1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Show Traffic Information problem

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by balulalow, Mar 22, 2011.

  1. balulalow

    balulalow New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I recently bought a 2011 Prius Three with navigation and satellite radio. I'm having trouble getting the XM NavTraffic feature to work. I live in an area that xm radio says is served by the traffic feature (Puget Sound area, in Washington state). Satellite radio works fine, so I believe my trial account is active.

    I saw on another thread that it might require a refresh of the radio from xmradio to get the traffic feature, so last night I did that, using their web site. After waiting the suggested 15 minutes for the refresh to happen, I turned off the car and then turned it on again. I saw the "Show Traffic Information" button on the "Show on Map" screen as I expected. Great.

    However, this morning on my drive to work, I pressed "Show on Map" again, and the "Show Traffic Information" button was no longer there.

    I tried turning on guidance, and then tried the voice command - "traffic information". The guidance lady said there was no traffic information available.

    Is it normal for "Show Traffic Information" to come and go, in an area where the traffic info is supposedly available?

    Is there something I'm doing wrong in trying to get it turned on?

    Do I need to try the refresh again? If so, has anyone been successful in scheduling the refresh for a specific time? I'd like for it to happen during my commute. The web site option didn't give me a choice of time.

    Thanks.
     
    #1 balulalow, Mar 22, 2011
  2. mainerinexile

    mainerinexile No longer in exile!

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2010
    403
    73
    0
    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I thought that traffic information was only available.in urban areas. I'm in central NH, and have never seen traffic XM with actual information available. Of course, we don't really have traffic here.
     
    #2 mainerinexile, Mar 22, 2011
  3. PSIcho

    PSIcho New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2011
    6
    0
    0
    Location:
    Temecula
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    According to an XM rep I talked to, NavTraffic is not available during the trial period.
     
    #3 PSIcho, Mar 23, 2011
  4. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2009
    5,131
    1,338
    0
    Location:
    Wilmington, NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Even with a XM subscription after the trial period, XM Traffic costs extra. Then, from what I understand, it only shows if there are true traffic issues.
     
    #4 jdcollins5, Mar 23, 2011
  5. billinmd

    billinmd Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2011
    184
    28
    0
    Location:
    Bel Air, MD
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    It appears the XM rep was confused. I'm currently still in the trial period, and my XM traffic is working. I have never clicked on "Show Traffic Information", but I have had the NAV come on and say, "Slow traffic ahead in 2 miles, 1 mile long".
     
    #5 billinmd, Mar 23, 2011
  6. rayhooker

    rayhooker New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2011
    10
    0
    0
    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I will have to check into it, but when using the GPS coming back from Richmond, it was highlighting traffic ahead and road construction. I have a brand new Gen III purchased in February. So unless there is another way for the GPS to gather traffic info, I would assume the Nav traffic is enabled on mine.
     
    #6 rayhooker, Mar 23, 2011
  7. liskipper

    liskipper Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2009
    373
    79
    9
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    The traffic information will only show if you are following a route. I have found (in the New York City area) that it has an accuracy of about 75%. Better info is available from traffic reports on the local radio stations.
     
    #7 liskipper, Mar 23, 2011
  8. balulalow

    balulalow New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    As I said in my original post, I tried turning on guidance and that didn't change anything. Also, after the first signal refresh, I saw the "Show Traffic Information" button when I was just sitting in my garage, with no route entered. Since then I have not seen the button even when following a route.

    I think my first problem is to get the button to be available at all. Then I can understand that it won't do anything unless I'm following a route.

    I have a question in to XM Radio to see if I can get this resolved. No reply back yet.

    Can anyone tell me if there is some way I can confirm that the signal refresh actually did something? For the radio itself, it would be obvious - either you get the stations or you don't. But I already get the radio stations. For the traffic feature I could not see any visible indication that the signal refresh did anything. I tried refreshing the signal again last night and still no luck.

    I would like to try out the feature to see if I want to pay extra after the trial is over. Sounds like the usefulness varies by coverage area. My commute would use the info for Seattle. But it's good to know that some folks find local radio a better resource. Thanks.
     
    #8 balulalow, Mar 23, 2011
  9. dropshot

    dropshot New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2011
    28
    8
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    liskipper is right. It only works when following a route and 75% or more of the time it is inaccurate and useless. At least in Austin it is, but so are the radio traffic reports. #6 worst city to drive in according to some recent survey...
     
    #9 dropshot, Mar 23, 2011
  10. cnbmis

    cnbmis Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2011
    12
    2
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have a 2010 III nav/sat/solar still in XM trial and the traffic data show whether I'm on a route or not -- e.g. traffic status (green/yellow/red), construction issues, and even shows some bridges closed for flooding in the past couple days.

    Not sure what, if anything, was changed from 10 » 11, but thought I'd mention it.

    Chris
     
    #10 cnbmis, Mar 25, 2011
  11. shawnb2

    shawnb2 Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2009
    533
    107
    22
    Location:
    Thousand Oaks, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    It is pretty much a waste of time and money especially on these cars. I live in LA and it would light up green and yellow and red, but never once did it ask if I wanted to be re-routed. It would usually tell me there was a traffic alert ahead when I was already in the traffic. Real helpful. It's like it was toying with me or something. Until I replace the unit with a new Kenwood that's due out any day i use the Tom Tom app on my iphone with traffic and it works like a dream.
     
    #11 shawnb2, Mar 25, 2011
  12. balulalow

    balulalow New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I've discovered a few things in the last few days:
    1. The "Show Traffic Information" button on the "Show on Map" screen does not seem to be related to whether you see the green/yellow/red traffic flow indicators on the map itself. On one recent trip I saw the traffic flow indicators and "Show Traffic Information" was not present (this was at about 9:00pm). On another trip during normal commute hours the "Show Traffic Information" button was present, along with the traffic flow indicators. I had assumed the two were related. Now I don't understand what the "Show Traffic Information" button is for (haven't tried deselecting it when the button is present).

    2. Traffic flow indicators take a few minutes to appear after starting the car.

    3. Traffic flow indicators appear even when I'm not following a guided route.

    4. Having now seen the traffic feature, I don't think I'm interested. The green/yellow colors are very difficult for me to see against the white map background, especially if the map is at a scale that shows the whole trip. (This might explain why I thought the feature wasn't working for me - I finally saw the colors during a night-time trip when I had the map switched to the dark background.)
     
    #12 balulalow, Mar 26, 2011
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)