Amsterdam will next week start experimenting with a navigation app to help motorists avoid traffic jams, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

The ADAM system will help drivers by taking them on alternative routes when roads are busy, the paper says. The system differs from traditional traffic apps in that the official traffic information service will have direct input into the system and will be able to influence traffic flows.

For example, if there is a breakdown on the A10 ring road and traffic is building up, the app will recommend an alternative route to some, but not all, drivers.

By spreading cars along different routes, the makers hope to be able to stop everyone ending up in a jam.

‘We all benefit but you need an invisible hand to steer things,’ Patrick Potgraven of the Verkeersinformatiedienst traffic service told broadcaster Nos.

Some 10,000 people have been invited to take part in the trials, which will run until the summer. The trial involves recording the routes and journey times of all participating drivers using gps monitoring systems.