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FM Traffic in Toronto (GTA)

 
Mon, 08/11/2008 - 8:47am

Has anyone noticed that there seems to be NO FM traffic updates in Toronto (GTA) on the weekends? Is this true for other cities?

I had suspected it for some time, but this weekend was very clear, since there were significant highway closures in the area.

I also noticed that it has been reporting "Road closure" alerts for the ETR-407 which are not true, I had avoided them before, only to find out that there are no closures at all, not even construction or single lane closure, nothing at all, yet it keeps reporting the "Road closure" alerts.

Even though the service is not perfect, all in all I am happy with it and it is worth it, since I have been able to make decisions based on the traffic information, and I like that it estimates the approx delay due to traffic.

Any comments/experiences using the FM Traffic receiver?

‹ Nuvi 880 A Point of Interest Problem ›
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GARMIN nuvi 760 sites.google.com/site/lschwabe/
Mon, 08/11/2008 - 9:13am

Only as good as the service provider

The information you receive is only as good as the provider gives. The FM Traffic information in the Toronto area is supplied by TMC which is mainly providing service to the USA market. They only provide service to three Canadian cities. Have a look at the link below and click on FAQ. You will see that for the Toronto area service is only operating between 5am to 7pm, five days a week. You may want to ask them about the wrong information you keep getting.

http://realtimetraffic.net/

What do you pay for this service anyway?

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Wanted -Woman with GPS -send picture of GPS
Mon, 08/11/2008 - 3:56pm

FM Traffic

I am still on the free trial with my 760, and was also wondering about cost for the service in the Toronto area.
I also saw the 407 closed warning on Saturday but I never did go that far to see if it was closed.

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Garmin Nuvi360, Nuvi760, eTrex Vista HCx, Oregon 300
Sun, 09/07/2008 - 1:24pm

Thanks

alrom45 wrote:

The information you receive is only as good as the provider gives. The FM Traffic information in the Toronto area is supplied by TMC which is mainly providing service to the USA market. They only provide service to three Canadian cities. Have a look at the link below and click on FAQ. You will see that for the Toronto area service is only operating between 5am to 7pm, five days a week. You may want to ask them about the wrong information you keep getting.

http://realtimetraffic.net/

What do you pay for this service anyway?

Thanks for the info Alrom45.

I pay $60 for the year traffic subscription. The "407 closed" wrong notification got fixed a few days after I posted it here.

It's good to know the operating times, they should make that more obvious. It also seems to exclude holidays.

Thanks again.

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GARMIN nuvi 760 sites.google.com/site/lschwabe/
Sun, 09/07/2008 - 2:50pm

LSchwabe, you think the $60

LSchwabe, you think the $60 bucks a year is worth the part time coverage in a very limited area? I'm in Guelph, so it won't be worth it for me, but I really don't see it worthwhile to those in GTA at that rate as well,

Do you find the coverage in Toronto really helps?

Thanks.

Tue, 09/09/2008 - 8:50pm

Yes

I thought about it for quite some time, but eventually decided for it.

I actually do go to Guelph couple of times per month, so it helps to know where the traffic slow downs are, and it helps me decide whether to take the 407 or not, or get an idea on how bad it is going to be.

Yes, there is a lot of room for improvement, but I kind of like that it calculates the approximate delay, in minutes, due to traffic.

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GARMIN nuvi 760 sites.google.com/site/lschwabe/