Beijing turns to Nissan for citywide navigation system

August 01st, 2007 | Category: GPS

It looks like the city of Beijing was suitably impressed with Nissan’s still-in-development transportation safety system, as the city’s now tasked the company with installing the system in instance for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system, dubbed Star Wings, will rely on an existing Beijing system to gather traffic input, which Nissan will next turn around and transmit to drivers via an unspecified wireless network. That’ll allow drivers to determine the quickest route to take

which, in theory, should reduce congestion in the city, something Beijing’s been trying to get under control in day for the Olympics. While that’s not all that far absent, Nissan seems confident that it can build a difference, saying it hopes to put the technology into a fifth of Beijing’s 3 million cars by August of 2008 — an ambitious goal it believes in can accomplish in part by working with rental car companies and taxi fleets.