Fuel economy in long traffic jam (data)

Or try the traffic setting on google maps on your smart phone. It updates traffic info fairly quicly. In fact, if you leave your gps on and maps in the back ground it tracks your travel along the major roads and updates that info for others.

If you're on the road a lot (like I was) that can help others and hopefully they'll help you etc etc. I find it updates every 5 mins or so.

If ever I head out on a longer run or at busy times of day I always give it a look up.


p.s. Just checked now and Poland does appear to be covered by this service, though the number of users reporting seems low. Oh, only use on your smart phone if you have unlimited data so as to avoid nasty phone bills

 

I have a TomTom with the traffic thing updated by the radio whatever ... man this re-routed me places I have never ever been ... it can drive you crazy !!! Every 5 minutes will tell you it has a better route ... you accept it start following another 10 minutes another route ...

And at the end I was 30 minutes late!!! But you can never prove that you would have been better on your normal route .....

So I DO not use it for any routine drive ....

What I did find acceptable is the estimated time KEEPING the route I already picked ...

About the smartphone thing ... it is not detailed enough and the delay is just too great ... (in my opinion) at least in New York City ... almost not worth it

 

I laughed out loud at that part. So true and it would definitely drive me insane too!

 

Weird, my device re-routes me, over a 17km commute leg, once at the beginning after assessing traffic, and maybe another time if something really bad happens, over a 30 min trip. That is, *once* every 30 mins. It has never re-routed me *every* 5 mins and it has *never* taken me 30 mins additional - actually I am consistently getting to the office in 30 mins or less since using HD Traffic, rather than 40-45 mins minimum before.

What software version are you running, when did you last updated it and what device do you have?

The Tomtom HD traffic is *not* updated by radio. That is TMC and I don't know if it is available outside of Europe. HD Traffic relies on the information provided by mobile telephone operators (in Europe Vodafone) on the position and transit times of mobile phones across a served cell. Also it is using the travel times and GPS positions of other Tomtom GPS devices with HD Traffic (each one of them is installed with a data-only GSM device, like e.g. an iPad).

 

Well, I am driving from the east to New York City there are really many ways to go over 10 major route depending you take which bridge or tunnel etc. I am doing this for over 6 years (started with GenII) so I do kind of know depending time of day what is best.

After I got the new TomTom with the traffic option, I gave it a try a few times using the traffic re-route thing. Not working for me ... drove me crazy so I do look only delay on the route and that seems to be pretty close ... my route is about 40 minutes on a Sunday early morning (meaning no traffic) but good day is about an hour but average is 1 hour 10-15 minutes. Lots of traffic and other condition with the many options even in the middle of the drive just drive the TomTom nuts....

This is my experience in NYC so in other regions/cities this may very well work...

 

See my reply on previous post above on how it works. More info here on Tomtom's website...

In EU Tomtom HD Traffic devices are offered with at least 1 year free service at the time of purchase (mine came with two years free service). Nothing to opt-in.
After that it costs about 50€/year if one chooses to go on using the services. Otherwise one can buy an extra accessory (essentially and FM radio antenna) to receive the TMC traffic signals (which independent tests carried out in Germany have shown to be very often completely inaccurate as well as not updated - TMC Pro was a bit better).

To my knowledge reading on the Tomtom Corporate blog, HD TRaffic in Canada is available only in towns (and that would make sense, that is - where there is the highest density of traffic and where traffic jams likely will happen - in Europe the coverage is *everywhere* as we are densely populated on average ).

With HD Traffic, you will know which of the next 1-2 parallel roads are free *when* you turn. And with the IQ routes (Tomtom has a *huge* database of travelling times of the roads, by time of day and by day of the week), you the device will know if that parallel road is the right one or not based on historical travel data.

I do agree that "turning left" is not really taken into consideration (and in Munich even a "turning right" can be a nightmare, especially with pedestrians and bikes - you have to wait for them on most traffic lights).
On my route I have one such case, but depending on what HD Traffic is telling me on that special intersection (you get a map per each "event" and see how long is the traffic jam...) I can decide to go ahead and wait or find an alternative - you can actually tell Tomtom to selectively reduce travelling times per each "event".

I have had rarely needed to "outsmart" the device in 2 years of ownership so far. One must also give credit to the fact that in towns some traffic events happen to be or a re resolved in less than the 2 mins update period of HD Traffic. I.e. it might be that within 2 mins the traffic jam you are in will get worse, will disappear, or a new one will appear to of thin air - cities are very unpredictable.

Once travelling to Italy there was a 45 min delay on the highway between Bologna and Florence. It would not re-route me, as likely going through the mountains would take longer. But knowing what was ahead of me, I could take the informed decision of going on the regional roads. It took me maybe 45mins-1hr more than the regular highway route. But I drove a new roads, which was actually really nice BTW, and I discovered afterwards that the 45min highway delay, turned into a 1h30mins delay...that is, I got faster to my destination. Without HD Traffic I would probably still be in that traffic jam nobody would have ever informed me about.

So HD Traffic might not be perfect (although actually it is more precise that I ever thought it could be; huge surprise is actually in towns), but I cannot find on the market yet anything better to make my road trips and daily commutes more relaxing and faster than what I get today with Tomtom's service.

