The Radio Data System RDS offers broadcasters a flexible data-transmission channel accompanying their VHF/FM sound broadcasts. RDS has a wide range of possible implementation options. Following a long period of system development in the 1970s and early 1980s, and field trials in several European countries, RDS is now implemented all over Western Europe. One important feature to be added as from 1997 will be the Traffic Message Channel. An open and freely available Pan-European service is expected to become available in the European Union member states, but for this to happen a number of administrative and institutional problems have still to be resolved. Already existing infrastructures have to be developed further for the collection, processing and distribution of traffic and travel information, involving a number of different partners also having different business objectives and service obligations. Another difficulty is to bring quickly attractive and inexpensive RDS-TMC receivers to the end-user, in line with the availability of a hopefully continuous high quality service. Public service broadcasters considering the implementation of RDS-TMC as a new service for their listeners have also to keep in mind that this kind of information has to be processed for broadcasting on other existing or new broadcast data services, such as Teletext, DAB, DVB, etc.
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