I have been using Avis's whereTo service with my rentals lately. whereTo comes with a Garmin car-attachable nav unit and as part of finding directions there is an option to 'route by avoiding traffic hazards eg congestion, construction etc'...

However, in RL XM-enabled NavTraffic nav system, i see no such option for getting driving directions (standard methods provided include maximize freeway, minimize distance, avoid tollways etc etc etc).

Am i missing something?

 

That is probably the only negative of the nav system in the RL. It does not have a feature to automatically reroute around Nav Traffic incidents, slowdowns or construction. Probably because NAV TRAFFIC is about 50% of the time wrong. Accidents get cleared earlier than NavTraffic displays or vice versa. About all you can do is to route by minimizing freeways if see a NAVTRAFFIC accident or slowdown ahead and your feeling lucky.

 

yes, that's a huge shortcoming. If it can't reroute then it looses its value when you're out of town and unfamiliar with the roads.

The other thing that would REALLY make this system more useful would be better coverage of streets. The highway coverage around me is OK. Although, I agree with you GDEVINE, it's often out of date. However, they only cover a few main avenues in the city. Usually you have many more options to consider when a street is blocked from an accident, consstruction, etc.

Even if the highway reporting was accurate, 90% of the time there usually isn't much you can do about it. Orlando has a beltway and is then bysected by the FLA Turnpike, I4 and a couple intra town highways. There just aren't that many options at any given location to avoid an accident. You can jump on the streets but so is everyone else. So, that option becomes no better. On top of that, most of the main highways in town have electronic warning signs. I already know what's coming up ahead of me on the highway.

Bottom line; after trying it for 3 months I found it to be marginally useful. I'd take it for free with my XM service but wouldn't pay for it.

 

Over the past couple days I've had to use the Chicago freeways more often. I will say that each time the flow data for Nav traffic has been dead on. I mean dead on.

Now I will agree that the accident info isn't always, but I've come to rely on the glow data.

 

We only have flow data on a couple highways in Tampa. The rest of Florida is blind to flow data. I agree, if flow data was available I would reconsider the service.

 

not sure if anyone else has used Avis's whereTo system i am talking about, but that thing has saved me from losing my job (by being on time for meetings; in unfamiliar areas; i would have otherwise missed) a couple of times

 

I use Hertz. The systems in their cars are nothing to write home about. They work fine but the screen is tiny and the buttons are awkward

 

We used the Hertz system in Orlando, and very often it had us traveling off roads, through lakes and such. It was not impressive at all. It seemed like the GPS was off by 500 to 1000 feet.

 

That could be a real nice feature if you happen to be driving one of the U.S. Marine EFV's