Is traffic worth it?

Depending on where one lives would probably determine if one needs traffic. I live in Tyler, Texas and there is no coverage here. However, I do travel to Dallas and Ft. Worth often, and MSN traffic has several times gotten me around what would have been a lengthy delay on I-20 and Loop 820.
One time in Florida it also warned of severe thunder storms and I was able to take a break from driving and let the severe storm blow through. And, it was a severe storm.
Not offering complete country coverage, but if one travels a lot, it would probably be worth it. I enjoy it and will continue with it.

I bought the Clear channel for my 765T. Around Atlanta it showed several wrecks and in Tampa it showed roads closed for the Super Bowl. It also showed where slowdowns were and how much delay was expected. I did not get to see how accurate the delay info was.

I live in Toronto, Canada. I tried Clear channel. Their coverage in Canada is very limited. It is available only Monday to Friday from 6 AM to 7 PM. Traffic flow info was very disappointing. Then I heard MSN have enhanced their service in Toronto area. I bought MSN receiver and it works very well. MSN traffic info is pretty good. It is not the ultimate tool to check tarffic but still does very good job.

just this past friday traffic on my nuvi765 saved me from a huge delay on Rt 95 north of Baltimore ... the highway was closed! my nuvi routed me around the delay and my trip ended up being 10 to 15 minutes longer as opposed to potentially hours!!!

I think the traffic is a big plus especially for long and short vacation trips.The traffic reporting and coverage can only get better in the future with some good competition between the providers.

There have been many threads regarding this issue. While there are plenty of stories how the traffic situation was not reported there are many times it has saved time.

Last summer driving through Connecticut very late at night I was warned of a shut down of I-84. The GPS detour kept me much closer to my scheduled arrival in Maine that morning.

Locally I was warned this fall of a shut down due to police activity of a road I use every day. It allowed me to know to completely avoid the backed up traffic would be stuck in the detour.

...I have been using 265WT and before that 760 with traffic. I had never used the recommendations on the roads when i knew whatever GPSr is saying is definitely a longer route and will add up more time onto my journey than the DELAY shown. But I have never experiences major delays on my route so far so am still inexperienced on REAL TRAFFIC info on both my GPSrs.

At the end, I would say for people who are always on the road, its a big plus!!

Can't see going without it again

In no or light traffic conditionl going to or from work takes me 12 - 15 minutes. the commute home usually takes a little over 20. If things are really messed up, that can stretch out to 45 minutes.

Having more detailed traffic information helps me decide when it's time to bail from the freeways and go to alternate routes, which can vary depending on where the bottlenecks are.

Part of that situational awareness thing -- adapting to new sources of information so you can tell when the usual "Entering slow traffic" warning isn't the usual slow traffic...

The area that I live in has no coverage and I rarely travel so for me, the service adds nothing. However, if I had free lifetime service, even with ads, it would help for the times I do travel. Otherwise, I won't get it.

If you live in a large city and travel longer distances to and from work, or as part of your job (delivery?), then it owuld be a life saver.

Good info. I live in Toronto and was thinking of getting it

I travel in the Dallas/Ft Worth Tx area daily.
I use the TMC version and have no experience with the MSN version.
TMC is getting better in my area. Still, it's not perfect. The Human Brain will still have to make the most logical decision. At times accidents, slow traffic will be reported and displayed, but the roadway will be clear, and vice versa. If you follow the gpsr directions exclusively, it may have you exiting the hiway, then entering at the next entrance ramp, if the traffic is still backed up, it will again have you exit then re-enter, so beware.
I can normally, get close to the incident, visually analyze the situation then continue or exit the hiway and take a detour of my choice.

Traffic information is a tool. If one understands it and uses it as such, then it's either a useful tool or not. For example, I couldn't use a sextant for it's intended purpose, but I could use a gpsr. All of these poi files, are tools to find places we might like to find. We don't need them, but they are useful, when used like a tool. One can drive a nail with a rock, but the hammer is a much better tool, and on and on.
The service isn't that expensive if you figure it out by the year, month, week etc. For me, it's a useful tool.

If you live in or travel to major cities, the service will be worth the investment. Areas like the DC beltway can definely ruin your day. Recently a short 3 mile traffic related detour prevented wasting over an hour.
If you have a Magellan unit and belong to AAA you also get 15% off the annual subscription price, which can further aid in your decision.

Works well in Cleveland!

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I noticed that too, that it will display traffic and there is nothing there which is kind of a pain when you are in a hurry. It's nice to at least have some more choices I guess. I was going back and forth with it's value as well but finally decided that I wanted to get it. Might as well have all the bells and whistles on it if you are going to own one.

Many a time the traffic service has routed me to areas where the roads were closed for construction. If the traffic services did a little more home work or bothered to update their service to accept info from the national traffic and road closure information site then it would make any traffic service more valuable. Nearly every day of the week a few of my co-workers and I compare notes on routes we take and where the GPS told us to go etc.. We have found that we can in many instances do a better job of routing only because of our knowledge of the citys we drive in. How ever with no previous knowledge of the area a GPS is an amazing tool to have. The traffic service has for the most part been useless to me because it reports delays in areas that have the same delays daily and at pretty much the same times. The information that would be of the greatest value for me would be road closures, major accidents where the traffic is be diverted etc.. I can't tell you how many times I get a report of say a 10 minute delay ahead were I continue on only to find nothing there.

