Has anyone noticed how the Nav unit shows traffic buildup by color. Green in the lanes mean low volume...Yellow means more volume and RED means Heavy Traffic....I am wondering how it knows that.

 

Traffic sensors being put in some roadways that communicate the data back up to the satellite constellation.

 

May be from the time of day for that place and time of that town are highway to traffic that has been read in the past. Hope that makes sense. I know all the time you can see those wires going across the road that will read the number of cars and truck that has gone across it. Road

 

I haven't heard that one - if GM compiles the Sat data from every GM Nav unit (millions of vehicles) and suddenly the average speed of those units on I 87 between Exit 14 and 15 drops from 60 mph to 8 mph, that tells the system there is traffic congestion - I'm pretty sure that's how those Nav units do it - that is how the one on my Lexus works.

 

I don't have factory nav, but I do use Apple CarPlay which uses Apple Maps. They have improved the capabilities considerably and they are now taking into account the traffic situations along your route and offering alternate routes to avoid traffic. Here's the latest from Apple if anyone is interested:

http://www.apple.com/ios/maps/

 

I've noticed it for several years on Google maps.

 

Also...I'll get a "accident up ahead" alert...and a 1/4 to 1/2 mile ahead I see the accident. Somewhere ...somehow...someone has to put that info out....

 

Here's one explanation on how this all works:

http://kjzz.org/content/101843/did-y...pavement-wires

 

On the factory nav, you do not have traffic data unless you're signed up for the Sirius/XM traffic package. I do have the basic SXM music package, but did not opt for the traffic stuff because it's not very up-to-date compared to Waze.

During the trial period, I evaluated it against Waze, and it was inferior, at least in my major urban area.

 

Back in my working days, we installed loops in road pavement sections which relayed the number of cars passing the loops to the central control station. It also relays the speed of traffic. I always figured that at some point those loops could be used to issue traffic citations for speeding just like the red light sensors at intersections do now That wouldn't happen until transponders would required for all cars, so it's not an option yet.

Another big part of Smart Roads is the camera system. It has cameras at various points along the busiest parts of traffic patterns. These cameras are mostly used to monitor traffic flows and stoppages. If a driver has a problem and is blocking traffic then the camera would show it and the dispatcher can send help to solve the problem. The cameras can also help track criminals. The stuff you see on NCIS is true, but in general terms it takes longer to do than what is shown on TV. There are cameras along some of those routes that will track license plates and will notify the authorities in the event that they are looking for a particular plate number. The smart technology is spreading to surface streets too. So if you are outside of the law, be very careful. It's tough to avoid all the cameras because new ones are being installed someplace, every day. I see the day coming soon that will allow authorities to track fugitives through facial recognition, autonomously through these cameras.

 

I have factory navigation in my 2017 Corvette and only Apple Car-Play in my 2016 Colorado. Normally with OEM factory navigation I have the navigation page displayed at all times. With the Car-Play navigation presentation, I only have navigation displayed when I am actually navigating. (the navigation presentation eats up cell phone contract minutes). Also you need the phone set for navigation. My vote is OEM navigation!!!!!!!

 

I've used the C7 Nav a couple of times, I was impressed with it, worked fine.

 

Yes, the nav works fine, gets one from A to B accurately, the interface is user-friendly, etc.

However, I thought we were talking about it's usefulness in providing accurate traffic data. Those data come from SXM if you pay for it, and it's not as up-to-date or sophisticated as Waze and Google maps.

 

I've been using Google Maps on my iPhone while driving for the past 2 years. I must say that the traffic data, where ever it comes from, is about 90% correct most of the time.

 

My Vette is seldom in traffic so I'm not surprised that I may not have noticed that.

 

The Vette uses XM Traffic. If you don't subscribe after the freebee, you don't get this feature.

Waze works best. Big data at its finest. All the Wazers contribute how fast things are going along. And if you are stuck in traffic, it even asks what's going on.

 

Yes, as discussed above, SXM traffic is part of the "premium" package. You can get the music channels for a lot less, and in my view the traffic package is not worth the price.

 

The weather presentation is also part of the premium package. I like the Radar interface.

 

Google owns Waze. A couple of years ago they started using the Waze user data in Google Maps. I prefer to use Waze as the data is the freshest and in my opinion the best.

 

Waze relies on other drivers input as to the conditions and accidents