Traffic is it any good?

[exportman]

Hello

I have been using TT for years but never bothered to try out the traffic alerts.

Last night I drove back from London to Manchester, a combination of accidents breakdowns and bad weather resulted in my journey taking nearly 6 hours

Is it worth subscribing and what are the data costs like ( Im on vodafone)

Your opinions and advice would be most welcome

[mikealder]

What device are you using and which phone do you have?

I wouldn't recommend the system as yet as the data is still somewhat lacking in accuracy, when it gets it correct it is very good, but more often than not the delay information isn't too up to date.
The other option to consider is the RDS-TMC method for traffic information, this is a one shot purchase with no recurring charge/ annual subscription in the UK - if your device will support connection of such an accessory.

For charges from your mobile phone company I would ask them how much 1MB of data would cost then work out how much you will use the service. For example set to update every 10 minutes the service consumes around 100KB for every hour used, so 1MB = 10 Hours of driving, this could cost over £3 per B of data with some mobile phone companies - Mike

[DennisN]

Personally, I hold the opinion that with the arrival of Application version 8, the present TT Traffic service is now as good as it will ever get. I'm using both RDS-TMC and Phone/GPRS on a free trial, side by side. They are as good (or as bad) as the local radio and BBC Radio 5 live (nationwide). They get some right and some wrong. The whole service is dependent on the information being gathered, then broadcast. This, as a generalisation, means the broadcasts are always behind the event - the accident happens, the details are gathered and broadcast AFTER the happening, so you hear about the incident "some time" after it happens. It all depends on how quickly that information is gathered, processed and broadcast. Same goes for the accident being cleared off the road. I would not be surprised to learn it takes between 30 and 60 minutes, by which time the incident could be cleared, or you could be stuck for a few hours, or you might undertake a long detour that wasn't necessary.

I have to say I find BBC Radio 5 just as good/bad, but costing far less (free!). Where TT Traffic comes into play is that it can re-route you around an incident, providing you have enough confidence in the alert to tell it to do so.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[exportman]

Hi

I have a TT rider 2 App 7.540 Map V720.1803 and a backup PDA with TT
app 6.100 Map V650.1136 Phone is a Nokia Razr.

I was listening to R2 and using the traffic reports but again its a bit haphazard as often these reports are late.

Re routing is not a problem most of the time I have a reasonable idea of where to head for.

I was just looking for something a little more proactive.

[DennisN]

Nothing wrong with listening to Radio 2 (I think). - I'm sure at least one of my friends must listen to it - it takes all sorts, you know.

I would say you've as much experience of traffic service as the rest of us, presumably R2 does updates at regular intervals, so like I said, it's a question of timing, how long they need to get a report, process and broadcast it. I'd say you might do well to upgrade your PDA's map to 675, which includes London Congestion Charge if that might affect you.

Interestingly today, I had to go east on M4 from Bristol and it was closed from J18 to J17. My GO920 offered me a re-route via the same route as was the official diversion, J18 South on A46, East on A420, North on A350 back to J17, which I knew would be a total nightmare. My "PDA" (HTC X7510, TTN6, map 675) offered me a far better route, country roads from J19 running parallel north of M4 rejoining at J17 - I followed it and sailed through without a hesitation!

I'd say go for the subscription, provided you can be satisfied it works with your phone (sorry, I can't help you there - Search to see if other people have it working, because phone compatibility is a big issue).
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[exportman]

Hi DennisN

Most of the time I use the rider both in the car and on my bike, The PDA I keep as a back up

I may wait a little while should upgrade my phone in a few weeks may go for a Nokia N95/6, then I can ditch the PDA.

[DennisN]

Cheers, then. But I've no idea whether you can get Traffic on that phone. (My 920 gets Traffic via RDS-TMC, but pairs with an ancient Nokia 6230i which does everything, slightly younger than me, but not much. The HTC does it by some sort of T-Mobile GPRS magic which I simply don't understand - I leave it all to the internal spider and it works).
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[Tigerfan]

I'm using TT5 on a PDA with an N95 for data/traffic downloads. It only downloads about 50k of data with intervals of 15 mins on a 150 mile journey so the charges are small.
sometimes they have saved me ( 1.5 hours once on the A34) and then again gave absolutley naff info (3hr delays on the M40 when it was completley clear!)
They have announced yesterday the X40 version with HD traffic. As I understand it, it collects the info of where every Vodafone in the country are, and how they are moving (without collecting personal data) and compare it with other sources to provide much more accurate info.

Having said that, £9.95 a month is a bit steep!!!

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