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ELEGEND_YVR
Canada
451 Posts |
 Posted - 23 juin 2012 : 21:17:30
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Living in Canada and having a Clear Traffic (Total Traffic/TTN) override any Navteq settings, plus not travelling on road as much as I used to, for the first time I used my old Nuvi 765T in heavy downtown traffic around Tacoma and Seattle.
I must say to my dismay, I have never been so frustrated with my GPS before. While the unit will detect a traffic situation, the detour it offers were crazy. Of course, once can kinda expect that, however, what I found frustrating was the display automatically switching to traffic map mode which was annoying as hell. By default, as long as you have traffic enabled in your route avoidances, it will automatically kick into traffic map mode, even if you have no destination programmed ie. just showing your position. I don't know about anyone else, but I can't stand that almost total grey background.
It was my mistake for trusting the Nuvi's data even though there were many alerts in the area. I assumed it would also know that the large road parallel to the I5 would be congested or not. It did not.
When we got out of the traffic jam, I disabled traffic altogether. In my area, TTN doesnt update on weekends any ways. Navteq isn't very good either from what I can see from their traffic website.
After this experience, I will have traffic disabled from now on. I may enable it every once in a blue moon just to get a summary update of construction zones, but that's about it. For traffic alerts, I dont care any more. Hence, when I do purchase a newer Nuvi, I won't let the traffic feature be a consideration, rather lifetime maps. |
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NanaimoRick
Canada
7393 Posts |
Posted - 23 juin 2012 : 22:33:40
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I never use the Traffic avoidance but as far as traffic reporting is concerned I have found the reporting in the Seattle area to be better than a lot of the other large US cities I'm used my 3790 in. Certainly it isn't always all that current and I know the roads around the I-5 and I-10 corridor between the Canadian border and Phoenix well enough to hardly ever use the "detour" option, but as a warning of upcoming traffic situations I find it works pretty well. Without the traffic avoidance turned on, I've never seen the 3790 automatically switch to the traffic map but it maybe something you could try or maybe it's just a another "feature" of the older Nuvi models that Garmin has abandoned.  |
Rick James - Nuvi Forum Moderator
Nuvi 350 - Nuvi 760 - Nuvi 1695LM - Nuvi 3790LMT (with ecoRoutes HD) - Nuvi 2460LMT - Nuvi 3597LMTHD (with ecoRoutes HD) also TomTom 540S for side by side comparison >> Here <<
2010 Golf Wagon 2.0 TDI Clean Diesel
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ELEGEND_YVR
Canada
451 Posts |
Posted - 24 juin 2012 : 03:02:01
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I should clarify, with traffic avoidance off, it won't show the traffic map (a good thing). It also *sometimes*, more often then not, when traffic avoidance is disabled, I don't see the traffic circle indicator either. In Tacoma, the 765T detour instructions were really brutal. We dont know the area. The wife said dont trust the GPS, I should've listened. Once we did get to Seattle, the traffic was insane going North, around 1 PM. I just followed the signs and the highway alerts but kept the directions on. The Nuvi wanted us to detour to some crazy areas as well.For the most part, I would imagine people would rely on the detour feature.
I guess, for information purposes the traffic is better than nothing. At least some information is provided but people will tend to reply on it as being more complete than it is. For detours I wouldn't rely on it, but when your in a strange city, whathca gonna do? Maybe the new HD Radio traffic would be better if covers more areas. But asfaik, we dont have HD in BC yet? |
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NanaimoRick
Canada
7393 Posts |
Posted - 24 juin 2012 : 05:59:33
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Your right, no HD in our area.
AFAIK you should always see the traffic icon if you have the Nuvi attached to the vehicle/traffic receiver as long as the unit is picking up traffic info. I know that I have it on my 3790 from Vancouver even though I live on the "island". Having the traffic avoidance on or off shouldn't affect whether the icon appears.
My experience has been that at 1PM, and almost any other time except the middle of night, the traffic icon for the Seattle area should be red. |
Rick James - Nuvi Forum Moderator
Nuvi 350 - Nuvi 760 - Nuvi 1695LM - Nuvi 3790LMT (with ecoRoutes HD) - Nuvi 2460LMT - Nuvi 3597LMTHD (with ecoRoutes HD) also TomTom 540S for side by side comparison >> Here <<
2010 Golf Wagon 2.0 TDI Clean Diesel
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ELEGEND_YVR
Canada
451 Posts |
Posted - 24 juin 2012 : 06:20:27
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On my unit, traffic has been sometimes glitchy, even in Vancouver. Sometimes the unit would power on, connected to the cigarette lighter and no traffic icon. Going south, once you hit Ferndale, there is no more traffic icon until we get closer to the Premium outlets.
Even at 1 PM Seattle traffic is bad. It's like it's rush hour almost all the time. It's just amazing. I guess the Americans get used to it like anything. I need to sit down and create an alternative route in and around Seattle and Tacoma the next time we go to Portland. |
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kward
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 24 juin 2012 : 20:12:58
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| I5 from north of Seattle to south of Olympia is just brutal, especially around the release time at JBLM. It is the same thing around Portland at commute time. When I travel to see my daughter's family in Olympia, coming from San Francisco, as soon as I get into the area with traffic I get a warning and about a 1.5 hour delay as I arrive in that area about 4:00pm |
Ken |
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NanaimoRick
Canada
7393 Posts |
Posted - 24 juin 2012 : 21:56:36
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So true, our last trip back to BC we got a red traffic icon going through Portland that was actually for an hour delay on I-5 in Seattle. We've been lucking going north through Portland as we've never hit it as rush hour(s). Going south however is another story.
Interesting that you mention Joint Base Lewis McCord. I never thought about it causing the traffic problems on I-5 but could certainly see that it would, now that you mention it. |
Rick James - Nuvi Forum Moderator
Nuvi 350 - Nuvi 760 - Nuvi 1695LM - Nuvi 3790LMT (with ecoRoutes HD) - Nuvi 2460LMT - Nuvi 3597LMTHD (with ecoRoutes HD) also TomTom 540S for side by side comparison >> Here <<
2010 Golf Wagon 2.0 TDI Clean Diesel
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Edited by - NanaimoRick on 24 juin 2012 21:58:35 |
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kward
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 25 juin 2012 : 00:08:03
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| My son-in-law has been based since he married into us. Been going up there since 2007 and it is a big reason for congestion. |
Ken |
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How useful do you find traffic alerts on your Nuvi
