What a load of junk TT Traffic is

TonyD · Frequent Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 412

Having bought and ditched the TT TMC receiver (because there is permanently no reception on a 100 mile stretch of the M! I use every week), I then invested in a TT GPRS based traffic subscription. This is a joke. It nearly always gets it wrong. Just this week I did a return journey Leeds to Oxfordshire, mainly down the M1. On the way the M1 was closed and traffic diverted, it cost me about an hour. Even the overhead gantries were reporting it, which is a first in my experience of them actually saying something useful. TT Traffic had no mention of it, 0 mins delay. On the return journey, TT reported a 4 1/2 hour delay on the M1. Radio 2 didn't make a mention of any problem, likewise the overhead gantries. Sure enough there was nothing. TT must try really hard to be able to get it wrong so consistently.

Now I know from following forums there are plenty of other similar experiences. Is there anything we can do. I'm not particularly interested in getting my money back, I'm more concerned about my time and energy. I spent ages getting the mobile GPRs connection working. Surely TT can be taken to task over their miserable performance on traffic and something done. I used to use TrafficMaster systems over 10 years ago and they were infinitely better even then. I used to divert from the M1 in absolute confidence that what TM was telling me was real.

Tony

PaulB2005 · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:14 am Post subject:

mikealder · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:56 am Post subject:

When it works it is quite good, I have tried both the TomTom and Garmin systems over a number of months.
Garmin, the reception was great and the traffic hold ups quite accurate, what I didn't like was the inclusion of traffic incident information from hundreds of miles away. Sadly since the firmware/ software update in January this year the Garmin RDS - TMC has not picked anything up.

TomTom, the reception is pathetic, unless you are sat next to a transmitter aerial. To overcome this you can modify the receiver at the cost of your warranty. The information it provides was/ is quite often out of date, it is better these days but there is still room for improvement.

The whole issue of RDS-TMC is a joke in the UK, firstly we are located in a country with poor transmitter coverage. Next is the problematic receiver’s often poor design and expected to work within the confines of the car.

The big issue is who to complain to - you buy the device from TomTom or Garmin their units receive information provided by iTIS or Traffic Master, which is transmitted to your receiver via transmitters owned by someone else.
There are too many people in the loop, I am not saying they hide behind one another, but it is too difficult to pin the fault on any one individual.

I for one do not trust it at all, I use both the Garmin and TomTom units, but I find the radio information and the large gantry signs on the motorway equally as effective, and more importantly they are accurate. If the set-up ever gets resolved I am sure it will be a good system, but RDS-TMC is in its infancy for now. - Mike

GJF · Frequent Visitor Joined: Feb 08, 2007 Posts: 894

mikealder wrote:

Hamie · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2003 Posts: 177

TonyD · Frequent Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 412

2216 · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 10, 2005 Posts: 245

Iam happy with TMC on my Sony now that I have sorted out the aerial. The only slight problem is if you plan a route with TMC and the road clears it will replan even when the road problem was and now is behind. This is down to the Navigon software in the Sony which hasn't changed for over a year (1.05).

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