Hi,

I liked the traffic update so much I purchased the lifetime option.

I think its great, and will only get better.

Mike

I think there are two major things to look at:

1. Will you be driving somewhere where there is GPS traffic coverage.
2. Will you be driving during times when traffic could be a problem.

I live in the SF Bay Area which is known to have many areas of traffic congestion during peak periods. If I have to go somewhere further than 5 miles away my habit is to plug in the antennae. I can then assess the situation and decide if I need to take an alternate route. It's a lot better then getting stuck not having a clue what is going on.

I agree that it should be used as an information source to base your travel decisions on. If it is available in your local area, you no doubt already know the best routes for your commute and it may or may not be helpful. If you are traveling in an unfamiliar area, it could save you time. I have the traffic service that came with my 760 and it worked ok. I have no idea if the MSN version is any better. I noted several times that the traffic service showed wrecks or delays that were no longer present. I guess it is all about the quality of info entered on their side and whether or not it is updated frequently enough to avoid being a nuisance.

I have Clear Channel, and it is far from perfect, or where it should be in the future, but I am still happy with it! and if I didn't have it, I would certainly miss it.

It has made a difference a few times and been a good extra source of information to make a driving decision.

The information is a little bit delayed, so some times by the time you get to the traffic spot, things might have cleared or gotten worse, so in essence you are seen what traffic was 15 min. ago or so, but again, as imperfect as it is, I do believe it is well worth it.

I was excited with the 3 month trial of FM traffic withthe Nuvi 760. In the DC area traffic gets super bad for no particular reason and it can happen anytime day or night. Well the fact is that its not really too useful of a tool here in the area - there are a limited number of alternatives if there is a problem ,and it doesnt do a good job of telling what the severity of the tieup is - its pretty much bad all of business hours, so i was hoping it would tell me if its ultra-bad or just pretty-bad, but its not able to differentiate the two. also it just plain doesnt know about a lot of the tieups. so we decided to pass on getting a lifetime subscription for $60

Not having used it so far, I'd say it hasn't been worth it, yet...

But I am one of those types of people that feels claustrophobic and panicky stuck in traffic, especially when there are big rigs on both sides of me.

So when I do go to a big city, if it save my butt from having to put up with that just once or twice, I'd say it's worth it.

I'll give a further report when I do take it in some traffic coverage areas.

have used it a couple of times and it has saved me plenty of time

In the outskirts of Philadelphia the traffic reciever works pretty good; however, it is not perfect and often shows delays that are already gone. The worst incident was when it showed a delay, but only after it was too late to avoid. The delay popped up only after I took the ramp from the highway I was on to the other highway and traffic stopped almost immediately after the ramp. A little time lag between the incidents and the actual traffic. I generally ignore those delays that are only for a couple minutes and avoid the ones that are over a 5 minute delay.

The traffic info from your gps, combined with local radio stations and your own gut feelings and knowledge will help you decide to take a detour or stick it out. The important factor is that you are aware of a potential problem and can make a decision, just like deciding if fastest route, most use of highways, etc is the way to go.

The lifetime Traffic with 265WT works well in FL. I wish that the receiver has been built into the unit so I don't have to connect the charger the whole time.

I live in Atlanta and use MSN Direct.

Major interstates are well covered and details are usually pretty timely. Once you get on large surface roads, information and timeliness begin to drop off (although I have noticed a real improvement in this coverage over the past 3 months vs early last year)

If you know the area you are in, and you use other sources for traffic info (like radio) there have been times when I decided not to use the alternate route around the issue. Many times the GPS will attempt to reroute for what I would consider a minor issue. Secondly, if I know the issue is cleared, the GPS may continue to reroute due to the heavy volume)

Having said that... there have been two times over the past year that were days of huge traffic issues, and I allowed the GPS to route me around the many issues. I will have to admit that both times, the GPS did a better job that I would have given the situation that impacted multiple major interstates...

Hope this helps!!!

jb
Atlanta...

I think it would be worth it, but I juist have a problem paying to unlock the ability to receive a signal that is, effectively, free..

I have the 265wt and it came with lifetime NAVTEQ FM traffic included.

Is it better/worse/different than the other traffic services you pay for?

I’d say it’s worth it. It’s not 100% but I like having the option incase I miss the radio station traffic report. If my traffic report displays a slow down I find myself taking the traffic route and decide how bad it is. It’s the accident reports I steer away from.
Keep in mind I’m In New York City and have plenty of options to get to any destination.

I have MSN on my 750 and Navteq on my 755t. I don’t think one is better then the other.

Hope this helps you

I like the traffic.
I have only been routed around traffic delays once in the month I've owned it. Just this week it was reporting a 34 minute delay and wanted me to switch from I-290 east to I-55 East via I-294. It added about 10 minutes to the clear traffic time. The radio traffic said travel time on 290 was about 30 minutes longer than usual.
I also looked at the traffic on Ill-53 North for my wife. She called and said she was moving slow. The Nuvi was saying it would last about 1 mile past where she was. She stayed the course & the info was crrect.
It's funny that sometimes it suggests taking an exit ramp, crossing the road and getting right back on.

