That reads to me like a form of dynamic segmentation - where location is described as being a certain distance along a linear feature, such as a road or pipeline. LR stands for location referencing. While I immediately assumed linear referencing, the product page notes: "The current version of OpenLR™ focuses on line locations but can easily be extended to handle point and area locations." It also explains that currently traffic information locations are shared us using pre-coded locations. (One system is called TMC. Differences between locations available to be identified are depicted on maps in this pdf presentation.) One limitation: not all locations are coded. Another? The sending system and receiving system need not use the same coding system and basemaps. In the new system, per TomTom, any basemaps will work assuming the both systems support this standard.

Much of the impetus for rolling out this standard seems to be European Union plans, specifically the Intelligent Traffic System Action Plan.

Open source code library license under GPLv2 is not yet available. Details are expected at the upcoming ITS World Congress 2009 in Stockholm slated for 21-25 September.

Is this a good implementation? Is it a good standards vision? Will it work to enable sharing of data on top of many mapping systems? For the answer to the first, the programming folks will need to weigh in. For the second, the standard community will need to weigh in. For the third, we'll need to see if the industry players buy in and not only implement the standard, but join to help it grow and evolve.