 

I just tried out with the Route planner a "Ocean Side" to "Flatiron Building" route and it looks like attached picture. I can imagine the whole area lighting up like a Xmas Tree on Monday mornings (you should see London - out of this world...).
I knew you had several bridges in New York on the east side, but I counted at least 5 to go to/from Manhattan on that particular side of the city....
I actually just counted that I have 5 as well to go home from my office (I am going from east to west Munich), which means I have the same options when going to/from the office.

It might well be that the data on the available routes is still not that detailed. I don't know since how many years Tomtom is selling in the US and therefore how accurate is their IQ Database for the US/NY.

Nevertheless, I find it really strange that it re-routes you every 5 mins. That's way too much. Does it at least tell you (it is an option you have to set) that there is an option for faster route and if you want to take it? How do you know that it is changing the route?

 

Yes that would be a possible route ... I usually take another bridge which is closer to my destination 47nd and 1st Ave...

I know about London I have not driven there myself

Also you can take two tunnels on top of that

Yes it just offers the option not just re-route ... but literately within 5 minutes it will says there is a faster route after a change. And I can view the suggested route but when you driving that is not always feasible to read/review

As I said the delay calculation is pretty close, so their database is probably OK. But live traffic is complicated ... and past experience is no indication of today's accidents, or when DOT (transportation department) decide to paint the traffic light in morning peak traffic hours. Madness!!! Or things like that ...

Overall TomTom is fine with traffic option is definitely a good option. I just gave up on it

 

When a traffic jam is 15 minutes or longer there is a risk that the constant use of the electric motors could deplete the Prius traction battery of power and can cause the ICE to automatically go on to recharge the traction battery - this will cause the Prius' MPGs to drop.



The following is my current stop and go driving tactic...

Releasing the brakes:
I wait for the tail stop light of the vehicle that is before the vehicle just infront of my Prius to go out. if the vehicle immediately infront of my Prius is an aggressive attentive driver, I releases the brake at that point but I dont start pressing the accelerator until I see the lights are off on the tail stop light of the vehicle that is just before mine. If the vehicle just infront of my Prius is a defensive or distracted driver, I keep my foot on the brake pad and I wait for the tail stop light of the vehicle just infront of my Prius to go off before I release the brake pad.

When driving temperatures are greater than 45 degrees Fahrenheit, in slow stop and go traffic ( top speed is from 12mph to 24mph with a max distance is from 1.5 to 3 car lengths) I use different acceleration techniques depending on what kind of terrain the Prius is in when I must accelerates from a dead stop. The technique I am using is a minor variant of what is called a mini-Pulse and Glide (MiniP&g) in the hypermiling community.

For aggressive driving environments I use Normal,
for less aggressive driving environments I use Eco mode.

Applying the accelerator

During the mini-Pulse, I have three options/tactics..

On a downhill grade, a slight tap on the accelerator for a brief electrical motor action (1/8 to 1/4 HSI, .02 GPH) often can get the Prius up to 10 mph and then the Prius can glide to a stop. If the Prius starts to accelerates on the glide - I use regen brakes to slow her down a tad.

On a flat grade, a slight acceleration (no more than 1/4 HSI, .02 GPH ) to get the electric motors to push the Prius pass 7mph to 10 mph and then a very short medium acceleration (+1/2 HSI slightly pass the ECO capsule label on top, .77 to 1.10 GPH) to get the gasoline engine to push the Prius pass 11mph to 15 mph before the driver releases the accelerator and allows the Prius to glide the rest of the distance.

On an uphill grade, I immediately press the accelerator moderately (+1/2 way the HSI, .90 to 1.2 GPH ) from a dead stop to trigger the gasoline motor power to achieve 12mph to 15 mph then release the accelerator to glide the rest of the distance. If the car slows down 1-2 mph before achieving the uphill glide distance I reapply the accelerator inching my way up trying to avoid a decrease in velocity but at the same time I am also trying to avoid increasing my velocity too much.

During the mini glide phase, I try to keep the regen brakes from going on to extend the distance acheived during the gliding phase. The ideal situation is for the Prius to slow down to about 10mph to 1mph before the hydraulic brakes is usedto get Prius back to a complete dead stop. However, often the Prius will not slowdown fast enough so the regen brakes is applied to get the speed down to 7mph before using the hydraulic brakes.

When in driving temperatures are less than 45 degrees Fahrenheit, for the first 30 minutes of driving, if I encounter any stop and go traffic I use the upgrade grade acceleration technique exclusively -focusing on warming up engine ( I initially avoid using the electric motors).

 

Next winter I should try this - what kills the mileage in the mornings is to be at a traffic light with the ICE running to get warm - not even to try to get heat inside the cabin. And sometimes this happens also in not so cold weather. I sometimes even turn of the A/C completely to shut the ICE off in the first 5 mins of driving at the first 2-3 traffic lights before getting onto a more fluid road or the ICE is warm. Otherwise the ICE just runs and runs and runs...
For everything else I am applying more or less the same "tactics".