide pedestrian directions from MapQuest allow walking travelers to be routed down one-way streets, pedestrian malls, through parks and along designated paths
• Transit Routing: Reaching roughly 90 percent of the nation's ridership,** the transit mode provides public rail transportation routing in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Boston
• Live Traffic Flow/Incidents: Get there faster with extensive coverage updated every five minutes
*Project 85 Drive Study; Mandala Research and Solutionz
**American Public Transportation Association
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About MapQuest
MapQuest provides Internet, mobile, and business solutions delivering on the promise of helping people research and discover: where is it, how I get there and what's nearby. MapQuest is one of the leading mapping brands online, offering maps and directions, and reaching over 40 million unique visitors in April 2011, according to comScore Media Metrix. MapQuest's mobile solutions are compatible with a variety of mobile devices, including iPhone and BlackBerry devices. MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Inc, is based in Denver, Colo.
About Project 85 / Mandala Research
Project 85 was founded in 2010 by Solutionz, a global consulting firm based in Tampa, Fla. This study was conducted in partnership with Mandala Research and was fielded among 1,500 drive market travelers in the United States in January 2011. The data was collected online using Mandala Research's Travel Answer domestic leisure travel panel, hosted by Conduit Systems.
To qualify for the survey, respondent must have taken at least one trip in the past 12 months for pleasure, vacation or personal purposes within the United States that was 50+ miles away from home one-way OR where the traveler spent at least one overnight, have shared or have sole responsibility for travel planning or have driven all or part of the trip.
Media Contact: For interviews, more information or creative assets, please contact Jennifer Asbury, 303-330-8288, Jennifer.asbury@mapquest.com.
