Unable to find this answer in any of the older threads on NavTraffic.

For those that have used it, does it only "activate" when you have a destination programmed in and are using route guidance, or will it show up on the general map as you are driving around town as well?

 

Dallas coverage is limited, but mine will show info on the route and I can view near by problems. Can't remember the name of the nearby function. Maybe traffic info?

It's a waste of money in the Dallas area. It doesn't show flow, just accidents and road contruction problems.

 

I think it shows all the time.. but i haven't found it really that useful yet...
when i see the construction or accident signs on the screen, i don't really see it on the road...
not sure how it works exactly

 

works all the time the general view has been fairly useful on my commute route which has a few real choke points that i can avoid, wspecially in conjuntion with the DC area traffic station

 

Yeah from what I have heard the DC area coverage is excellent - thanks!

 

Anyone know how well the coverage is for the New York City and New Jersey area?

 

There are two types of coverages: Incident enabled and Incident + Flow enabled. The Flow roads will show you real time traffic conditions, whereas the incident only roads, will alert you only about unscheduled jams (such as accidents, road work) without traffic flow.

To see your coverage: Click here

 

I ran into something odd this morning though. The coverage appeared to be working as I could scroll around and see that it was working on major highways and other surface roads. But even though the XM traffic channel had picked up an accident along my route (Rt 1 North, Alexandria VA) it did not show up on the navtraffic unit. I think it will take a while to learn what to expect out of it.

 

I live in Long Island. It shows the traffic flow along the LIE (495) all the way down to the Midtown tunnel. It also shows flow on the North State Parkway and Southern State Parkway. Does not have anything along Belt Parkway.

When you activate your XM Satellite service and get the 3 free months tell them that you also have Nav traffic and you'll get that free also so you can test it out.

 

xm nav traffic and xm radio should already be working the same day when you pick up your new G. the nav traffic is extending a lot of coverage especially in the Long Island, NY region.

 

You'd think. I was a little disappointed that my dealer not only made me activate this myself, but also sync my bluetooth. This is something my Honda dealer did for me on my $40K Odyssey and also the Acura did for my brothers TL. When I spend this much on a car, I expect excellent customer service. I hope other people had a better dealer experience than I....but I can't complain about the price I paid. Oh well, I'm planning on dinging the dealer on my survey about these things.

 

All the paper work I found with regard to the XM radio (and info from the dealer too) is that I have to sign up for the 3 month trial period myself. XM makes you put in your payment information when you sign up, that way they roll your trial period into a full subscription immediately when the 3 months are up. You're supposed to cancel within the 3 months if you don't want it.

How would a dealer do that for you and why should a dealer do that for you as they normally don't have your CC info to put in for subscription payment?

As for bluetooth, my dealer offered to do it for me but once again, they need your phone to do it. I'd rather do it myself. My phone is MY phone

 

NY and NJ work great. All major roads and bridges covered. I have been driving the tri-state area the last week and it has been a time saver for me. Especially with all the extra holiday traffic....!

 

I have to say that I'm not completely impressed with the NavTraffic, at least in the NY Metro area. First of all, it doesnt really cover all of the roads (like a previous poster mentioned the Belt). Also, it tends to have no info or gaps in the highways. In my opinion a highway should always show green, yellow, or red. But a lot of times there's no color at all, so I have no idea if there's a problem or not and when I get there I get stuck (not to mention I look like an idiot when I'm with someone and I'm bragging about the feature). And then there's gaps in the info...like it'll show green for about 5 exits length, then it'll show nothing for the next 10 exits, then it'll show traffic info again.

Another thing I wish it did was when you switch the map view to the one that shows you the list of turns, I wish it would tell you at which point the "congestion" is, that way you can consider at what point to reroute, without trying to scroll/navigate through the map (not safe while driving).

 

Like I said, I found it interesting this morning that the XM traffic station talked about an accident that never showed up on navtraffic even though its a covered road. This weekend will be a good test of the service I think.