I have 760 with Fee based and 265WT Free Lifetime Traffic. I have so far not found any difference. Though, I do not drive with both at the same time, so I would not know much but so fare I have seen no difference.

As always, with FREE comes the advertisement, but not a big deal!!! Hope this helps!

I have the 205w that I bought the NAVTEQ FM Traffic for and the 265wt that came with the NAVTEQ FM Traffic, the only difference between the two is that the 265wt gets occacional advertisements, but I never get the advertisements on the 205w. I wonder why it is the same traffic receiver used on both.

I used the traffic status on my Nuvi 760 yesterday to avoid a slowdown on I-95 Southbound going towards Baltimore - the traffic warning was a major help to us in avoiding a 30 minute delay over about 10 miles...

However, the Nuvi did not re-route us automatically (despite being set to do so). After noticing the warning on the display that there was a 11 minute delay, then a 20 minute delay, I decided to take an alternate route myself (RT-40 south), and immediately upon doing so, the projected arrival time dropped by 30 minutes. I would have expected the Nuvi to automatically recommend this type of change. I am expecting too much?

I was working at a job in LA when I got my Nuvi 760 and the 3 months free.
Changed jobs and now work in the opposite direction
and there is no coverage and I do not need or miss it.
So it boils down to where you live /work, and coverage.
If I still worked in LA I would not be able to live without it.
However since there is no coverage and little traffic, where I am now why bother.
Then again I did not know it was only $60 for a lifetime,
maybe it is worth it for the occasional tip into the city?

We have traffic on our Nuvi 265wt and around my house it is not accurate. It will show the freeway free flying and the freeway will actually be stopped. We didnt buy ours because it had traffic. It was just the one that was on sale.

Yesterday on the 101, the traffic delay changed three times from 5 minutes to 20, to 3, to 45,back to 5 while I was driving on it. Reality? No delay anywhere for about 30 miles.

This is not the first time I get alerts that don't come true. Only once, during rush hours coming back from downtown did the alert tell me what everybody already knew anyway.

So I say, not really useful in this area. It may be more useful in cities where you have a significant choice of freeways to go from A to B and then one might be better than the others at a given point in time. Here, there is no real choice. It's generally one freeway or the surface streets. When on gets packed, the others also do.

raool

You say free comes with advertisment, but not a big deal!!

Well it's not a big deal now because no one is putting a stink about it. You know the old saying don't you "give them and inch and they take a mile"
Thats Garmin. Free should be free with no strings attached, another GPSr that I own if totally free with no adds. Sure they don't bother you now, but just wait.. lets see what this gets you down the road, as it becomes a big deal! Garmin is making money every which way they can, you don't think their giving that ad space away on your GPS do you?

I just renewed the fm traffic on my nuvi 660 for lifetime service even though I wasn't impressed with it when I had the 3 months free service.

I was hoping it would help me now since I'll be starting a new job on the other side of Phoenix. But I guess from your comments, it probably won't be useful - oh well...

No ones putting a stink about it, because it really isn't a big deal. It is free. It is ad supported just like local tv stations you watch.

You say free means free...yet Navigon is charging for extra POI's that should come with the unit plus a bunch of other things that are normally included. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You just bash Garmin every chance you get, that's ok, but a lot of people don't take you seriously anymore. Garmin is number 1 for a reason. Some people aren't going to like Garmin and that's fine, there's other good units out there, but Garmin consistently rates at the top or near the top with valid reviewers. Sometimes you have some valid reason for your bashing, but a lot of times you bash Garmin just for the heck of it.

My magellan traffic saved me driving times but sometimes it alerts me a liitle bit too late to reroute. It would have been nice if consumers can have 30-day trials of traffic subscription.

I bought the life time subscription for the 760. It is worth it to me. Especially when driving cross country.

I paid for traffic and I am happy with it, but I would definitely have preferred getting it for free, with warts, sorry adds, and everything, just like radio and tv.

Believe me when you live in a city with bad traffic then a heads up would be nice.

I thought about it, but I usually drive to the same places day in and day out. If I was going to drive cross country, THEN that would be something that I would want to have, because I would not be use to the traffic patterns there.

I had traffic on my GPS for a while I just did'nt use it or trust it's alternate routes... maybe I'm old school I just did't listen to it's re routes it came up with around the Chicago area.

I have the MSN service enabled and it does work here where I live in OH. I do go back home to So Cal and the surrounding areas a few times per year. It has saved me countless times. So in my humble opinion-Yes, its worth it!

I'm not a huge fan of the traffic.

Let them advertise what they want... if it does not bother me, what a big deal? Anyways, this is strictly my opinion.

Garmin, and in that matter all the businesses, are formed to make MONEY! They are costlier, but they are one stable brand that we can trust. I do not agree with putting ads on my machine, but as far as they are not interfering with my navigation capabilities, I am OKAY!!! Thats why...