I live in the Boston suburbs, and I have found that XM traffic is not helpful. I have been stuck in traffic jams for over 30 mins, and XM traffic shows everything is fine. Does anyone else have this experience? Is there an 800 number to call and report incidents or inquire about a traffic situation? I have also noticed that several stand-alone GPS devices (Garmin, Tom Tom) have advanced lane guidance. Is there any hope for something like that on our navs?

 

I don't know, it was pretty helpful for me today, showed 128 south as a parking lot, so I took the back roads to work... I think it only updates during the day. Sometimes I've driven in on the Masspike downtown and got stuck at the toll, and the traffic says it's fine. It's not 100%, but it has been helpful a few times.

 

When you say 'advanced lane guidance', do you mean the feature that tells you what lane to be in for an upcoming interchange? If so, our unit does have that, or at least I have seen and used it on mine. If I recall correctly, it shows up on the split screen view when coming up to the interchange, with a set of lane arrows, and the ones you should be in are highlighted.

 

I probably have an incorrect impression about this feature, but I thought that advanced lane guidance also refered to picking a lane that had the least congestion...but I guess I was dreaming...

I still think the traffic info stinks!

 

im pretty sure it could be where you live...

NY City & Metro Area - Nav Traffic is ON POINT.

15-20 miles east (Long Island) the Nav Traffic only reports information for 3 highways, and no major roads. it was useless for me on Long Island, so i didnt subscribe for it

 

The traffic advice seems very good in the NoVA/DC/MD area.

The detour function of the NAV has worked very well, too.

 

Only problem so far, is the Belt Parkway, from exit 11, till the Southern State Parkway. There is absolutely NO info on that route. Someone said, it was a security issue with JFK airport. Anyone else experiencing the same problem? other than that, it works great!

 

I agree, the traffic info is next to useless. I drive 62 miles one-way to work each day along I-25 from northern Colorado to Denver. The traffic always shows Denver as having no traffic, when it almost always does. Comparing that to the free Google Navigator on my driod and the Acura nav looks pathetic. The other glaring problem is that the Google Nav shows traffic info on I-25 from one end of CO to the other, where are the Acura nav only shows traffic for the Denver area.

I am disappointed in the Acura nav, to say the least.

 

Does anyone know if there is an 800 number for real-time traffic updates?

 

I don't even think traffic with crowd sourcing information could tell you which individual lane has the least congestion. And even if it did, and everyone had that technology, it'd be useless because everyone would attempt to get into the same lane causing... congestion.

The traffic info is up-to-date for me in the SFO area about 75% of the time. It takes 1-2 minutes to update after turning on the car which is typically enough time between my origination point and the highway.

 

Certain hwy is doesn't pick up the jackie robinson, the belt pkwy, the cross island. I'm guessing it has to do something with the city and the fact that XM is either charging for it. the reaosn I say that is because the traffic shows up on google maps for these roads. Who knows i'm sure someone had to call to complain.

 

It has been pretty helpful for me thus far in LA. Sometimes late night freeway ramp closures update too early and sometimes there are sporadic coverage gaps but I'll continue to subscribe.

 

I found it accurate only about 50% of the time in the Boston area. So I didn't subscribe after the 3 month trial period was over.

If you have an iPhone, you can get much better traffic accuracy with the apps Maps or Inrix Traffic!

 

XM traffic is pretty much useless for me here in the south Texas area, but I'm not surprised. They spent a bunch of money to install traffic camera and "Transguide" signs on the major highways, and they aren't accurate either.

I certainly won't be renewing...