TMC traffic density question

I have experienced the same situation on my NUVI 660 in the Washington, DC area.

But in the greater Denver metro area my GTM20 shows all kinds of traffic situations. I've seen complete road closures ( bridge damage on I-70 ), green, yellow and red lines along the routes and even road advisories during special events ( those are the coolest ). I wish I could show the screenshots I have from some of the unique traffic scenarios I've run into.

dd

I am for the most part satisfied with the info in the Dallas / Ft Worth area.
Sometimes the info is a bit lagging. I have seen red and yellow density, Accident icons, construction icons, road closure icons (due to construction or accident), Special events icons..such as Baseball games, Football games or Races at TMS.
I'm not sure on all of the "hows" that the info gets transmitted. I would think that LA would be a bit better than out here.
Overall, I am satisfied with the GTM-20 receiver.

That's another thing...what are the differences between all of the GTM's .. other than a physical connection to the particular gpsr...but that's something that could be changed and still use the same GTM receiver. In other words, why not use the GTM 20 for all receivers (or 10 or 12 etc) they'd just have different connectors. It's just basically an FM receiver, what is the real difference?

Here's a link that explains the differences between FM TMC Traffic receivers and also has compatibility charts at the bottom of the page

Basically it boils down to three types of receivers: US, Europe and Worldwide.

Also, C580, Nuvis' 680/750/760/770 use GDB 50 Receiver to receive MSN Direct.

Hope this helps

I've been under whelmed with the traffic detail in the Long Island and NYC area. It's a shame because I bought it specifically for the traffic info.

It is nothing more than another tool along with broadcast radio traffic reports, the NY Inform signage system and 25 years of experience.

I'd be interested in a good comparison between the FM, the XM, HD Radio, and MSN with respect to the quality of the data. I'd also be interested in the not yet available product by Dash and I've heard that TomTom is developing a similar product.

So, it sounds like the issue is more with the quality of the TMC broadcast than the unit itself.

I, too, would expect that LA/OC area to have a pretty good feed... like I mentioned, the actual traffic locations are pretty accurate for the most part, and I'm very pleased with that. I just wish that accident/road closures and traffic density was better represented.

My wife has XM traffic via her built-in nav system (Acura TL), and it does a better job of representing traffic density (more colors: green, yellow, orange, red) and traffic accidents/hazards. I'm not sure how this translates to the Garmin XM traffic. Anybody use it?