curro
join:2003-10-24
Seabrook, TX | Using GPS in Houston traffic?
Has anybody used their GPS to get live traffic status in the Houston area?
Any feedback about GPS models that support live traffic in the Houston area would be appreciated. |
|
Flippant
So Much For Subtlety
Premium,Mod
join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX
Host:
Filesharing Software
Earthlink Cable
Texas Gulf Coast R..
AT&T U-verse
AT&T Southwest
| Just a general response. A friend got a new car that came with a very nice GPS that took advantage of traffic information. He thinks it is cool but rarely saves him anytime. Either he already knows alternative routes around problem areas or the traffic is just bad everywhere around the problem or well it is just Houston rush hour conditions. Also the information fed to the unit is only as good as what is on the txdot site. It can be very old news causing the GPS to inform you of alternatives when the site has already been cleared and traffic is flowing sending you to already overcrowded side streets, or it has not yet been updated for a new accident that is causing you to sit in gridlock when the GPS becomes updated. In general listening to a radio station that has many updated traffic reports is better than what the GPS has.
Like most things on a GPS if you are well familiar with your area there are very few advantages to GPS routing. If you are constantly in new cities there may be greater advantages as you do not have a good lay of the land. Unfortunately for him the GPS is built into the car and therefore he cannot take it on trips where it would be more useful.
Of course YMMV. |
|
curro
join:2003-10-24
Seabrook, TX
 ·LINGO
| Thanks Flippant for the reply. I mostly go to Houston on the weekends when the traffic is less predictable and I thought a GPS such as the Navigon 7100 would come handy because there is no extra charge for the live traffic function. On the other hand there are other brands that have better reviews than the Navigon but no free traffic (cost around $60/year). |
|
Flippant
So Much For Subtlety
Premium,Mod
join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX
Host:
Filesharing Software
Earthlink Cable
Texas Gulf Coast R..
AT&T U-verse
AT&T Southwest
| Not having one I could not say. It would be nice to try one for like 30 days to see if it is any help at all. Nine times out of ten if I know where I am going there is no way I am going to even turn it on. But when i leave town it is a sure thing to bring along and I use it often. Personally I would go with the best reviewed unit. Interface, number of Points of Interest and how well the unit is upgraded would be far more important to me. |
|
curro
join:2003-10-24
Seabrook, TX
·LINGO
| said by Flippant  :Not having one I could not say. It would be nice to try one for like 30 days to see if it is any help at all. Nine times out of ten if I know where I am going there is no way I am going to even turn it on. But when i leave town it is a sure thing to bring along and I use it often. Personally I would go with the best reviewed unit. Interface, number of Points of Interest and how well the unit is upgraded would be far more important to me. Buying at Costco might be the answer (90 day trial). |
|
robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
| reply to curro
I rarely or never go to Houston but I think the problem is the accident data. My sister was traveling though Fort Worth last year on I-35W and after sitting in a traffic jam (freeway totally shut down) for about an hour she called me. The accident did not appear on any search I did on the Internet. She was close to an exit which many people were taking but it took quite a bit of work to navigate her through an alternate route in Fort Worth. Would a GPS have helped -- I don't know. It took my entire computer screen to find a route which I thought would get her around the hazard and back on the interstate. I was actually thinking about a GPS as I was routing her and I couldn't see how the small screen would allow the necessary info unless you already knew all of the streets and problems associated with them. |
|
MysticGogeta
The Robot Devil
Premium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX
clubs: | reply to curro
Where is a Costco you live fairly close to me and I've never seen one around our area.
--
Team Discovery-Join the fight |
|
SandShark
So it goes
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-23
Santa Fe, TX
clubs:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| I wish there was one closer to us.
|
|
MysticGogeta
The Robot Devil
Premium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX
clubs: | Dang yeah I don't think a quarter tank is worth it. |
|
removed
I'm the bobblehead
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX
clubs:
| reply to curro
I saw a Costco under construction inside of town a few weeks ago. I don't remember where exactly -- somewhere near 59, I think. I'll try to find it when I'm out again tomorrow.
--
irc.removed.us - #dslr | DSLR Phishtracker | Email: removed@dslr.net |
|
maggie2101
Mrs. Flippant
Premium
join:2001-10-09
Katy, TX | reply to curro
I want a Costco in Katy. It is next to impossible to get to the closest one with all the I-10 construction.
--
Cancer Sucks! |
|
removed
I'm the bobblehead
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX
clubs:
| Most of the construction should be gone by the latter part of this year, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get to Costco from Katy.
Have you seen the new lanes that were recently opened just past the Beltway? Here's a photo for those of you who haven't had the chance to see it yet:
Photo courtesy of houstonfreeways.com
Here's some advice: don't speed in the two lanes furthest to the left, just to the right of the flexible barricades. HPD Traffic has been out there on a daily basis since last week... I think they made the shoulder extra wide so that they can easily park and enforce the speed limit, which hasn't been enforced at all since construction started.
--
irc.removed.us - #dslr | DSLR Phishtracker | Email: removed@dslr.net |
|
MysticGogeta
The Robot Devil
Premium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX
clubs: | That is temping to push my car till the governor kicks in. That's a lot of lanes.
--
Team Discovery-Join the fight |
|
