Traffic

[(COP)Sli]

I just called TT support to update my supscription for my free traffic and they told me that the traffic is down right now but should be up at the end of the week. i will be getting my 1 month free until the end of march
Took awhile to get through but when i did they where very helpful.

 

[fanchee]

Great news. I wonder if upgrading to TT HOME 1.5 is also down right now? Lots of people having problems. But back to traffic, if I go to tomtom.com and log in to my PLUS services, it now shows I have a one year subscription to traffic. When I click on that to get details, it says it expires March 31, 2007. Makes you wonder if they are about to sell yearly subscriptions here in the US.

 

[Nextourer]

bah, it still says no traffic on mine.

 

[fanchee]

Just an update on the traffic feature. I'm in AZ this week and I updated traffic info this afternoon on the way back to the hotel, and it was very accurate. Showed one incident of road work, along with 0 mins delay. It showed the icon along my route once I reached the roadwork, and it wasn't a delay at all. Nice!

Something tells me it's not always this accurate, but it is definitely useful.

 

[Nextourer]

haha. Glad to know it works in the US, 1/1 times.

I'm still in my 24 waiting period to see if my account resets.

 

[khuon]

Just an update on the traffic feature. I'm in AZ this week and I updated traffic info this afternoon on the way back to the hotel, and it was very accurate. Showed one incident of road work, along with 0 mins delay. It showed the icon along my route once I reached the roadwork, and it wasn't a delay at all. Nice!

Something tells me it's not always this accurate, but it is definitely useful.

During the daytime, Traffic for me seems to work pretty well. It doesn't get everything but seems to show most of the major ones. However, the way it works is by interrogating a server that aggregates all the regional traffic reports from various local agencies. The local traffic reporting agency around here is WSDOT and much to my frustration, they actually shut down updates after 1930 PST. And they don't start up again until 0530 PST. Grrr!

Seattle Area Incidents

Seattle Area - Wednesday Jan 24, 2007 - 19:30:07
INCIDENT INFORMATION ( * = New Incident / Update )
Current Operator : TRAFFIC SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT CENTER
THE TRAFFIC SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT CENTER IS CLOSED FOR THE EVENING.
WE WILL REOPEN AT 5:30 AM TOMORROW.
HAVE A SAFE AND PLEASANT COMMUTE

This was especially non-helpful the other night (around 2100) when I was stuck in a major backup because the West Seattle Bridge I was on had all lanes of traffic closed due to an accident. Had Traffic been updated, it would have rerouted me further up I-5 in the first place. And to add insult to injury, the next morning, I was reviewing traffic reports on the TomTom and lo-and-behold, there's a report of an overturned vehicle on the West Seattle Bridge.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Haven't tried traffic at night. I'm going to use it to see it if works for me at night.

 

[fanchee]

I have a Nuvi 660 for the time being, and tested it out today in Tucson to compare some things with the ONE. The 660 comes with a built in traffic receiver, and interestingly enough, Tucson is not an area with coverage. The ONE performed well and notified me of road work along my route.

The Nuvi has a built in fm transmittor which is actually very handy. It plays my mp3s and also spoken nav instructions over the car speakers.

 

[servoisgod]

I was wondering how this works myself because when I went to sign up for Traffic Plus, it wasn't available for US, just European countries?

So does that mean that us folks in the US get this option for free? Other then the data cost for you phone obviously.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[fanchee]

Yes, for now it's free in the US. At least until March 2007, at which point they may start charging for it.

 

[servoisgod]

Cool. Well it would be nice if they put that somewhere. I know in the instructions they say it was free till the end of 2006 for the US, but when you go to the website there's nothing about it?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[fanchee]

Yeah, I had to email them about it and they "reset" my account and told me it was good through March 2007. I also noticed now when I log in at tt.com and go to my PLUS services, it does show a traffic subscription, and when I click on it for details, it says the same... expiry March 2007.

 

[Pedro2NR]

servoisgod, you have to input your TT username and password in your unit to access TT Traffic and other TT Plus features.

 

[Nextourer]

I still can't reset my account and get traffic. GRRRRR!!!

 

[servoisgod]

servoisgod, you have to input your TT username and password in your unit to access TT Traffic and other TT Plus features.

yeah, I have it working now that I turned it on my device...I just think it would be cool on the website if they said something like:

"North American users have free access to the traffic functions of TomTom".

Instead when you go to research it, you are told that it's not available for your country?

From the Tomtom website:

Availability
11 countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA


So then you go to get it:

TomTom Traffic - 1 year subscription
Beat the traffic!

The TomTom Traffic service provides you with updated traffic information anywhere you need it, in your home country and also when travelling abroad.

The TomTom Traffic service is currently available for Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

You only need one subscription to receive the most up-to-date traffic information in each of these countries, provided that you have a TomTom Map of the country. price: ? 39.95 Buy

WTF, It just said that I could get it in the US, now I can't???

Anyways, I have it working and it doesn't cost anything so I can't complain...even though I am??? Hmm? Oh well

Later,
Aaron

 

[khuon]

My free subscription ran out a few days ago and I had asked through TomTom support if they could extend the trial period for me until whenever it is they'll start offering the service for sale in the US. That was a week ago. So far no response. I'm thinking of skipping the service and just going with the RDS-TMC option. I assume the unit provides the interface to the TMC information as the Plus service in the same way from a user perspective? It's all handled transparently on the backend (with possible exception of having to tune the TMC to a specific frequency/station)?

 

[fanchee]

khuon, when I emailed them about the same problem, they finally did respond, it was just about a week and a half later. they reset my account for me, and now traffic works again.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Unfortunately the TMC Receiver isn't sold in the states yet. Also, if you were to purchase one from Europe, it wouldn't work here. It has something to do with decoding something for the TMC to work.

 

[(COP)Sli]

it works

Well TT support CALLED me yesterday told me my account was reset. I went and tried out my traffic and it works. I found an accident a few 100 miles away so i didnt drive to it ,so if someone is in my area and care to help me test out TT Traffic please come and crash in my area I will be happy to make you a cup of coffee why we wait for results hehe
So the point is TT traffic is working for me

 

[Nextourer]

There's no traffic for Canada. TT Traffic only gives road conditions in Canada.

Feel free to see Buffalo NY or any other close by US city.